Leading By Example
Everywhere that you seemingly turn, there is an unquenchable thirst for business leadership. Everyone wants better leaders. Today, according to Jay Conger, writing in Fast Company, leadership ranks second behind quality as the nation's hottest training area.
With the increasing popularity and hunger for leadership skills, too often companies' best intentions are not cost-effective or goals are not realized because the leadership of the month program that has been hyped and over-hyped does not achieve desired results. There are a number of reasons why leadership training fails to meet expectations. Key among them is the inability of leadership development programs to penetrate organizations that do not want to change or recognize the need for change. Mechanisms do not exist to bring leadership skills back to the office and, too often, approaches are myopic and only reflect the near-sighted philosophies of the training guru.
Putting skepticism aside, leadership programs are needed and if properly implemented can and will work. According to Conger, leadership training depends on four key factors:
- Personal growth
- Skill building
- Feedback and
- Conceptual awareness
Additionally, for leadership training to be effective, participants must be given the opportunity to practice what they have learned. Like almost anything that will generate a positive return, there must be commitment from the top down. Senior executives must support programs and participants not only in word but also in action. In other words, corporate leaders must be willing to walk the walk.
The personal growth component of this equation translates to risk taking. It comes from an ability to act on passion and translate passion into accomplishment. It takes confidence and an intense understanding of one's own personal dreams and the ability to turn them into realities.
Ford Motor Company recently unveiled a corporate wide commitment to developing leadership skills. The stated goal is to revolutionize the way Ford builds and markets its products by creating leaders who think like revolutionaries. The company wants to build a corporate culture of risk takers. They want leaders who will test the boundaries, thrive on accountability and seek the opportunity to make decisions on their own. The company wants to build a corporate culture where fear of making a decision is considered a failure. They want employees who are confident and capable of transforming an organization for the better.
That is pretty heady stuff. However, it serves to illustrate common themes of leadership development and leadership skills. Leaders take risks. Leaders seek accountability. Leaders teach others how to lead.
When you consider property management leaders who fit this bill, several luminaries come to mind. Insignia/ESG's Andrew Farcus revolutionized the way property development and acquisition can be financed. Jim Rouse, founder of the company that bears his name, created the festival shopping center and helped to foster a rebirth of the inner city that continues to reverberate throughout the nation and the world. Sam Zell of Equity Commercial and Equity Residential and Terry Considine of AIMCO have taken real estate from a regional business and put it in a national spotlight. Closer to my home is David Hillman of Southern Management Company who has created one of the only property management organizations in the nation that spends more resources on training than it does on marketing.
Where will you find the next generation of property management leaders? That is a question many senior industry executives have posed and too often the answer is unclear. While the intentions of many organizations may be honorable, the success of leadership development often falls short because the programs that are relied upon do not address the specific needs of property management or they operate in a vacuum limiting or eliminating exposure to opinions, ideas and experiences of peers in other organizations.
There is hope on the horizon. A new leadership program is about to emerge that focuses specifically on property management needs and offers the opportunity for a select group of future leaders to obtain the training and guidance they need to climb to the highest rung of the corporate ladder. It's called the PMA Fellowship Program, and it will provide a select group of industry professionals with a unique forum to enhance business and personal leadership skills through an ongoing series of educational programs, networking opportunities and monthly meetings with industry leaders who will serve as sounding boards to address challenges and opportunities.
The program is revolutionary in its approach. There are no job descriptions to categorize potential participants. Rather, those selected must possess certain character traits. They must be passionate about their profession and have the desire, intelligence and experience to convert emotion into accomplishment. Participants individually and as a group will be able to self-direct the training they receive by identifying topics and discussion issues that will have the most meaning to them. Through the sharing of information, experiences and knowledge, the Fellowship Program will create a high-energy environment marked by innovation, motivation and accomplishment.
PMA has literally backed its commitment to training future leaders by absorbing more than 90% of the cost of the Fellowship Program. "That's the reason we call it a Fellowship" says Marilyn Feucht, Senior Vice President of Polinger Shannon & Luchs Company and chair of the PMA Council of Fellows. "This program is really about addressing a need that everyone acknowledges exists but no one has come up with a solution until now. It is exciting because we are creating a vehicle that has the potential to change property management for the better, and that's what organizations like PMA, IREM, BOMA, NAIOP and others should be doing."
The PMA Fellowship Program represents a new approach for the development of property management professionals. It is a concept whose time has come. More significantly, the PMA Fellowship Program is about building a career-long network of like-minded professionals willing to share ideas, knowledge and experiences to help themselves, their companies and their profession grow and prosper. It's an opportunity to change the world.
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