Panelists Suzie Aron, president of Aron Real Estate; Rachael Kirane, industrial real estate broker at Cushman & Wakefield; Michelle Lutz, founder and managing partner of Lutz Sales + Investments; Audrey Navarro, managing partner of Clemons Real Estate; and Denise Yates, founder of Yates and Yates Co., joined moderator Debora Field, managing director at Newmark Zimmer, to share their career experiences and tools to achieve leadership success in the commercial real estate industry at a luncheon last week hosted by CREW KC.
Navarro views her role as a creative problem solver and stressed the importance of working collaboratively, rather than competitively.
“I always tell people we sell time and information, and we solve complex problems for our clients. Some of the skills that are different between men and women—we are collaborative and having a collaborative approach rather than a competitive approach has really served me well in my career,” she said.
According to Yates, building relationships is key to being a successful industry leader, especially in a male-dominated profession.
“I think for me it’s about building relationships, especially when you’re sitting at a table and you are the only female and there are 10 men at the table. . . . Through the relationship building, you build respect for each other. A lot of it is having the courage to sit down and be able to have a conversation and maybe not in agreement with everyone else, and that’s a challenge a lot of times for women when you want your voice to be heard. I think it all goes back to building those relationships so that when you do have a seat at the table, you’re respected and you’re part of the team,” Yates said.
Lutz said the biggest factor to being successful is communication on an interpersonal level, rather than solely communicating through email, text or social media.
“Just being able to communicate and listen from the other person’s side what to solve their problem means, what value do you have to the deal, will make your success in real estate that much easier,” said Lutz.
According to Kirane, leadership is a behavior, not just a title.
“It’s what we do when people around you are constantly watching and listening to what you’re doing and saying and they are determining whether or not they want to follow your lead . . . . I also think we have to think of leadership less as a title as an indication of whether or not you’re a good leader. If you are approachable and you perceive yourself as someone who is going to be reliable to those in your office, even if it’s just a shoulder to cry on, be someone to talk to, be a sounding board to those around you, I think that speaks volumes as to whether or not you’re a good leader,” she said.
The panelists discussed the impact of networking and mentoring on their careers, and Kirane said that it’s important to note that within networking, there’s still “a ton of working”.
“It’s not all fun and games. You’re not just going out to these events to chat with friends and not evolve your career. . . . My advice to young professionals that are looking to network more would be to prioritize one on one connections. I’ve found that I really thrive on individual conversations versus walking into a massive networking event and trying to walk up to different groups and talk to different people. So I really recommend getting business cards while you’re out at these networking events and following up, scheduling one on one meetings,” said Kirane.
When she first started her quest to develop the Crossroads into a thriving arts district, Aron said networking was crucial to build the neighborhood.
“We deal with bigger issues that are common to all of us and that strength of networking really allowed us to develop a fabulous group of neighbors. It’s not always about your industry. It’s about the bigger picture, and I was lucky to be able to accomplish that,” Aron said.
Navarro said the single piece of advice she would give to people newer to the industry would be to ask a lot of questions, be curious and reciprocate.
“From a mentorship perspective, I love it when people ask me questions and they dig a little deeper and I can spend more time giving advice to colleagues in the industry, especially when they have creative problems that need to be solved because I know that when that comes up for me, I can pick up the phone and get unfiltered advice in return,” she said.
When Field joined the industry, there were very few women, and she did not have a mentor. Instead she looked at what the successful men did to be industry stars and followed them around.
“[V]alue anyone who will mentor you and also if you don’t find a mentor you want in your own organization, and you see someone with success that you want to achieve, follow them around, be observant, watch them,” Field said.
Yates said it’s important to know the local market, and there is no substitute for getting in your car and driving around.
“Don’t be afraid to leave your desk and get out there. Go in person and learn it,” said Yates.
Both Aron and Lutz encouraged others in the commercial real estate industry to buy a property.
“I think you don’t really understand real estate until you own it. . . . It’s really interesting if you own a property how your perspective expands,” Aron said.
Field credits some of her success to learning about all aspects of commercial real estate, and not just the office segment in which she works.
“What I did to get in front of people was that I used information. . . . I was an office broker, but I always listened to what the industrial guy said and wrote it down in a meeting so that it would make an imprint on me. When I walked into [a client’s] office, he didn’t want to talk about office. He wanted to know about his industrial deal. I knew what the rates were. I knew what the vacancies were. Now these guys don’t expect much from me because I’m just this little girl so they were impressed. . . . Just know your stuff. Be confident about it. Give it to them. Give it to them twice. Tell them everything they need to know about how to do the deal and why they should hire you,” Field said.
Kirane said listening is one of the most important things you can do with your clients.
“My clients care about their business. They care about what they’re doing. They care about challenges they are facing. They have to understand that I care about their problems just as much, and I’m here to help them solve them. You don’t need to have all of the answers right away as long as you are listening and asking the right questions, figuring out what unique challenges your client is facing,” said Kirane.
Lutz never wants her clients to believe that their concerns are not important.
“Make your client’s needs your own. I think there is just no substitute for that,” she said.
