There’s so much noise out there on how to navigate a challenging market. This April, let Inman help you cut through the clutter to make smart business decisions in real time. All month long, we’re taking it Back to Basics and finding out how real estate pros are evolving their systems and investing personally and professionally to drive growth.
In every organization, employees at some point will meet a wall. The app has bugs, the customer is unsatisfied, or sales leads have evaporated. All businesses confront these moments. In my business, however, the wall more often meets the team.
In late 2022, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates to their highest level in 15 years, raising our costs and briefly lowering rental demand in the multifamily real estate industry. Of course, that stressed our team members.
And they had questions:
- How concerned are you?
- Are we going to find properties to acquire?
- Can we execute a deal this quarter?
- Is the world coming to an end?
This represented a significant hump for our team. Instead of negotiating acquisitions or engaging in new deals, some employees momentarily froze in the face of uncertainty. Since real estate rests for no one, I immediately sought to alleviate their stress by explaining how our firm has approached disruption for decades.
Because we’re agile, well-capitalized, and connected, we have the ability to turn challenges into opportunities. So let’s do that, I told them. Yes, the Federal Reserve caught us by surprise and numbed the markets, which we didn’t foresee. But we’ve reset and adjusted, and now it’s time to embrace this challenge. Unsurprisingly, our team did.
The tools you need to nurture a team through tough times
Every team stalls or strands itself, as challenges, mount and deadlines approach. Successful leaders can nurture employees through these rough patches using a variety of strategies. Communication, honesty, transparency, and understanding are tools that drive positive…