How Women in Real Estate Provide Collaborative Leadership | Private Equity Weekly

I didn’t start my career in real estate.I have worked for many years in the following companies A large management consulting firm that specialized in providing marketing and sales strategies to pharmaceutical companies before turning to real estate sales.

At the time, my mother was a very successful real estate agent who was starting her own brokerage, and I was able to support her in this exciting new business. We work well together and everyone is able to bring out their strengths.

Over the years, we have been recognized because as female broker-owners, we are uniquely positioned to lead the company and Our industry is centered around women. Here are some of the approaches we are taking.

better together

My mom’s biggest influence on my business, and frankly on my real estate career, is her unwavering belief in collaboration over competition. She created a culture that was unique at the time, one of support, sharing and caring. As we say, better together.

As a result of this guiding philosophy, all of our agents benefit from the collective, shared knowledge of the entire company. I love the African proverb: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” We really embody that.

This is the only way I can make this work and I can’t imagine any other way. No one wants to do this very difficult job alone. For this reason, we have always cared deeply about the people around us.

Solve the problem

One of the guiding principles of the Better Together approach is that it’s okay not to have all the answers. We created a community where we can solve this problem together. I personally enjoy the problem-solving part of the job.

My feeling is that women who balance work and family get extra practice in problem solving. Part of my problem-solving skills is being able to see people’s strengths and weaknesses and guide them in a direction that suits their skills and needs.

Create development opportunities

Real estate is a female-dominated industry—nearly 70 percent of real estate agents are women—but there aren’t many female leaders. I see many opportunities for women to advance into leadership positions.

That’s what I love about the real estate industry: there are many paths to growth. Agents can move into employee roles, move into management, work for a company, or move into ancillary services such as home loans.

In real estate, I think we have a leadership vacuum, especially at the local level. In the past few years, many companies have continued to expand by adding agents, but this growth has not received adequate management and business support.

We feel strongly that agents need to stay in close contact with a manager or mentor to support their growth and development. This is sorely lacking in our market today.

When I talk to potential new employees, I always ask them, “Who do you go to for business advice or who is helping you grow your business?” Many times, the answer is no one.

So that became a big selling point because one of the differentiators of our company is that our leadership team, myself included, is in the office every day. We call this “Local Leadership,” which means agents know they can come to my office, text or call us, and get the support, advice, and encouragement they need when they need it.

This also means that my job specifically requires me to engage in our community and build our network of real estate professionals so that we understand what is happening in the market, emerging trends and how we can best prepare our clients.

Create leadership opportunities for women

In addition to the supportive environment in our office, it is important to support women’s groups and women’s allies. We need to help each other so we can develop the next generation of leadership and empower them to step up. The more support women see and feel, the more likely they are to come forward.

For example, in addition to my mom and me, our company has an incredible support staff of truly experienced, dedicated, and creative women. This team not only supports our agents and clients, but they represent our company and help lead us forward every day.

The flip side is that women in real estate need to actively seek support and guidance, both within their own companies and externally. If there isn’t a specific group, find female agents, managers, and owners in your area and invite them for coffee. See what they think.

If you have been contacted, please stay in touch. It’s entirely possible to develop a friendly network relationship that doesn’t cross the recruiting spectrum.

We need to realize how important we are

In real estate, we play a very important role in helping people find housing. Where a person lives determines many aspects of his or her life, including education, career, health, and of course wealth. We need to keep this in mind at all times and act accordingly to provide a service commensurate with the importance of the transaction to people.

And then start providing that service by listening—and I mean really listening— to our customers. Like many other areas of life, we can solve many problems if we just listen.