“You cannot teach a man anything. You can only help him discover it within himself.” (Galilei, G. Coaching People, Pocket Mentor Series, Harvard Business School Press, 2006, p. 4.)
Many times we hear people talking about leadership. What exactly is leadership? What does it take to be a leader?. That is what I will attempt to answer here today.
Why are talking about leadership on a real estate investing blog? As mentioned before, real estate investing to be successful you must treat it like a business and leadership is the most important single factor in determining business success or failure. So What is Leadership? Leadership could be defined as the "process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task." (Chemers, M. M. (2002). Meta-cognitive, social, and emotional intelligence of transformational leadership: Efficacy and Effectiveness. In R. E. Riggio, S. E. Murphy, F. J. Pirozzolo (Eds.), Multiple Intelligences and Leadership.) In simple terms, leadership is the art of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal. Therefore, we could say that a leader is the person that "influences a group of people towards the achievement of a goal".
Real estate investing consist of working with other professionals and team members towards the achievement of a common goal. To be a successful real estate investor you need to be able to motivate and lead others to the achievement of a common good or plan. The subject of leadership is one that has been covered for many years and you can find thousand of books, articles and commentaries on the market offering ideas and theories on this subject. However, we cannot the importance of leadership in our businesses, leadership emerges in response to situations that require the very best you have.
The process of leadership requires the three Ps : Person, People and Purpose. The first P "Person" is the you the leader. The question is "Is leadership a position of office or authority? Or, is leadership an ability in the sense that he is a leader because he leads? Many times we confuse the role of the leader. A leader is not a tyrant, you could "lead by force", but that does not make you a leader. We may know of people who are in positions of leadership but who are not providing leadership. "Titles" and "position of office" are no guarantee of leadership. Remember that a true leader is one who goes first and leads by example, so that others are motivated to follow him. That is a basic requirement. To be a leader, a person must have a deep-rooted commitment to the goal that he will strive to achieve it even if nobody follows him!. He/she must have a clear vision of what they want.
Everyone is a potential leader, as long as they develop and execute effective leadership qualities. Here are some of the qualities that the Person must posses:
1. Integrity - Great business leadership is characterized by honesty, truthfulness, and straight dealing with every person, under all circumstances.
2. Courage - The ability to make decisions and act boldly in the face of setbacks and adversity is the key to greatness in leadership. Leadership is not
the absence of fear, but the control and mastery of fear.
3. Power - Power gravitates to the person who can use it most effectively to get the desired results. The key here is that leaders use power to advance the
interests of the organization rather than themselves.
4. Other qualities - realism, ambition, optimism, empathy, resilience, independence, emotional maturity, superb execution and foresight.
The next P is "Purpose" or Personal vision - the ability to visualize your goal as an accomplished fact; a thing already achieved.
"The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can't blow an uncertain trumpet."
Theodore M. Hesburgh
How do you become a leader with a purpose? You need guidance "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.(Prov 3:5-6). Next, is the realization that the goal cannot be achieved alone, without the help of others. The leader must integrate his (or the organization's) goal with his followers’ personal goals and then communicates this goal in such a way that they embrace it too and the goal becomes a common goal.
"The leader has to be practical and a realist, yet must talk the language of the visionary and the idealist."
Eric Hoffer
The Leader must communicate goals with "AIMS":
Achievable ... realistic yet faith stretching
Inspiring ... challenging your people to give of their best
Measurable ... quantifiable
Shared ... declaring your conviction in and commitment to the goal
The final P is "People"; To be a leader, one must have followers. To have followers, one must have their trust. What makes some individuals more effective than others as leaders? I think it can be summed up as follows:
1. Persuasion skills,
2. Leadership styles, and
3. Personal attributes of the leader.
4. Influence (a critical element of leadership - love for people). When people are convinced of your love for them and that you always have their interests upon your heart, they trust you and they will follow you up the highest mountain and into the deepest sea.
The real estate industry of today is a relatively mature industry with stable growth prospects. Real estate has emerged as an asset class of its own. Leaders of the real estate investing industry must work now in not making the mistakes of the past to prevent us from falling to the same traps and create the disasters caused. However, the recent collapse of the real estate market, thought us that the mentality of "If you build it, they will come,” will lead us to a tremendous oversupply. This coupled with unfounded lending practices caused the debacle of not just the real estate and banking industry, it almost collapsed our country. I understand that nobody wants to be responsible for moving the market out of balance, particularly in this uncertain economy,” however as leaders we must have the courage and integrity to do what is right.
This is not a complete list of the qualities of a leader. I invite you to share your thoughts about what qualities you think a leader should have.
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