Selfless Mentorship
The real estate and relocation industry has a problem, an age problem. Our industry is being faced with a record number of retirements and layoffs taking industry intelligence and expertise out the door with them. It is critical that we ensure that knowledge base is not lost by passing on years of experience through mentoring.
My friend Jim Moran is the best mentor I know. I would argue that he and his company produced more successful relocation professionals out of their relocation division than any real estate company in our industry. When Jim joined the company he was mentored by another friend of mine, Janet Reilly, and knew the impact a great mentor had on his own career. Here’s how he and Dru Richards and his top staff did it:
Hired people straight out of college either through temp agencies or via internships. Their modus operando was to do temp to perm from temp agencies. They could test drive them. That way if they showed promise, they kept them. If not, out they went.
Showed them the promise of a career even though they all started at the most basic of levels and only viewed this as a short term job.
Move them around in different departments to get them more experience and to see where they thrived. That would also build their resume for when they moved on.
Gave them snappy titles and business cards showing them what it was like to be a part of something and that the company was invested in them.
Put them in teams with senior staff so they could collaborate and overhear those with more experience.
Took them to branch office meetings, industry events and to client meetings.
Paid them well and gave them the opportunity for bonuses based on performance to retain them.
Watched out for the ones that showed initiative and moved them up accordingly.
Gave them project work to see how they performed with little oversight.
Engaged them in decision making for policy regarding the entire department.
Organized events to help them bond, keep them engaged and made sure they had fun.
Encouraged them to post for internal jobs that moved them up the ladder.
I would also add that if we were talking about mentoring in our current working climate, we might add remote work or flex time or maybe even job sharing. We have to get creative.
But the best thing he and his leadership did was to be selfless. He would let them know about jobs across the country that he thought they might be right for if they were willing to relocate. It takes a special person to inflict that kind of pain on yourself. I know, because I was the recipient of one of his protégés. And I lost that protégé when he moved on to bigger things. He’s now the president of a company and I like to think I had a tiny part in his journey. It’s hard to invest so much time and energy in people and then lose them as they move up the ladder. But if we are truly going to grow the leaders of the future, we have to give them what we can and reap the benefits of their contributions until they are ready to move on to bigger things.
Of course this is easier to achieve when we have a large relocation department. When running a two person shop, the second in line may see no upward opportunity when the leader has no plans of going anywhere. That’s when we have to help people seek out opportunities outside of our own company maybe even crossing over into other service provider opportunities.
A coordinator that is not exposed to industry opportunities may never see a chance for an upward trajectory. It may seem like a cause that will create hardship, but how many coordinators are out there that feel stuck or bored or are not able to see a future for themselves in our industry. It’s easy to find yourself feeling threatened by an employee who has high aspirations. My own job was ultimately replaced with people that worked for me. I was ok with it because I taught them well and I felt like a tiny bit of my legacy was being carried forward. We have to get over the threat of it for the sake of our industry and the opportunity to bring talent into a field they might not have otherwise chosen.
Jim’s leadership has improved our industry by bringing up kids right out of college who never thought of relocation as a career option. Now they are in senior positions in many facets of our business influencing the future and contributing to the direction of our industry.
I am thankful to all of those who mentored me along the way and for those who continue to mentor others in our industry. Happy Thanksgiving!
“A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself.” ~ Oprah Winfrey
