Rental housing industry leadership convenes in Tucson, Ariz., for some “peerspectives” at NAA’s Cultivate.
Tucson sits within a portion of the Sonoran Desert, a harsh and unforgiving environment. Yet, because of its subtropical weather and bi-seasonal rainfall, plants here have evolved not only to survive—but thrive. It’s therefore a fitting location for convening NAA’s inaugural Cultivate, an event focused on gathering industry leaders to collaboratively grow solutions amid an equally challenging multifamily environment.
Cultivate, a peer-to-peer, retreat-style experience, is a gathering place for rental housing senior leadership in search of growth and insight. Its two keynotes and 15 breakout sessions are designed to help foster solutions to a shared industry challenge—and in 2023, the challenge to tackle was staffing.
In the two days that followed, what emerged was a shared journey to identify a focused people strategy in an era of rapid and unpredictable change.
Day 1
With Emcee Curt Steinhorst, author, leadership strategist and people and culture expert, at the helm, the first day of Cultivate focused on two types of leadership: Introspective and team leadership. A perfect fit for the task, given his experience aiding organizations develop focused and productive leaders, teams, individuals and cultures.
First to the stage was keynote speaker Commander Mary Kelly, U.S. Navy (ret.), Ph.D., CSP, CPAE, a leadership expert, economist, author, professor and CEO of Productive Leaders. Kelly, who is a former Chief of Police, professor, Realtor and HR Director, has spent more than 25 years teaching and training more than 40,000 military and civilian personnel.
When it comes to staffing, Kelly says that great organizations share a few common characteristics: They build the bench early, constantly search for talent, provide opportunities for growth and development, encourage two-way mentorship and have a continuously updated leadership and promotion plan.
“A large part of personal and business success is determined by how and where we focus our thinking, efforts and resources,” she says. “That’s who we surround ourselves with, how we take care of ourselves, what we say and where we put our attention. Take notice of how we think, where we invest our energy and the environment we cultivate.”
Kelly offered five secrets to the attendees. She says that employees want a renewed and revised sense of purpose in their work. They want social and interpersonal connections with their colleagues, as well as to feel a sense of shared identity. They want pay, benefits and perks, but more than that, they want to feel valued by their organizations and managers. And they want meaningful moments, not just transactions.
“Make it easy for people to do things you want them to do, and make it easy for your people to do the right thing,” says Kelly. “How you treat your people is how they treat their residents.”
Introspective Leadership
The first round of breakout sessions focused inward, with sessions on culture-building, which forced leaders to examine the shadow they cast on their organization’s culture, as well as accelerating business through an awareness of self and others, which offered practical tips for addressing personal bias, overcoming misperceptions and identifying ways to enhance relationships through more effective communication.
The third session dove into mental wellness, offering resources for a healthier way forward. Presenters Arianna Royster, Executive Vice President at Borger Management, and Chiccorra Connor, President, Occupancy Heroes Incorporated, spent time helping leaders understand and identify burnout, as well as how to cope. “Most of us don’t ask for help when we need it,” says Royster. “The number one reason why is that we feel society is going to frown on us and our problems will get exposed. Burnout happens gradually and it manifests itself in a crisis.”
A second set of breakouts touched on additional important topics, specifically how unidentified biases affect organizations and how to overcome these preconceptions, as well as the benefits of authenticity in the workplace and how trust, intentionality and connection lead to a robust culture, positive performance and lower turnover.
“I’ve been to a lot of conferences, and this is more intimate and engaging,” says Allison Moledo, VP of Learning and Development for Grand Peaks in Denver. “The content is appropriate to the audience—great stuff.”
Says Jessica Eberbach, RVP of Operations for RPM Living in Grand Rapids, Mich., “The size of the event is very different—it allows for more intentional conversations and to really figure out solutions.”
Team Leadership
The first day’s breakouts concluded with sessions focused on team leadership. One delved into how as an individual moves up through the ranks, responsibilities and roles grow along with interaction with colleagues at all levels of the organization and at all levels of expertise. The challenge is balancing competing needs, personalities and time constraints while at the same time fostering collaboration, transparency and progress.
“I’ve been in the industry 28 years and attended almost all of the NAA events, and it’s by far a blessing to have a leadership conference,” says Beth Runles, Vice President, Conlin Properties, Des Moines, Iowa. “So many new ideas, insights and new perspectives, as well as outstanding networking.”
The second session in the block examined the art of commanding attention in an age of distraction, empowering attendees with a quickly implementable communication playbook, which included communication templates, knowledge-building strategies and tools for leaders to build belonging among their teams.
“I thought the relevance of the information—we’re dealing with so many crises—I don’t think it could be timelier, especially since our top job is being strong, present leaders,” says Patrick Fulcher, Klingbeil Capital Management, Manassas, Va.
Day 2
The second day kicked off with an early-morning inspiration walk, followed by breakfast and two TED-style talks offering refreshing perspectives on attracting and hiring talent, with the first focused on recruiting from outside the rental housing industry, the resources needed for new talent to succeed and the consequence of only hiring candidates with prior multifamily experience.
“We are in a staffing crisis,” says presenter Alex Watts, Director of Regional Maintenance for Greystar. “As leaders, we must understand what our hiring managers are doing. The industry leaders of tomorrow are being hired today, and we must impact our culture of hiring.”
The second talk featured a call to action: To refresh the industry’s image. Premised on recent government attempts to implement rent control and other adverse measures tied to the industry’s negative image, and in light of an overwhelming majority of NAA members who maintain quality apartments, embrace fair housing, maximize health and safety and
commitment to the communities they serve, presenters Daryl Carter, Chairman and CEO of Avanath Capital, and Carly Stevenson, Executive Vice President, Property Management for Avanath, ask, “How do we orchestrate an image makeover?”
Carter says that industry perception and staffing challenges are mutual concerns for the attendees—and echoing Watts’ presentation, says the industry needs to bring more fresh talent in. “We just hire each other’s free agents,” he says. “We don’t have a draft.”
Enterprise Leadership
The day’s breakout sessions emphasized enterprise leadership, with a first round featuring instruction on how to leverage influence to increase organizational impact, including cross-departmentally and managing up. A second session harkened Jim Collins in his book, “Good to Great,” underscoring the idea that great companies get “the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats,” by offering a deep dive into people assessment tools to aid in aligning an organization’s business and talent strategies.
“It’s truly been memorable for a first go-round, as good as anyone can expect,” says Mathew Haines, owner, KOMHATbl Property Management. “There were so many people I’ve never met before, and so many ideas shared, it inspires me to go back and be a better leader.”
Afternoon sessions focused on leading change within an organization, outlining the special set of skills required by senior-level real estate executives to successfully implement change initiatives. A highly collaborative session witnessed shared retention strategies specific to solving for payroll compression and payroll equity. Yet another enterprise leadership-centric session offered a blueprint for creating and communicating a compelling vision, where obstacles to leading with vision were identified, as well as a six-step process for creating a vision to inspire, motivate and unify a team. A concurrent session discussed embracing neurodiversity among the workforce and learning strategies leaders can use to create thriving teams and improve workforce productivity.
Cultivate concluded with Steinhorst delivering a closing keynote address focused on one’s most valuable and limited resource—not time, but attention. “What you give your attention to is what you value most,” he says. “There isn’t a more precious and rare give than giving someone your undivided attention.”
See You in September
“It exceeded expectations for a first-time event,” says Amy Wise, Partner, The Bella Group. “This is going to be the can’t-miss event for multifamily executives.”
Cultivate will convene Sept. 26 and 27 in Austin, Texas.
Frank Mauck is NAA’s AVP, Content Strategy, and can be reached at [email protected].