"Rommel! Can you fix my leaders with a one-hour talk???"

I remember talking with a prospective client who was super frustrated with his team of managers, and he called me in the hope that I could "fix" them with a one-hour talk.

They had recently promoted a group of assistant managers to community managers and they were frustrated and angry at their lack of effectiveness as leaders. I discovered that they were not given any training or guidance to handle their new roles. In fact, this cohort was promoted precisely because the executive team thought this group would need the least amount of hand-holding. 

So, they got no hand-holding. 

The result?

PAIN.

As I worked individually with these new leaders I discovered they were good people who wanted to do a great job. They were just ill-equipped to do it. So, they felt stuck, their executives felt frustrated, and everyone was miserable. 

Leadership doesn't happen by accident, yet many multifamily companies approach leadership development like it's an afterthought—until, of course, there's a crisis. A key leader leaves, a team struggles, and suddenly, there's a scramble to 'find' a leader (or fix the leaders) instead of realizing the leadership should have been developed all along.

If you want a team of strong, engaged leaders (and future leaders), avoid these common leadership killers:

1. Promoting Based on Performance, Not Leadership Ability (Or Potential)

The best leasing consultant doesn't automatically make the best manager. The most skilled tech doesn't always make the best supervisor. Yet, many companies promote their top performers simply because that's who they think they should promote, and without preparing them for their new roles. Leading isn't easy. (Neither is following!) So putting the wrong person in the wrong seat often backfires, leaving the leader, his/her team and YOU really frustrated.

2. Relying on "Check The Box" Leadership Training

You know what I'm talking about, right? You realize that your team needs a boost in its leadership capability, so you find a YouTube video, or source one from an online LMS you subscribe to and expect that to suffice for robust training. It won't. Sustainable leadership REQUIRES a solid framework for your leaders to follow, ongoing reinforcement, real-time feedback and effective coaching—because leadership is developed over time.

3. Expecting Overworked Training Teams to Do It All

A recent training client of mine partnered with me to do a training workshop for his company, because the training team just did not have the capacity to create and deliver this training. With their responsibilities to provide compliance and technical training, onboarding new associates, handling HR issues, and answering the constant questions from the portfolio, they were just stretched too thin to conduct the training that I am doing for them. When training teams are spread too thin, the entire learning and development process inevitably suffers.

4. Hoping Leaders Will Suddenly Learn How to Lead

i've noticed that many organizations operate under the "fingers-crossed" philosophy of leadership development, which is, "Well, I hope they figure it out as they go along." Yikes. Now, of course, experience is crucial, but trial-and-error leadership is expensive! Sure it "saves" you money on the front end. But, the back end looks like higher turnover, disengaged teams, lower morale and poor performance. How expensive is that?

5. Waiting To Train Until They Have a Title

If you wait until someone is already managing to start training them, you're too late. The strongest companies build a leadership pipeline from the ground up, equipping employees at all levels with the skills to lead. Think about it, how great would it feel to have leaders READY to lead on day one? You can, if you're willing to create your framework and start training emerging leaders now.

Start Now

If any of these mistakes sound familiar, the good news is—there's a better way. But, I'm not going to lie it will take time, energy, and resources. And if you're struggling with the "cost" of investing in your leaders, I want you to reflect on these questions...

What would having a team of equipped, excited and empowered leaders make possible for you?

If that were your reality, would it be worth it?

Can you commit today to investing in building your leadership team?