Here at RENT SODA, we've been talking about success A LOT. From our recent article (Build on Your Strengths: Build Success by Jim Baumgartner) to our Profiling Your Way to MORE Success sales classes, to every day conversations with our clients ("We want our manager to be more successful,"), it seems everyone is talking about "SUCCESS."

It begs the question:

Do You Have What it Takes To Be Successful in the Multi-family (Apartment) Industry?

or better yet:

What DOES it Take To Be Successful in the Multi-Family (Apartment) Industry?

We have been pondering this over the last few weeks. We've decided to do a series of articles on individual SUCCESS in the Multi-Family Apartment Industry. We've started researching and interviewing successful people - you'll want to read what they have to say - so check back weekly as we post those articles!

First, we looked for individuals who were successful in the following categories:

1. Someone who has had multiple career advancements and now holds one of the top positions in their company. (i.e. someone who started at the bottom and worked their way up to VP, CEO/COO/CFO or founder of a company in the Multi-family industry.)
2. Someone who started in property management and has made a successful transition into a vendor role.
3. Someone who started in a vendor role and has made a successful transition into a property management/development company.
4. Someone who started at the corporate-side of the multi-family apartment business and has successfully transition into an on-site (at the apartment community) position.
5. Someone who started on-site (at the apartment community) and has successfully transitioned into a corporate position at their management company.

We asked our network for recommendations on those people that they feel were successful in the categories defined above, interviewed them and asked them how they became successful. We heard lots of GREAT stories, uncovered GREAT tips, and gained WONDERFUL insights into these successes - and we'll share these stories with you over the next few weeks.

We found some commonalities in our first round of interviews - we're going to share those with you to wet your appetite for success. We're still in the process of finishing up our interviews, but believe these 3 qualities aren't going to change:

TOP 3 Qualities of Successful Multi-Family Apartment Careers

1. Successful individuals in ALL categories EMBRACED change. Sometimes they were thrust into the changes, sometimes they instigated the changes, sometimes they recommended the changes, and even at times, they were initially against the changes, but whatever the reason for the change, they EMBRACED it. ALL of our interviewees talked about change as the ONLY constant in their careers > and embracing changes was one of the keys to their success. NONE of our interviewees said, "I just wanted to go to work and do my job."

In fact a couple of them mentioned that complacency within any position is a red flag that you're not doing the best job you could be doing > which could eventually lead to failure.

Change can mean anything - change in market/economy, change in responsibilities, change in supervisor, change in ownership, change in technology, change in location, change in portfolio, change in team members. - you have to always be pushing that envelope, embracing change, and figuring out how it can benefit you, your property, your goals, and your apartment owners.

2. Successful individuals in ALL categories said YES. They were problem solvers for their supervisors/companies/sites/etc - they said YES to challenges, they said YES to change, they said YES to responsibility, and ultimately, YES to success.

We're not talking about being a YES man/woman. We're talking about a positive attitude of "Yes I can - I'll find a way" rather than a negative attitude of "No, I can't, NO that can't be done."

Who would you rather work for? Who would you rather work with? A "YES I CAN" person or a "NO I CAN'T" person? People who are promoted aren't known for saying, "NO, what you're asking us to do can't be done," they are known for taking a seemingly impossible situation/challenge and saying "Yes, there's got to be a way - it'll be tough, but I'm sure I can figure it out." If you can solve a seemingly unsolvable problem for your supervisor/your company/your industry - you will be noticed.

3. Successful individuals in ALL categories were active communicators. All of our interviewees were articulate, well-spoken, individuals with an ability to clearly communicate their thought process. We noticed this in our interviews - it was easy to follow their stories, understand their frame of mind, and see the natural progression of their career successes. Have you ever talked to someone who is hard to understand? Jumps from topic to topic? Someone who doesn't tie in all their points - perhaps their communications have no point? Perhaps they are long-winded? Our interviews could have been explaining the complexities of rocket fuel - but they would have found a way to make it easy to understand and pertinent to what we were talking about. HOWEVER, this is not the case with all individuals in life.

Let's not forget the word ACTIVE.

We noticed that all our interviewees were active in communicating their goals to their teams, active in communicating their processes to their supervisors, active in communicating their needs on a project, active in communicating their career desires. The key word is ACTIVE. None of our interviewees were passive-aggressive and hoped they would be noticed for promotion. None of our interviewees hoped clients would pick up the phone and call them to buy a product. None of our success interviewees hoped a job would land in their lap. No one we spoke to was hoping someone else would tell them what to do/how to do it. Not a single one of our interviewees hoped to get the budget they needed in order to complete a goal/challenge that they had been given. They were all active at communicating their wants/needs/processes/responsibilities/etc - so that everyone knew where they stood, and how to help them get to their goals. This seems like common sense, but how many of us know someone who works hard and hopes that someone notices and gives them a raise/promotion/award? Do you know someone who doesn't ask about the expectations of a job? How about a boss who expects that everyone can read their mind? How about someone who is given a challenge but doesn't ask for the parameters of the challenge? We have all been that person, or know that passive person. Don't be a passive communicator and hope your actions talk louder than words. Be an ACTIVE one! COMMUNICATE!

These are just the tip of the success iceberg.

Join us after Thanksgiving and read about the STORIES, heartaches, struggles, tips that these successful individuals have to share with RENT SODA.

Be ready to be moved to greater success.

If you know someone who you feel has been successful in our defined categories above, please send us an email and recommend them for an interview!

You can read the original blog entry on my blog at: 

http://blog.rentsoda.com/2010/11/top-3-qualities-of-successful-multi-family-apartment-career/

Daisy Nguyen is owner and CEO of RENT SODA, a consulting company offering apartment marketing, business & operations consulting and apartment industry training.

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