So I’m a resident again. Well, I actually have been for quite some time, since about November. Initially it was the dreaded, “OMG, I haven’t lived on site in about six years. This is going to be SUCH an adjustment!” And I won’t lie, it was. “Leaving work” isn’t leaving work for those of us that choose to live on site. You’re constantly “on” and you have to balance some semblance of work life and personal life in order to ensure…….well, sanity.

That balance is not always easily achieved, or necessarily understood, by yourself, or by others. But as long as you’re strict with yourself and have a proverbial line drawn in the sand, you can achieve it. However, another entirely different attribute is achieved when you live on site. Or at least for me it was achieved. I think it took a bit of maturity and allowing myself a different perspective.

What attribute am I talking about? Fiduciary responsibility. Everyone talks about it throughout your entire property management career. Treat it like you own it. Manage it like you own it. Decide like you own it.

It’s not that I’ve never practiced that, or always even taught my teams the same thing. I have. But I don’t think I fully embraced it and accepted it head-on until today.  I was always like, “Aaaaaaah I’m not confident in making that decision, let me make a phone call just to get that extra push that I am right in my way of thinking.” Then I had an epiphany today!

Today was NOT an easy day. Today it was as though there was, or will be a full moon, very soon. Issues occurred on the community last night, I got repeated phone calls and visits to the office about that and a million other things. And let’s be honest, on a Monday, right before the beginning of the month, you’ve really already got enough balls in the air to ensure your juggling capabilities. Adding anymore just makes you want to drop them all.

But I didn’t. I took each issue, each complaint, listened thoroughly, responded appropriately, made notes and got irritated with each and every one of the complaints. I get irritated with complaints because I have a tendency to take it personally, so I allowed that to simmer down a bit and then along came the new perspective and the epiphany.

Any issue that they’re having, I’m also facing, it’s just ten-fold because not only am I getting to experience it, I also get to hear about it (repeatedly, in some instances) and then address it and fix it. It’s not like I leave this place at the end of my workday. I’m in a perfect position to not just empathize but truly sympathize and say, “We will fix this!” And WE will, because WE are a community, and I’m proud of that fact that I don’t just walk out the door and away from it anymore, I’m a part of it as much as they are, which makes the OWNERSHIP of it just that much more glorious.

I decided to take the complaints I take so personally, the complainants that I sometimes want to roll my eyes aggressively at, and make it into something that I could tackle, something that I could achieve, something that would make me a better person, and a better manager. How can I avoid being so irritated by legitimately complaints? Own it. Fix it. How can I avoid being so annoyed by the complainants that seemingly have too much time on their hands? Own it. Become it. Be a part of it.

I feel like some sort of warrior princess who just conquered the world! (I did just get done working out, so that might have something to do with the warrior part…..). But I really do, I have finally gained the confidence and the backbone to tell people to stop being ridiculous! “This is MY property too!”, “That’s MY pool too!”, “WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?!?!?” and really be totally okay with it, without an added nudge, without the “aura” of confidence, but with true and total confidence.

I may as well own this place! I’m here every single day, I get the honor of managing it, why wouldn’t I be more confident in my place to say, “NO! That’s against the rules!”. It all makes sense now. And by the way, my FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITY with OWNING THE POOL starts with pool passes being assigned tomorrow……….