The Senior VP of the company I work for is always pushing her area and regional managers to think at a 10,000-foot level. Some of the newer, non-seasoned managers now overseeing two or more properties may find it hard to shift between details and bigger picture thinking. While I am certainly not a CEO, I’ve had the privilege to learn a little bit about them, their styles, and how they think. In the next few paragraphs I’ll share with you what I’ve learned. What you’ll find is bigger picture—10,000-foot—level thinking is not rocket science.

1. Hire people smarter than you. In grad school I had the opportunity to hear the legendary CEO Jack Welch speak about his career. One of the things he said that will forever stick with me is that he always hired the very best—admittedly, people smarter than him. He argued that hiring the brightest made his job easier. Smart people have better problem solving skills, communication skills, and are better critical thinkers. Companies like Google and Apple purposefully recruit from top colleges like Stanford and UCLA—they hire the brightest for their ideas and creativity. So, why would you not want to hire someone brighter than you? Do you fear they might try and take your job? If this is so, then you have a self-esteem issue. Ultimately, the “leader” that thinks he or she knows it all is toxic to an organization. In the IREM white paper series, Alfred Ojejinmi explains that when you “acknowledge what you have to learn [versus pretending to know it all], you are telling your team that it is okay not to have all the answers, to make mistakes and ask for help.”

2. Celebrate achievement. In a social context, bragging is not acceptable. The opposite is true in the business arena. The best example of boastful business behavior that immediately comes to mind is with Chevrolet. In one particular TV commercial, all of their vehicles are lined up and every vehicle is announced not by its features but rather the awards it has won. Awards and accolades resonate with consumers and create a competitive advantage—a mark of distinction if you will. If your property has ever won at “Top Rated” award with ApartmentRatings.com—talk about it. Internal company award? Talk about it. ORA™ Elite 1%? Boast! You are doing your property, company, and owners a disservice if you keep these things a secret. In the foyer of one property I manage, prospects are greeted by a large, colorful, 33”x80” banner stand that lists just about every award the property has ever won (even awards that are several years old). Do members of your staff have credentials from IREM or NAA? Use these logos too. They need to know that the property they might be living at is led by credentialed, competent people. Just about all of the companies that award communities will allow you to use their logo for free with permission. Put these logos on all of your marketing collateral: stationary, business cards, even your email signature. Don’t forget talking about them on social media, your property’s website, or even to your owners. When prospects tour your community make sure you talk about them and champion these accolades. Believe me, it matters to them. If they don’t know what a particular acronym means, explain it to them enthusiastically. They’ll ask the next property they tour if they have it, too. Your awards need to be in your customer’s face at all times. Don’t let them forget that your property is a cut above the rest and the one they should be living at.

3. Think like your customer. In order to think like your customer you have to know your customer.  Top companies are constantly surveying their existing customers and using other means like focus groups to learn more about them. Car companies can tell you the average age of their customer, how much money they make, the industry they work in, and probably the even the color of their hair. They have all of this information for each model the company makes. It is really quite impressive. As property managers, you are the CEO of the property you manage. Do you know everything there is to know about your customer? If you don’t, then odds are you aren’t serving them the best way you can.

One of the common themes in B-school is that the best business is one that has a customer-centered approach. In summary, if your business is focused on pleasing the customer (emphasis on the entire customer experience), you will be successful. Don’t get complacent after the resident moves in. There are many touch points that occur after move-in that can be explored to tweak and perfect: service requests, online rent payment, resident activities, renewal, etc. SatisFacts is a great tool to see how you are performing with the move-in process, service request process, and others. Are your resident events tailored to your resident profile? Is your online rent payment system user-friendly and operational? If this is a selling point at your property it needs to work. The property management business is all about processes. Focus on your processes and put yourself in the place of the consumer.

4. Become the one minute manager. Have you ever read “The One Minute Manager” by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson? If not, you need to. There is no CEO that hasn’t been a manager, and I can guarantee that the most successful ones use Blanchard’s and Johnson’s techniques as outlined in this book. Two themes that have stuck with me are one minute praising’s and one minute coaching’s. Blanchard and Johnson stress the importance of catching people doing something right. That’s right—not wrong. If you catch your team doing something right take a minute and praise them. Tell them what they did right, why you appreciated it and that you look forward to them doing more things right. Praising’s—while simple—have a profound effect on the person receiving them. In Maslow’s “hierarchy of needs” psychologist Abraham Maslow identified that all humans have a need to feel respected and valued by others. When you praise—and praise consistently—you are satisfying this basic need and cultivating a loyal, long-term employee. Secondly, Blanchard and Johnson stress the technique of “one minute coaching’s”. Part of this concept deals with employees coming to you needing help on a particular problem. Instead of telling them what to do, ask them how they would fix the problem. Most of the time, employees will be able to effectively come up with a solution on their own. Ask them questions as they work through these solutions and then ask “Is what you would do if you were manager?” If the answer works, let them run with it. This simple technique will build trust, enhance problem solving skills and empower the employee.

5. Develop your emotional intelligence, or EQ. Arguably the most important soft skill we could have, renowned psychologist Dr. Travis Bradberry coined emotional intelligence as the “ability to recognize and understand emotions in yourself and others, and your ability to use this awareness to manage your behavior and relationships.” When you are able to understand your own emotions, you’ll be able to accurately perceive the emotions of others—allowing you to better manage relationships. It has been said that people that have high EQ are more successful in business and in life because of their incredible ability to make people feel good about themselves. Think about it—if you are more effective at reading your team and making them feel their needs are understood, don’t you think this would enhance performance? This topic is much too complex to go into further detail but nonetheless is critical for further understanding. There have been books written about EQ alone and its effects in business. The Institute of Real Estate Management, or IREM, has published white papers on self-awareness, and motivating others, two major themes of EQ. Dr. Travis Bradberry has written excellent publications on leadership and emotional intelligence. Do yourself a favor and do some further reading on EQ and apply its principles to enhance the performance of the people that work for you.

 CEO’s are normal people that have one very special skill: the ability to persuade. They are experts in the ability to channel their thoughts in such a concise, clear way that they can captivate their audience to see things the way they do, and move them. Don’t confuse persuasion with manipulation. The best CEO’s have keen self-awareness, self-confidence and are 100% comfortable with what they don’t know. Even if you aren’t yet a CEO, you can use some of these pointers to be the CEO at the property—or properties—you manage.