EPMEPM: Leadership

What’s the next step for your career?

From a humble property manager in suburban Perth over 20 years ago to an awarded industry influencer and thought leader working with international real estate companies, I am truly grateful for where my career has taken me. By continually planning, risking, investing, discovering and believing in yourself, you too can achieve this same success. To take your property management career to the next level, here are five steps I have used from the start of my career and continue to use today.

1 PLAN – MAP YOUR VISION
Having a future vision is essential if you want to take your property management career to the next level. Take the time to map out what your ideal career looks like. This plan should include your desired career milestones, timelines for achieving them, professional development budget, industry awards you want to work towards, and any events you want to attend or perhaps even present at. Look within and write a career plan that takes you from where you are today, to where you want to be tomorrow, and where you ultimately want to end up 20 years from now.

2 RISK – LEVERAGE NEW TECHNOLOGY
If you want to take your property management career to the next level, you must become an early adopter of new technology. Over the course of my career, I have seen many new technologies enter the industry and have eagerly adopted each one to see if they can improve my services, results, career and industry. You too must take a risk and leverage new technology, such as virtual and augmented reality property tours, drone photography and videos, digital signatures, chatbots, digital solar and property data-driven videos, to enhance your services. This helps you to stand out in your market area and the industry, which can lead to more and better job opportunities to advance your property management career.

Stop thinking you can’t afford to invest in yourself, and start thinking you can’t afford not to!

3 INVEST – ONGOING DEVELOPMENT
Successful property management professionals never stop learning. Every year, I invest 10 per cent of my annual earnings into my ongoing personal and professional development. To take your career to the next level, you too should invest in your personal and professional development, which includes having a mentor or coach to hold you accountable. Other avenues for ongoing development are leading-edge industry conferences. Stop thinking you can’t afford it, and start thinking you can’t afford not to! The more you invest in your personal and professional development, the further you can take your career.

4 DISCOVER – FIND YOUR SPECIALITY
If you want to succeed in property management, you must discover your speciality. Your speciality could be a niche service you love offering, or an industry area you have become extremely knowledgeable and passionate about. By continually learning and experiencing, your speciality will naturally be revealed. For example, over the course of my career I discovered a great interest and passion for business systems. I have since started a business where I consult to property management principals about this area of their company. Discovering your speciality helps raise your industry profile, which ultimately fast-tracks your career success.

5 BELIEVE – NEVER STOP
The most important step is to always believe in yourself, and never stop. When you achieve a career milestone, make sure you don’t stop there. There will always be something bigger and better you can aim for. This is when you start the steps again. Map out the next stage of your career to build on your knowledge and skills. Find new technology to improve your results. Continue to invest in your ongoing development, and discover new ways to refine your speciality.

Keep repeating these steps so you never stop learning and growing. Most importantly, believe in yourself and feel grateful for the successful career you have achieved. This is the key to take your property management career to the next level, now and in the future.

Remember, if you always plan, risk, invest, discover and believe in yourself, you too can achieve a successful career in property management.

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Jo-Anne Oliveri

Jo-Anne Oliveri, CIPS, TRC, Founder and Managing Director of property management business solutions company ireviloution intelligence. She is an international real estate identity who has trained over 500 agencies and thousands of agency owners and property managers worldwide. Visit ireviloution.com to find out more.