“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” During times like the COVID-19 crisis, no one truly knows the way. But good leaders can take strong, educated guesses on where things are headed – and then lead through positivity, helping to advance warm feelings throughout an entire organization.
This is a priority throughout Rastegar, including our property management division.
“When the pandemic started affecting our daily lives back in March, I was constantly pep-talking my team,” said Megan Dodd, who was recently promoted to Director, Asset Management – Multi-family at Rastegar. “I just motivated them as much as I could with a message of ‘we can do this.’”
When times are uncertain, and things get tough, that’s when you realize who is strong, and essentially, the survivors are differentiated from the non-survivors.
Dodd used a strategy of motivating her team, preparing – and then implementing. Failure wasn’t an option – and she took some of her motivation from a Pablo Picasso quote that Rastegar draws inspiration from – “Everything you can imagine is real.”
As a result of Dodd’s positivity, the property management team saw a record number of leases in both April and May, during the height of the pandemic.
Throughout history, some of the greatest leaders have emerged through adversity. People are capable of accomplishing amazing things during times of crisis.
At Rastegar, we prefer to lead through positivity. Everything will be okay – if not tomorrow, then soon after that – and it’s important to communicate that to your teams. There is value in every situation, and in times of uncertainty, leaders need to highlight those positive examples.
Not only that – but we believe strong leadership starts at the top of an organization.
“My team knows that I have great people backing me who completely support us, including Rastegar CEO, Ari. It’s an excellent culture fit for me,” said Dodd.
In addition to remaining positive and motivating our teams, we are dedicated to checking in with remote employees daily. Our calls during the height of stay-at-home included a wellness check where we first related to employees on a personal level – and then we focused on work goals for the day ahead.
Overall, our techniques not only create a happy and secure working environment, but they also help us deliver the most substantial results for our clients. Reliably delivering value to our clients is key to the success of our business, and we do this by creating an understanding culture of accountability and respect.
