The Art of Letting Go

The Warburg management team (we have grown to 14 people from the nine I remember meeting with a decade ago) met in Beacon, NY last week for a two day strategic retreat. In addition to spending a wonderful hour and a half at Dia: Beacon, perhaps the coolest contemporary art space on the Eastern Seaboard, we focused on honing our mission and vision for the company. Led by my daughter, who ran many similar events during her tenure at the Boston Consulting Group, we pursued a series of exercises designed to articulate and align our priorities and then conceive how those might play out over the next five years.

Regardless of the nature of the enterprise, retreats are fascinating. You never know going in what you will have learned by the time you emerge. People interact in unexpected ways, with unexpected results. It can be uncomfortable, exhilarating, anxiety provoking, and revelatory. And whatever the business, roles are reassessed, priorities reexamined, plans recalibrated.

Fortunately, our group started out quite closely in sync about the company mission. We are a values driven organization first and foremost, choosing ethical behavior and relationship building over the relentless pursuit of the deal at any price. We are committed to maintaining our unique internal culture, based on a low agent to manager ratio, a high level of training in the fundamentals and complexities of our business, and zero tolerance for actions which push outside the parameters of fair dealing. We recognize and accept that this limits our size, since it is impossible to monitor the behavior of thousands of people.

Envisioning the future requires more of a leap of faith than describing the present. Although here too we found much agreement, our blended vision of Warburg’s future pushes everyone a little outside their comfort zone, requiring them to let go of behaviors to which they are accustomed and pursue strategies which are less familiar and intuitive. This means that our Sales Directors must become even more proactive as coaches and recruiters, and less reactive as problem solvers (one thing I have learned over the years is that most agents who come to me with an issue already know the solution.) The Marketing staff needs to consistently develop fresh approaches that enable us to rise above the “sea of sameness” in which most real estate marketing swims. Our IT department has to keep us ahead of the curve on technology solutions, especially considering that as a community New York remains a hopeless backwater for real estate technology! Our finance and accounting professionals must be creative in modeling the most effective ways for us to deploy our resources.

And then there’s me!

I don’t much like being told what to do. Probably most people don’t, but my daughter (often my harshest critic as well as my biggest supporter) tells me I like it even less than most other people. So I am resistant to the notion, especially coming from others, that I have to change my behavior. But I do.

It’s possible, and perhaps even desirable, to know and oversee every aspect of a relatively young 50 person organization. But it’s neither possible NOR desirable to do the same with an organization of 150, or 200, or 250. I have assembled, over the years, a terrific team who really know their stuff. As their talents develop, my role evolves. They need to be managed, but not micromanaged. My job, increasingly, is to oversee the managers, embody the culture, and steward the brand. Each of these jobs requires time and attention. And unlike many of the other tasks with which I have historically involved myself, no one can do them except me.

We enjoyed vigorous conversation, a lot of agreement, and some difficult moments during our two days in Beacon. We pushed ourselves and revealed ourselves in ways which were both moving and uncomfortable. We emerged re-dedicated to a sense of shared purpose in moving this wonderful entity to which we are all committed forward while championing the attributes which make it unique. I was reminded that much of leadership is modeling. So if I want change, I have to model it! My challenge for the balance of 2014…