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April 2017 — Property Management Quarterly — Page 31
choose our responses consciously and
mindfully. I always respond in email
so there is documentation. Choosing
my words means I maintain control
of the situation, which helps me be
the person I want to be and, by doing
that, my positive thinking changes to
positive behavior.
• Change your surroundings. Part of
changing your attitude may mean
changing your surroundings. That
might mean moving to be closer to
friends and family (or further away
from them if they are toxic). For oth-
ers, changing your surroundings may
be simple, something like a clean
house, hiking on the weekends or
taking a different route to work that
takes you past your favorite coffee
shop. Whatever it is, if it positively
impacts your attitude, do it!
You can change your Outlook set-
tings so it opens to your calendar
instead of to an overwhelming email
inbox, organize your desk, use a con-
ference room for a difficult client/
tenant call instead of sitting at your
desk, or put positive quotes on sticky
notes and place them around your
desk as reminders to keep your chin
up.
• Change the vocabulary of your
heart, mind and mouth. Exchange ver-
nacular like: problems, I can’t, I wish,
one of these days, I’m broke; with
words like: I will, I am, I can, tem-
porary setback, an opportunity for
improvement and an opportunity to
build a trustful relationship.
Most, if not all, of us have had ten-
ants who are upset with the common
area maintenance increases each
year and accuse us of “raising the
CAMs to line our pocket.”When this
happens, don’t focus on the insult;
instead, see this as an opportunity to
build a long-lasting, trusting relation-
ship with the tenant. By changing the
way we think about a meeting, we
can change the outcome of the meet-
ing.
In my experience, accusations like
this come from not having all the
information. Once the blanks are
filled in, people tend to act different-
ly. They still may not like the answer,
but at least they understand.
Now, let’s get real for a minute.
Every once in a while, my former
“victim mentality” rears its ugly
head. Last summer, I broke my left
foot and the injury nearly emotion-
ally destroyed me for about four
weeks. Then I had a conversation
with myself and literally said, “Suck
it up, buttercup! You are going to
have to push through this and figure
out ways to get things done while
following the doctor’s orders to stay
off your foot.”
It was not easy, but I did it. There
still will be setbacks; however, with
some self-awareness and great peo-
ple around you, those setbacks will
be temporary.
Frank Outlaw once said, “Watch
your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become
actions. Watch your actions; they
become habits. Watch your habits;
they become character. Watch your
character; it becomes your destiny.”
I think there should be one more
line that says, “Watch your destiny;
for it becomes your legacy.” Your
legacy starts with your thoughts –
in other words, your attitude. As a
property manager who interacts and
impacts dozens of lives on a daily
basis, what do you want your legacy
to be?
I ask you again – Can an attitude
shift make you a better property
manager? The answer is yes. s
Jackson
Mavi Unlimited
Michael Hoover
MC Commercial Real Estate –
Colorado Springs
Gosia Bikker
MC Commercial Real Estate –
Denver
Jim McLure • Dottie Regas • Michelle Tanner
Mountain West Industrial
Properties LLC
Michael Hicks
Newmark Grubb Knight Frank -
Property Managers
Dan Simpson • Theresa Dampier
Panorama Property Management
Don Palik, RPA
Prime West Development, Inc.
James J. Neenan
Urban, Inc.
Jim Murphy
Vector Property Services, LLC
Matt Smith • Wendy Williams • Mark Weston
W.W. Reynolds Companies, Inc.
Chad Henry
Weststar Management
Michael Hayutin • Kevin Hayutin
Wheelhouse Apartments
Zvi Rudawsky, CPM®
Providence Hospitality Partners
David B. Storm
Sessions Group LLC
Steve Sessions
Simpson Property Group
Todd S. Pope • Sharon O’ Connell, CPM
Christina Steeg
St. Charles Town Company LLC
Charles H. Woolley, II
The Jones Realty Group
Pamela J. Coburn, RPA
The Ross Management Group
Deborah Ross, CPM
Transwestern
Lyla Gambow • Rene Wineland
Karla Flowers
Property Management Directory
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT DIRECTORY
If your firm would like to participate in this directory, please contact Lori Golightly at r 303-623-1148 ext. 102