Social Entrepreneurialism at Work

“I believe in trusting men, not only once but twice - in giving a failure another chance.” - James Cash Penney, Founder of J.C. Penney

In early 2009, Signature Community had a lot of residents who were suddenly unemployed through no fault of their own. We were in the throes of a terrible economy, and a good percentage of the population was unemployed or underemployed. Our resident base tends to be a little less educated, lower income and younger than the general population, so they were hit somewhat harder than most.  

We realized we had some significant choices to make at Signature.  We could start mass evictions and try to re-lease the apartments to better paying residents.  Or we could work with what we had and make what we had work.  Fortunately we chose the latter and made what I feel is one of Signature’s greatest contributions to society. 

And so was born “Signature Works”.  Signature Works gave any resident who was behind on their rent the option to come into one of our offices at 9am any day and be granted a full day’s work - any work - in exchange for credit against their past-due rent.  Signature Works was a huge departure from the norm in the apartment rental industry and the way that landlords typically operate.  Concerns were raised that we could be taken advantage of and the program would get out of control.  Fortunately, only the best in people arose out of Signature Works.  Working together as a community and taking short-term hits paid off in the long run.

I am humbly proud of the opportunities that Signature Works gave to hard working, smart people that unexpectedly wound up in difficult situations.  My favorite story is about the young woman who lost her job at Toyota just after the gas pedal recall in 2009.   She was a resident in one of our lowest priced apartments, but with no commissions coming in she couldn’t pay the rent.  She heard about Signature Works and was at the office at 9am the next morning.  We put her to work in the office and quickly realized that she had a talent for sales, so she started leasing apartments. Soon she became a valuable part of our leasing team and ultimately made it to our corporate office in New York City to head our national leasing program.  This all happened because we gave a resident a chance, and she ran with it.

I look back now a few years later, and, although we did have some problems, I am proud of the overall outcomes and hope that someday I will be able to create a legacy program that extends substantially beyond our own properties.

The other day someone sent me this link: Schwab Foundation’s Social Entrepreneurs of the Year.  I was encouraged to see that so many of the programs developed by these trailblazers have a similar tenet to Signature Works.  Give people a chance and a few tools, then set them loose.  Although some will inevitably fail, others will soar beyond our wildest dreams. 

It’s great to see people creating opportunities for other people to change the world!

Biggest Deal of the Year?

Late last year, the biggest deal announcement in the real estate industry for the past 5 years was announced.  It was the purchase of Archstone Enterprise from Barclays (formerly Lehman Brothers) by Equity Residential and Avalon Bay Properties for $16 Billion.  Interestingly, this was hailed as a huge win for Barclays and a sign that the apartment business has come back.  While I agree that times have gotten significantly better for apartment building owners since 2009, it is also important to point out that Lehman purchased Archstone for $22 Billion in 2007.  So over the 5-year hold the apartment company lost $6 Billion in value.  Or looking at it from a more useful angle, this deal indicates that the market is still off by over 25% since its height in 2007.  

I was amazed to see how the industry boldly stated that the value of this portfolio had increased by 50% from its value of $11 Billion in late 2008.  This pitch seems to be the method that the real estate industry is using now.  Many are boasting that the gains since 2009 are significant, but we are still not back to where we were in 2007 when a huge amount of deals were place into service.  

It’s great to see positive momentum, and I hope that the general economy continues to advance so that it is not just low interest rates driving the value proposition.

Miracle on Ice

Miracle on Ice

I don’t mean to monopolize my blog with news of my daughter’s synchronized ice skating team, but no sooner did I praise the spirit and efforts of this team that keeps coming in last, than they came in 6th out of 16 teams competing for the East Coast title.  I wish I’d had my camera ready when their coach told them that they placed 2nd in the qualifying round.  There were shrieks, tears, hugs, jumps, and ear-to-ear smiles from skaters, parents, and coaches alike.  Their spirit never shattered, and that optimism and hard work paid off big time this past weekend at Eastern Sectionals in Lake Placid, home of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics.   

Lake Placid was where the “Miracle on Ice” US hockey team defeated the Soviet team, who had won nearly every world championship and Olympic tournament since 1954.  They proceeded to go on to win the gold.  When I suggested to my daughter that her team is the new “Miracle on Ice”, she took offense.  She said that it wasn’t a miracle that they won.  They worked hard for it.  She had an excellent point, but I explained to her that it’s often a miracle that a last-place team will work so hard as to leap to the head of the pack so suddenly. 

One big change the team made was to utilize the entire ice rink and get as close to the edge as possible.  They had been staying in a smaller comfort zone, but it was restricting them from reaching their full potential and pleasing the judges.  Once they broke out of their self-imposed boundaries, it enabled them to gain more confidence in their abilities and talent.  Once they discarded the fear of failure, they excelled and succeeded.      

We have been spinning our wheels toward economic recovery.  It is often hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but all it takes is one break-through moment generated from weeks, months, and years of energy. Real estate can be a long frustrating process, but those who persevere are usually rewarded in the end.  I continue to applaud the Signature team for its Olympic attitude.

"Central Park Ice" Synchronized Skating Team

Synchronized Teamwork

“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.”  - Henry Ford

This weekend I got to experience teamwork in an arctic sort of way.  My daughter is the captain of her synchronized ice skating team, called Central Park Ice, and this weekend they held an exhibition in front of the frozen-solid, jam-packed Wollman Rink in Central Park.  The team was newly formed this past September and has been working hard over the past few months to operate as a team.  You see, the coach took a bunch of individual figure skaters and is coaching them to work as a team and look like one as they glide across the ice.  This sounds like something we strive for every day in Corporate America: trying to get many individuals to work as a team.

In synchronized ice skating, the points are not scored by footwork alone.  The judges are looking at many moving targets, including heads and arms, which must be precisely in sync.  This is so much like what we deal with at the office. Sure there are plenty of big picture issue to point fingers at (bad economy, political unrest, etc), but the difference between success and failure for a team is really about executing on a well established plan and getting the details right.

“Lot’s of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.”  - Oprah Winfrey

Our girls compete against other seasoned teams from all around the Northeast.  Among several hurdles they have to overcome are the newness of the team, rained- and snowed-out practices at our outdoor rink, and Manhattan-priced ice-time, which leaves them with less practice time than the other teams. So while this year has not been great on paper from a competitive standings perspective, these 14 girls and their coaches are the most optimistic group I have ever seen.  Many people I know might have thrown in the towel by now, but these girls keep going out there and are getting better and better. They are learning from their failures every week.  After a not-so-great placing at their last competition, they added an extra practice and had a judge come to critique their performance.  How often do work groups fall apart and start pointing fingers after failure instead of examining what the team can do better next time?  Let’s learn from this group and work harder and smarter after our failures.

“Teamwork…is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”  - Andrew Carnegie

After many months of practice and competitions against many seasoned teams, I think this weekend it really clicked. This group of individuals realized that the results of the group are dependent upon each individual’s efforts and that they are only as strong as the weakest link.  They have grown over the past few weeks to really embrace that mantra and raise each other up as individuals, and it shows as a team.

Corporate America can learn something from these young girls about teamwork.  They are out there practicing on dark, cold mornings before school and other times when their friends are going on play dates.  They are working together toward the greater good of the team. 

“Anyone who thinks my story is anywhere near over is sadly mistaken.”  - Donald Trump

Last but not least, I can’t resist mentioning that the team mascot (by default) is Donald Trump. He owns Wollman Rink, so in true form his name and face are everywhere.  The girls are inspired by his attitude that “You’re fired!” if you don’t do it.  So maybe that perspective will rub off on our girls as they go onto college and the rest of their lives. I am fan of Trump’s never-give-up attitude, and it seems that it has definitely rubbed off on our girls.

Ideas, Innovation, Implementation

“They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” — Andy Warhol

Every year at Signature we spend time around the end of the year focusing on new strategies to improve the company, and 2012 was no different.  We just finished up on what we call our SI3 initiative.  (Signature - Ideas, Innovation and Implementation).  During the past 3 months team members from all across the company worked in virtual teams to study what we do and how we can do it better.  Lots of time was spent talking to people in all areas of the organization with two rules in mind: (1) we have no sacred cows and (2) any change is fair game as long as we have buy-in from the people in the field who have to make the new idea actually happen.

This year resulted in some really impressive results with the teams presenting their ideas to the full company last week. Some of the ideas are pretty simple yet valuable, such as buying a paint sprayer for each property or developing a tracking method for HVAC filter changes.  

“We cannot solve a problem by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” — Albert Einstein

Others were pretty major for our team.  The Team Member Time Team researched and evaluated every scheduled meeting in the organization and then asked “WHY?”.  In one case we had a weekly meeting scheduled due to an implementation plan that was rolled out over 7 years ago.  The Team Member Time Team concluded that this meeting could easily be eliminated or restructured to better utilize Team Members’ time.  

“Ideas are useless unless used.” — Theodore Levitt

The Signature Team once again did a bang-up job of developing effective changes that we can make all over the company, focused on solving the problems in an innovative way, and then made the implementation happen on a company-wide basis. 

Thanks to the whole Signature Team for keeping Signature ahead of the curve.