Reflections on a Career - 1

It sure looked like I’d be in the homebuilding business as a career. I was advancing up “the ladder” and was enjoying my job. I worked for people who treated me well. I was given opportunity upon opportunity. I was learning about leadership, project management, budgeting, and I had a fair amount of authority to “make things happen”. My immediate boss trusted me and his boss trusted me - people knew they could count on me. I loved the pressure of building and delivering homes on schedule, I thrived on it. That is one thing I have always missed about homebuilding in my property management career - the thrill of making something out of nothing, the thrill of having a non-negotiable delivery date and doing what you needed to do to bring the house in on time and on budget. I have worked, along with others, late into the night and into the next morning to deliver homes on time - especially at the end of a quarter or the end of a year. Those times were exhilarating to me - pure challenge and pure fun. I think, at times, some of my property management colleagues and staff have thought me a bit strange in my push to get things done, not waiting, being proactive, and not taking “no” for an answer. My background in homebuilding has been a great help in my property management career (it may have hurt me as a pastor!).

But as well as I was treated there were things going on that I couldn’t live with. When my division president was made, I believe, a scapegoat during a national scandal in the industry, was fired, and shortly thereafter committed suicide, it greatly affected me. He was a wonderful man, gentle, kind, had once considered the Roman Catholic priesthood, a family man, and had a long history with the company and the founder of the company. He treated me with respect when I was just a “kid”, gave me the responsibility of negotiating the settlement of a significant lawsuit - he was humble and I will never forget him.

The man who took his place also treated me quite well and I learned a lot from him as well as from my immediate boss. I had no complaints about the way I was treated. But...the inequity in the way others were treated bothered me more and more. I saw hardworking project managers who were honest and did their jobs well treated differently from others who were not honest; I saw someone promoted to a position who had not been honest and who stole from the company and who also was involved in drugs. The questionable people had long work histories with each other that predated their employment with our firm - so in retrospect I can only guess that something in their shared history bound them together - my boss’s boss was a part of that group. Again, I was treated well, but the injustice of the environment became too much for me.

Even though my future, as far as one could tell, was secure; even though I was being given more and more responsibility; even though I was the “go to” person for more and more important projects - I was deeply troubled by what I saw, my soul was troubled.

One of my roles was working with homeowners’ associations; I was the developer’s representative on the boards of directors, I worked with our attorneys on drafting association governing documents, I was the in-house person who dealt with this aspect of the business. I enjoyed the legal and organizational aspects of this work.

One day I saw an ad for a property manager for homeowners’ and condominium associations. I took a business card and wrote on the back, “I can do it all” and mailed it. In a few days I got a call from the owner of the company, had an interview, received a job offer, accepted the offer, resigned from my position, and began my career in property management.

When my boss’s boss received my resignation and came into my office he asked me, “Why?”

I replied, “I can’t trust you anymore. I see too many things that shouldn’t be happening. You have always treated me well and I’ll never forget what I’ve learned, but I can’t stay.”

In light of the above it’s kind of ironic this man taught me one of the most valuable things I’ve ever learned - spend time with your people. I hope I’ve practiced that over the intervening decades. I’ve tried to instill this in my managers - there is nothing more important than spending time with your people. As a pastor I’ve tried to practice that, as a small group leader, and as a friend - there is no substitute for time spent with others.