CPE Executive Council: Where CRE Leaders Miss the Mark on Team Leadership

Sometimes people can be a great broker or investor, but when it comes to managing a team, they fall short. This month, the CPE Executive Council shares their tips for becoming a strong mentor, advisor and leader.

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High Bar

The biggest gap I see in CRE leadership is the move from player to coach: under deal pressure, we default to muscling work through, which gets it done but doesn’t develop anyone. The tension between output and building the bench is real, and stress makes it worse, not better. The discipline is catching that in yourself, holding a high bar while actually teaching and being honest, fast, when someone’s in the wrong seat, because that’s not a judgment on them, it’s just information. —Doug Motley, Managing Principal, JLAM

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Modern People Leadership

Today’s commercial real estate leaders are exceptionally strong at transactions, capital markets, underwriting and deal execution—but many are underprepared for modern people leadership. The industry promoted generations of leaders based on revenue, relationships, and technical expertise, not on how well they manage teams in a rapidly changing work environment.

Below are the most common—and consequential—gaps where CRE leaders struggle when managing teams today.

Leading Hybrid & Distributed Teams

Where they’re underprepared

• Managing productivity without physical presence
• Building trust without “face time”
• Measuring outcomes instead of hours in-office

Many CRE leaders came up in a high‑visibility, in‑person apprenticeship model (bullpens, shadowing senior brokers, deal rooms). Hybrid work disrupted that model, and many leaders default to:

• Mandating office presence instead of clarifying expectations
• Confusing visibility with performance
• Micromanagement or, at the other extreme, disengagement

Why it matters

Top talent—especially younger professionals—expects flexibility. Leaders who can’t manage hybrid teams risk:

• Higher attrition
• Lower engagement
• Lost institutional knowledge

Coaching vs. Managing by Pressure

Where they’re underprepared

• Developing people, not just driving results
• Giving structured, growth‑oriented feedback
• Adapting leadership style by experience level

CRE has long rewarded pressure-tested performers. Many leaders learned through:

• Sink-or-swim environments
• Trial by deal fire
• Aggressive competition

As a result, some leaders still rely on:

• Fear of missing quotas
• Public performance comparisons
• Minimal feedback until something goes wrong

Why it matters

Today’s employees don’t just want compensation—they want:

• Skill development
• Clear career paths
• Managers who invest in them

Without coaching skills, leaders get performance in the short term but lose talent in the long term.

Emotional Intelligence & Self-Awareness

Where they’re underprepared

• Reading team morale
• Managing stress contagion during market volatility
• Adjusting communication style under pressure

CRE leaders operate in high‑stress, high‑stakes environments. When markets tighten, capital freezes, or deals fall apart, leaders often:

• Become short, reactive, or withdrawn
• Assume others “should just toughen up”
• Fail to recognize burnout until people leave

Why it matters

Teams take emotional cues from leadership. Low emotional intelligence often leads to:

• Silent disengagement
• Risk aversion (people stop raising concerns)
• Reduced collaboration across silos

Developing Next-Generation Talent (Especially Gen Z)

Where they’re underprepared

• Setting clearer expectations and feedback loops
• Explaining “why” behind decisions
• Providing faster recognition and course correction

Many CRE leaders interpret younger talent as:

“Less committed” or “less resilient”

In reality, expectations have changed:

• Faster feedback cycles
• More transparency around progression
• Clearer articulation of purpose and impact

Why it matters

The CRE talent pipeline is shrinking. Firms that fail to intentionally develop junior and mid‑level talent will face leadership vacuums in five–10 years.

Inclusive Leadership & Psychological Safety

Where they’re underprepared

• Encouraging dissent and challenge
• Managing diverse perspectives and backgrounds
• Addressing subtle bias in assignments, exposure, and promotion

CRE has traditionally been:

• Relationship‑driven
• Homogeneous at senior levels
• Informal in decision‑making

Many leaders don’t actively create environments where:

• Junior staff feel safe disagreeing
• Non‑traditional voices are heard
• Access to high‑profile work is equitable

Why it matters

• Teams without psychological safety:
• Miss risks
• Miss opportunities
• Reinforce groupthink—especially dangerous in cyclical markets

Scaling Themselves as Leaders

Where they’re underprepared

• Delegation beyond “task dumping”
• Letting go of being the smartest person in the room
• Building leaders under them, not just producers

Many CRE leaders still operate as super‑individual contributors:

• Personally reviewing everything
• Being the bottleneck for decisions
• Stepping back into deals instead of developing successors

Why it matters

This caps growth. Organizations don’t scale through heroic individuals—they scale through repeatable leadership capability.

Proactive Performance Conversations

• Where they’re underprepared
• Addressing issues early
• Separating performance from personality
• Having honest, constructive conversations without escalation

CRE cultures often avoid tough conversations until:

• Revenue drops
• A deal fails
• A client complains

By then, trust is already damaged.

Why it matters

The best teams normalize:

• Clear standards
• Regular feedback
• Transparent accountability

Without this, performance issues turn into culture problems. —Doug Ressler, Manager, Business Intelligence, Yardi

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Interested in joining the CPE Executive Council and being featured in future articles? Email Jessica Fiur.