TEN Takeaways from Neil Lacheur, EVP & Principal, Avison Young
ICYMI: HILO’s David Abrams welcomed David Popler, Managing Director, Solutions Development at JLL to the TEN Podcast to chat about using data to elevate client service. Here are our TEN takeaways:
1. Really hard work can be gratifying and exhilarating
Neil shares that he and his brother “started the company that ultimately became The Elevator News Network, which at the time it was that, but ultimately became Captivate, which is still a going concern. And I’m no longer involved obviously, but that was in itself an amazing experience because that was super entrepreneurial. It was a startup, things that you can relate to David, bootstrap financing, new concepts, really pushing the envelope, talk about hard work.”
2. Competencies > experience
At a crossroads in his career, Neil spoke with Peter McDonald at Manulife who shared “another great life lesson, a career lesson, he said, I believe in transferable skills, I believe in competencies more than experience. And he goes, your experience is outside real estate. But I think there’s some core competencies that can help our organization. And he took a flyer on me and I accepted the job as a property director for the Toronto region, and what got me into property management and the real estate game.”
3. Surround yourself with great people, at great companies
When asked what has led to his success, Neil says “I’ve been fortunate enough to be surrounded and surround myself with really great people and being able to work for some really great companies and those things combined inform your perspective and inform your decision making, but also the experiences that I’ve had along the way, right?” He continues by saying “I’m certainly not the most talented guy or the smartest guy in the room. I tried to find the people who are the smartest and surround myself with them.”
4. At the end of the day, it all boils down to the customer
Rather than taking a path down the more traditional route of property management at QuadReal, Neil chose to focus on customer experience. “We were transaction-oriented, we are operationally-oriented, but at the end of the day, it all boils down to the customer. Where’s our focus on the customer? It gave me an opportunity and a platform to do some things, push the envelope a little bit, stumble a little bit, make some mistakes, but it was the ability to own some ideas and really push an agenda that was important to me.”
5. Work hard from day one
David asks Neil if he has any advice for someone wanting to follow a similar path to his career and he responds by saying, “I think that there’s a few fundamentals that apply to any job, any career, any industry, hard work, you gotta work. You just, you have to work hard, especially early, not especially early, from day one. It’s pretty basic.”
6. Be a good listener
Advice from Neil: “If you surround yourself with good people and you’re part of good organizations and you listen to what’s going on around you, you’re picking things up all the time and that helps inform your future direction, things you want to do, things that are important to you and the lessons you’re gonna learn and apply, right? So, be humble, work hard, be a good listener.”
7. Property managers are the unsung heroes of our industry
David asks Neil what he would do with an extra $100,000. Neil explains “I’d try to put that back into the hands and pockets of my team and reward them for what they’ve done over the last four months. The money doesn’t mean anything but money’s still important, right? And you know these people, the property managers, the unsung heroes of our industry, they’ve been going to work every day while others have been working from home.”
8. Decision making is very simple
Neil shares a lesson that someone shared with him on decision making. “I think about it as being above and below the water line. So your ship, if you get hit by a missile above the water line, you can repair the ship. If you get hit below the water line, the ship sinks. So he goes, I will give you as much decision making authority as you need. Just never make a decision that’s below the water line.” Neil says he applies this lesson and it has given him “the confidence and empowerment to feel good about making decisions, because I think, okay, there’s a calculated risk here, but it’s always above the water line.”
9. If you’re trying to build a long-term sustainable company, the culture is everything
Neil’s thoughts on the future of the office: “First of all, by no means, do I think the office is dead. I think there will be more flexibility in the future. I think COVID has taught us, this social experiment, that you can make work from home possible. It works. We can trust people to carry on and complete their jobs, even if they’re not in the office. But the value of the office is those collisions – spontaneity, conversations and culture, and you can’t build a culture on Zoom, right? And, if you’re trying to build a long term sustainable company, the culture is everything, and that’s why we need to get back to the office.” We could not agree more!
10. Success doesn’t mean monetary success
To wrap things up, Neil shares some words of wisdom that can be helpful at any stage in someone’s career. He says, “Success can be experiential success that informs your future. I didn’t make any money out of my Elevator News Network experience. I gained a heck of a lot of experience that has helped me continue down the path of my career. And that’s perfect, that’s okay. It’s not about money. It’s about where you end up.”
We would like to thank Neil Lacheur for joining us on the TEN podcast and for sharing his journey from his early beginnings as an entrepreneur, to now leading the team at Avison Young. If you’d like to hear more of Neil’s interview, click here. Stay tuned for more episodes and takeaways from leading professionals and industry experts who all have something to say about experience in the built world, and the impact that technology is having on the largest asset class in the world, commercial real estate. Until then, wishing you all continued success in building community where you work or live.
