In last month’s “Arthurism” blog, I highlighted how little rituals can contribute to organizational culture in powerful ways. I’ve been reflecting on how every group, family, business, really any collection of human beings who have something special, all have rituals. Perhaps it’s a special language, inside jokes, or just silly little things that happen with some regularity. There are always stories that get told over and over again. These rituals bind the members of the group together. They reinforce the group’s unique identity. It reminds group members of the lessons learned along the way and reinforces what’s important.
As I pondered these thoughts, it hit me – I almost forgot about the Oy Vey! Jar.
Arthur’s Office
Arthur’s office was the place you went to work things out, to kick around half-formed ideas, and sometimes just to blow off steam. His door was almost always open. Many of us took full advantage of that. I have a clear recollection of one of our guys, Lenard Goldbaum, storming into the office one Monday morning when Arthur and I were having our weekly meeting. He apologized for the interruption and said, “I’m putting a five into the jar right now!” He then expressed his exasperation over a recent event. I do not remember exactly what the issue was. I do remember that Arthur asked a couple of questions, that a short conversation followed, and that Len left the office a smiling, far calmer man than when he first darkened Arthur’s office doorway.
The “Jar”
It wasn’t actually a jar; it was a large coffee mug with the words “Oy Vey!” (Yiddish for OMG) on it. The mug sat on a bookshelf just a few steps from the office door. It became known as a “jar” in reference to a swear jar. For those unfamiliar, a swear jar is traditionally used to discourage swearing. If someone curses, they must put money into the jar. These jars were usually old Mason jars or similar containers. Given how common profanity is now, the concept may not be as widely known.
The Ritual and Its Value
I don’t doubt Arthur used the Oy Vey! mug as a swear jar at first; I just can’t say for sure. But over time, it became something else—subtle, and worth much more than the ten bucks Arthur probably paid.
He used to liken it to the fines paid as a result of the Baltimore Orioles Kangaroo Court of the late 60s and early 70s, presided over by “Da Judge” Frank Robinson. The ritual of conducting “cases” before the court was credited with keeping the O’s loose and contributing to their culture and dynasty. Arthur’s office was our Kangaroo Courtroom.
Second Baseman Davey Johnson pleading his case before Judge Robinson in 1969.
The cool thing was that, after a while, we were self-policing. We put a buck in the jar without Arthur having to tell us. Arthur created a space for us to be honest about our frustrations, conflicts, and failures. It was a safe place and a learning place. And we always walked out with a little more peace, a little more grounded, and frequently, with a little laughter.
Arthur told you to deposit a dollar in the Oy Vey! jar anytime we lost our cool or said something when we should have known better. We’d complain about this or that, and then Arthur would always turn it around to help us gain perspective. Sometimes he asked a question to help us reason. Other times, it was brutally obvious that we should not have been surprised by the wrong done to us, like complaining about a famously difficult client, workmate…or a boss… Sometimes he would turn us around with his typical refrain: “Hey, he did you a favor…now you are smarter!” Those words still ring in my mind every time I feel like I’ve been done dirty somehow. They completely flip the script. It was a great way to remind us that others only control us when we let them. It reminded us to take ownership of our situation and our emotions.
The Jar provided Arthur with opportunities to walk the talk. His contributions to the fund reinforced the bonds between himself and team members. Arnie Litman related: “Once Arthur and I had a disagreement. We went back and forth, seeing eye to eye but not in agreement. It got testy for us. We each put in a dollar. And laughed.”
As Len recently reminded me, he dropped a five into the jar more than once. He had some whoppers. Arthur always fined a dollar, but most of us adjusted the fine depending on the severity of the issue. There was a lot of money in the kitty when it was all said and done. It was an investment. We are all richer for it.
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It’s been decades since the “great man” theory of leadership (the idea that leaders are born, not made) was debunked. And yet, vestiges remain. We may not say that we are the “great man” foreordained to lead, but we sure can act like it. Ego-centric, overconfident, emotionally unintelligent leadership doesn’t end well. The smartest guy in the room can easily fall into the trap of hubris, leaving behind the wreckage of short-sighted decisions and demotivated people.
The Value of Humility
We expect leaders to act wisely. I am convinced that there is no wisdom without humility, the great hubris vaccine.
Certainly, effective leaders must have a level of self-confidence. Leadership studies pioneer Warren Bennis called it “positive self-regard.” However, that confidence is tempered by the emotional intelligence to see themselves and others as clearly as their imperfections allow. One result of this high level of EI is humility, both in words and in action. It always has a positive impact on their people and organizations. I’ve watched board presidents turn situations and organizational cultures around so many times by simply admitting they didn’t know it all and by deferring to others’ expertise and options. And others and I were blessed to work with a boss who exemplified the value of humility in three little words.
Best Idea Wins
One of the reasons I stuck with Arthur in one capacity or another for over 30 years was his credo of “Best Idea Wins.” He repeatedly used this phrase, and he lived by it. It was one of the best leadership lessons he shared with us. He didn’t care if it was his idea or someone else’s. He never played the power game when it came to strategic planning or problem-solving. A good idea is a good idea. Oh, he could be a willful guy, for sure…VERY willful – which is probably inevitable for someone with Arthur’s passion. It could take some time and effort to help him see an alternate view. There were times when we had to admit that his was the best idea, or it was unclear which idea was best, and we rolled with Arthur’s. Most times, though, we entered the discussion with a blank slate and someone else’s best idea, or one that combined elements of multiple ideas, was adopted in remarkably short order. It was always about the idea, not the person. That made all the difference.
Saying “Best idea wins!” up front and then proving it in action is powerful. It liberates thought and empowers everyone on the team to contribute. It is egoless, apolitical, and principled. It builds trust and commitment. And it yields excellent results.
Adopting this mindset and message has helped to create a space for transformational change, working with associates, clients, Community Association Institute committees and chapters, and in one-on-one conversations. It was a foundation stone in Arthur’s approach to leadership, and it remains one for all of us who learned from him, benefiting countless people, situations, and organizations.
Give It A Shot
Next time you are working with a person or a group to create something, to find answers, to solve problems, or to chart a course, start with “Best idea wins!” Then live by it. If you find yourself holding on tight to one of your own opinions or find yourself digging your heels in, ask yourself, “Is this because it’s the best idea or because it’s my idea?” Stick with best idea wins. Then watch the magic happen.
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Long-standing teacher-student or mentor-mentee relationships develop a natural rhythm with recurring themes. These are taught through what I would call organic rituals—spontaneous behaviors that become meaningful patterns over time, sometimes lasting a lifetime. This is the story about one of my favorites.
I would walk into my boss’s office when I needed to tell him that I goofed up, or when I was unhappy with myself for something I should have done better. He would patiently listen, perhaps asking a few questions. Then, with perfect timing, he would open his desk drawer and pull out a ruler. He would tell me to put my hand out, tap the back of it with the ruler, and say, “There, do you feel better now?”
It really was genius. Arthur understood his people. He knew those of us who would always push ourselves harder than he could push us. He saw that one of his greatest values as a leader was to help us see things clearly. He also recognized that I was the kind of person who could continue to beat myself up without any real benefit. I didn’t need him to push me in those moments; I needed someone to pull me off the ledge. And yet, he knew me well enough to know when he did need to push me. He had to be perceptive and care about me. I had to trust him and be vulnerable. In addition to the practical value the ritual offered, it was a lesson in leadership and an example of how to be both a mentor and a mentee.
As often as we repeated that ritual over the years, it always surprised me when he reached for the drawer and pulled out the ruler. But once he did, I realized it was exactly what I needed.
Arthur had no idea how impactful that little ritual and its lessons would be. Over time, this experience led to a self-management and leadership paradigm I later called “the paradox of human imperfection,” which will no doubt be the subject of a future blog. This framework is closely linked to Dr. Carol Dweck’s deeply impactful growth vs. fixed mindset concept.
And it all started with the ruler in Arthur’s desk—one of many seeds he planted that grew in those of us who were willing soil.
Now that you know this example of Arthur’s leadership, let me ask you: Have you created leadership rituals that convey meaning, help relationships, and shape your organizational culture? These practices can become powerful tools for lasting impact.
This is the first in a series of stories and lessons from my years with my primary mentor, Arthur Dubin. Look for the #Arthurism tag for more lessons on leadership and life.
Arthur Neil Dubin, CPM, PCAM, AMS, CMCA
September 5, 1952 – January 16, 2025
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Over the past few years, some aspects of customary, socially correct behavior has seemed to regress or at times even disappear. From leaders in the highest offices to our most beloved celebrities, we can read about name-calling, blaming, threats, and even outright violence. Is it really surprising when these behaviors trickle into our communities and work spaces? In order to guide our communities in a more positive direction, it helps to identify uncivil behavior and lead by example. With a lot of deliberate, consistent effort, our positive behavior can become contagious.
We’ve all dealt with the outburst from a client or Unit Owner who doesn’t get their way and writes a dramatic email or says something nasty. It’s easy to dismiss them as unhinged, ignore all their future complaints and get defensive in these unpleasant situations. It’s important to be self-aware of these human tendencies, because it can lead to habits that will not serve you well. If you hide from the tough conversations, you might miss out on the opportunity to connect with others, learn from the interactions and grow. Even though it may trigger tough emotions to deal with the challenging client, confronting them can nip problems in the bud. You may even gain an ally! Start by making a conscious effort to put yourself in the strongest mental state so that you are best-equipped to deal with the inevitable challenges that arise.
Self-Reflection: Be cognizant of how much media you’re taking in every day and the influence it might have on you. The trend of constant media and social network notifications may work well for those who benefit from extra views or clicks, but excessive exposure might have an adverse impact on our thoughts, attention and behavior. Sometimes we expend so much emotional energy reading the news that by the time we arrive at work, we’re depleted. Disconnect from the breaking news long enough to focus on what’s most important, both personally and professionally. How is the information you absorb moving you towards your goals and who you aspire to become?
Empathy: Depersonalize the situation whenever possible. In more cases than not, the client isn’t yelling because of you but because of the situation. Think about what they might be going through in their personal life with the challenges in the world and take a deep breath before responding. You may be the only person who listens to them today. If you can, counter their distress with a calming tone and a thoughtful response. Will your undistracted attention for the next ten minutes save you hours over the next month?
Situational Awareness: Some of us have also noticed situations where someone makes a bold political statement to strangers or in the workplace, under the assumption that everyone agrees. I’ve seen it make others in the room very uncomfortable or outright angry. While it’s tempting to share your opinion about the latest piece of legislation in Congress, don’t forget to take note of your environment, your relationship to the listener and the possible repercussions. For example, if you’re getting interviewed for a job, you may not want to risk blaming a person or administration for the current events of the day. Even if the community is in a location where the demographics seem to point to a particular opinion, you don’t want to put your foot in your mouth later. Once you learn about the political or ideological leanings of a person, just remember to keep it professional at work.
Keeping these habits in mind can help us deflect and appropriately respond to uncivil thoughts and behaviors. Some other challenges that you may run into at work can be ameliorated by practical strategies.
Write it down: Some people’s stress shows up as aggressiveness, while others’ stress manifests as anxiety. Anxiety can cause us to start thinking selfishly or otherwise worry about possibilities that may never happen. When others come to you with concerns or hypothetical situations, fight the inclination to dismiss them as unrealistic. Instead, try brainstorming your concerns (or your residents’ concerns) and plan some possible solutions. The anxiety becomes less of an abstract idea to obsess over and more of a concrete problem you can solve. What are the pros and cons of each option? What is the worst thing that can happen and how can you mitigate it?
Set Expectations: In a world where we can get instant groceries, dates and packages with the click of a button, some people expect the same instant gratification of their community manager. Asking to “speak to the manager” has become an internet joke. For managers, it can often translate to copying the entire Board of Directors to an email. Unfortunately, some creative solutions require time to develop, especially if they are to last. If a problem will take some time to resolve, let the resident know the challenges you are considering. Provide an estimated time for completion or resolution and keep them in the loop of any progress.
Acknowledge opposing views: Things aren’t always black and white in community management. Nor can we predict the future. So it’s important to acknowledge counter-arguments even when they don’t fit the narrative we want to create. If you make a mistake, predict something wrong, or there are possible negative consequences of your recommendation, talk openly about it. How might you pivot your plans moving into the future?
It can be instinctual to tune out anything that requires extra time or energy when it feels like you don’t have any to spare. With everything going on in the world, our emotional state and the example we set may be the least of our worries. However, as a leader of your community, you are in a position to be a calming and positive influence. Small, deliberate interactions can accumulate and create real change. You may find that you not only save time in the long run, but you also get a little peace of mind!
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There are seminal moments in our lives and careers. One of mine was circa 1985. I bumped into a board member of a condominium for whom my maintenance company had completed some projects. The question she asked me that lovely spring day on a bustling city sidewalk 35 years or so ago changed the way I approached business and I am certain it led to both my entry and inevitable exit from the community management business… “Tom, how come we can’t find a good management company? Are there any of them out there?” My mind raced as I thought through the three they had fired, all of whom I thought were among the better companies that I had worked with as a contractor. I gave her a tactful answer, but one she did not expect to hear. More on that in a moment.
As a young entrepreneur, I had begun to immerse myself in the study of leadership. I started working with community associations a couple of years before that fateful exchange. I became fascinated by the dynamics of volunteer boards, their communities, and the managers who served them. A few short years later, in a joint venture with a management company, I entered into a contract to provide part-time, on-site management for a small condominium. Eventually, I left my business and dove into management full time for the next 30 years. I had the privilege of working with some great managers and boards. For much of my career, I was also the company’s designated “Fixer.” If it was messed up, my job was to find a way to make it work. Of course, I was not always successful, but it was the best business education I could have received. Along the way, I saw the great, the good, the bad, and yes, the ugly. Stepping away from the management business and working with clients from the community association field in a different capacity and in different markets has reinforced for me how unique communities can be. At the same time, I see common principles, fundamentals, and practices that produce results. So…here are eight characteristics that exist in the most successful and sustainable board/management company relationships.
1. Shared Expectations
The working relationship between a board and management company can be very dynamic and fluid. Times change, technology changes, society changes, people change, volunteers change, and properties age. These factors all may impact expectations. An agreement for management services provides a basis for expectation and accountability. It also needs enough flexibility to address the variables inherent in the relationship. COVID has been a testament to this. Who could have anticipated the workload and process changes that the pandemic would require? Agreement on contract terms and ensuring that these are in harmony with the board’s goals is crucial to a sustainable and successful relationship, which leads directly to our second characteristic.
2. Communication
In my management days, I would receive the occasional phone call from a board member along the lines of: “Would you be interested in sending us a proposal for management? Our company is horrible.” These days, the question is: “Can you help us find a new management company?” My first answer has remained the same. “Have you spoken to company executives?” Astonishingly, 90% of the time, the answer has been no! Changing management companies is a big deal. It can take far less time and effort to repair a damaged relationship than it would to make a change. Talk about it, set clear and reasonable expectations, see if it can be fixed. If not, then it’s time to move on, but not before.
Management companies can bolster the relationship by maintaining periodic executive-level contact with volunteer leaders, especially when the players change. This may be after annual meetings, changes in board liaisons, and any time there is a manager reassignment. Likewise, new boards are wise to get on the same page with the management team as soon as possible during these transitions. Don’t let the relationship fall off the rails!
At their core, business relationships are human relationships. Just like in our personal lives, we get busy, make assumptions, and don’t always get the message right. Communications suffer and issues fester. The electronic age makes this a bigger challenge. Consumer expectations for immediate gratification (the Amazon effect) have challenged all customer service industries. Businesses can rely so heavily on technology to gain efficiencies that they adopt a transactional mindset without realizing the negative long-term impact on the relationship. Zoom meetings are great for efficiency, but we miss the cues that the full human interaction experience provides. Tech and society will continue to change, but some things remain the same. Community management is a relationship business. Relationships require effective communication. And it needs to go both ways.
3. Mutual Benefit
All sustainable business relationships are mutually beneficial. A zero-sum game benefitting the client will inevitably lead to poor management performance. A company that can’t make a profit will fail. Historically of the real estate management niches (commercial, rental, and community associations), community association management is the least profitable. A review of the history of the industry and market pressures helps one to understand how we got here. The full story would be an article all by itself. The net result is that community association management as a professional field has become increasingly commoditized. Profit margins are always tight.
This can lead to the zero-sum game benefitting the company, which is likewise unsustainable. Unintentional service creep can happen slowly over time with managers and boards losing focus on contract specifications. A manager may lose focus of contract out of sheer work volume and when the board is unaware and seems happy with their performance. Regardless of intent, the reality of this situation is that the relationship is being abused and could end badly.
In the end, the old axiom is true. You get what you pay for. The logical corollary should therefore be that you should pay for what you get. Maintaining awareness of and regularly revisiting contract specifications for any adjustments to meet the needs of the community are the keys to ensuring mutual benefit.
4. Flexibility & Reasonableness
Great service companies will go above and beyond from time to time. Community management is such a dynamic field that a manager will inevitably see the need to do something technically outside of their scope. They want to make their clients happy and just take care of it. But there is a danger of an unintentional death spiral.
I’ve seen this play out many times. Management agreements typically include provisions to charge for work outside the scope of defined routine services. Many managers fear a negative reaction from clients and shrink back from noting that a requested service is a billable item. Sometimes, the assignment is completed and that’s that. Everyone is happy. But sometimes, the requests keep coming. The manager becomes overburdened. The task list gets longer and longer. The board grows increasingly dissatisfied, and the manager grows increasingly resentful. All the while, more times than not, the board has no idea that they are making unreasonable requests because the manager never said a thing about the contract terms.
When there is healthy communication about the best way to handle non-routine services, boards can make business decisions to allocate funds that allow the company to bring in the resources necessary to accomplish the task or facilitate service by an outside party. Reasonable boards understand that a set-price contract cannot be a blank check. (See Mutual Benefit and Communication)
5. Get Out of the Box
Fundamentals and time-tested principles apply to every relationship, but every situation is unique. One of the most valuable skills board and management companies can have is the ability to see things as they are and recognize when glue diligence (“that’s the way we’ve always done it!”) needs to be replaced by due diligence, which may involve finding a non-standard solution. This is where my experience noted in the introduction had such a profound impact. The board member who complained about perfectly good management companies didn’t have a performance problem. She had a system problem. She lived in a 27-unit condominium with a seven-person board and half a dozen or so active communities. Most unit owners were retired. I loved that community because it had such a remarkable commitment to volunteerism. If you lived there, you were on the board, a committee, or both. However, the volunteers had no context to see how much management work was being generated by all that activity. They were NEVER going to be satisfied with the level of time and attention a portfolio manager could give them under the terms and price of a standard management agreement. They needed to adjust the system, adjust expectations, or both.
Without analysis, we easily default to assuming that people stink. Just fire them and get somebody new. If you can’t see whether you have a performance problem, a system problem, or some combination thereof (usually the case to some degree), you’ll always be answering the wrong questions. Wise board and management companies invest the time to make the determination and have the creativity and flexibility to change the system if needed.
6. Clarity on Roles
The board’s highest and best role to benefit their communities will always be to lead. It sets the culture, goals, and standards for the community and its management. Everything a professional management company does can be grouped in one of two baskets – supervisory or advisory. Most boards have no problem rightly holding management accountable for the supervisory tasks it performs on behalf of and at the direction of the board. Highly functioning boards allow management to assist and guide as it fulfills its role. This allows the relationship to function at its highest level – as a partnership. This can involve helping volunteer leaders to translate strategies that worked in their professional or personal lives into the context of community associations and the statutory requirements, governing documents, and best industry practices that apply. Both parties may need to check their egos at the door: Board members might have to recognize the realities of an organization slightly outside their area of expertise, while managers who may passionately recommend a particular path have to recognize that the board is the boss and responsible for the decision.
Ideally then, as a leadership body, the board sets the targets (Why, What, and When), taking into consideration feedback and recommendations offered by professional management. Leadership gives management the resources to accomplish the resultant goals and delegates the details (How) to them. In that paradigm, management can focus on getting things done and reporting to the board. The board can focus on gauging results instead of getting bogged down in the process. For the board to stay out of the weeds and maintain a bigger picture focus, management must demonstrate competence and proactivity, and be willing to be accountable.
That said, there may be factors that make a certain level of “co-management” ideal. Communities that are blessed with volunteers who have subject matter expertise and time may allow them to successfully achieve more without having to pay more for management. Also, small associations suffer from the inequity of scale, requiring more time and attention than their management fees can reasonably command and making the co-management model more likely.
7. Get Things Done Without Being Pennywise and Pound Foolish
It is important to remember that a key role of a manager is to facilitate, not necessarily to do. A manager’s area of expertise is the administration of the community, governance, and business aspects of community associations. As such, they may maintain professional designations such as CMCA®, AMS®, PCAM®, and LSM®. If they were also credentialed professional engineers, insurance brokers, architects, or licensed lawyers, associations would never be able to afford them. Yet, some boards expect managers to provide opinions and services outside their area of expertise, usually to save money. Wise boards understand that there are times when bringing in specialists is an investment. Wise managers, especially those with high levels of subject matter experience, know how to leverage that knowledge and put their boards in a position to make good business decisions.
Managers may feel pressure to have all the answers and assume they are expected to have all knowledge at the top of their heads. As a wise man once observed, it’s perfectly acceptable to say, “I don’t know,” if it is followed by a comma and not a period. “Can I get back to you on that?” can be the best answer a manager can give at the moment. Wise boards allow space for a manager to provide accurate information. Wise managers don’t wing it. This leads us to the final, and perhaps the most crucial characteristic of great board/management company relationships.
8. Trust & Respect
I was thrilled to get an “Aha” moment when I was introduced to a principle that was so simple, so profound, and so applicable to community associations. The basic premise of Steven M.R. Covey’s The Speed of Trust is this: When trust is present, things happen quickly and cost-effectively. When it is absent, everything takes longer and becomes more expensive in the long run. Trust is everything. It underpins all the other seven characteristics. Boards need to trust that their managers are advocating for them and acting in their best interest. Managers and management companies need to trust that the board is dealing fairly and reasonably with them. Trust begets respect. Both are essential to any highly-functioning relationship.
Let’s Do This!
There is far too much negative media about community associations. Certainly, there are bad players out there, but I am proud to be part of a field where so many dedicated people are working to get it right. Whenever I hear a negative comment about boards, I always take the opportunity to share that my experience has been that the vast majority of volunteers I’ve worked with serve for all the right reasons. That is particularly impressive considering how many goofed-up situations I’ve been asked to jump into. The same goes for managers and management company executives. Those that stick with the industry tend to be incredibly dedicated professionals with a servant’s heart, qualities that are all too rare these days. When community volunteers and the professionals who serve them choose to fulfill their responsibilities in a collaborative way and to an elevated level, it has a positive impact on the quality of life and investment of every community member. And they put themselves in a position, not only to leave a legacy of success, but to enjoy the satisfaction of a job well done. It is always worth the effort.
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In our overview of culture in community associations, we noted similarities with other organizations, whether professional, non-profit, social, or familial. We highlighted that there are three primary classifications of organizational culture.
Like most other organizations, associations tend to fall into the “Unintentional” category. Time is a critical factor. More in-depth organizational analysis is most rare. Getting a volunteer board to meet for regular business can sometimes be a challenge. How about dedicating even more time to discuss values, vision, and mission? That might feel impossible. Let alone floating a full-blown retreat with team-building exercises.
You Can See Clearly from Higher Ground
And yet, when community association leaders invest the time to elevate the conversation, they find that it pays back in time and energy. Organizations create and perpetuate an effective and sustainable culture in which principled action is cultivated. Once identified, underlying principles lead to fewer ego-driven opinion battles. There is a context to the conversation. Healthy debate replaces unproductive arguments that suck the life out of the participants.
The result of such an elevated time investment sets up a principle hierarchy for decision-making that looks something like this: • Values (The Why – what’s important?) drive Vision • Vision (Where do we want to go?) drives Mission • Mission (This is what we are about) drives Strategy • Strategy (How do we make this happen?) drives Tactics • Tactics (The day-to-day actions we take)
Flow the hierarchy backward, and it looks like this: Our day-to-day decisions make more sense because we judge them in the context of our strategy. Rather than reinventing the wheel or exhausting all parties by going in several directions at once, our strategy is in harmony with our mission. We know what we are about and what we need to focus our energies upon. This is because we have vision. We know where we want to go, and our mission gets us there. At the bedrock of all of this are our shared values. Certain things are essential. We’ve been honest with ourselves and compared our reality with those values.
That all sounds lovely. It might also sound like a pipe dream. It doesn’t have to be. Combine realistic expectations with some practical steps and you’ll get there.
All or Nothing?
Do you need the whole package of values, vision, mission, and strategies to start your intentional culture? No! And that’s where most organizations get stuck. Wise leaders apply the sage words of Arthur Ashe: “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” Like many things in life, the journey may be more important than the destination. Developing the habit of a higher level, principled thinking is the first step. From time to time, I will start meetings with a touch of comedy: “So who are we and what are we doing?” It sounds like levity, but it speaks to a bigger picture and sets a tone. Keep at it, and the baby steps will eventually add up.
So How Do We Do It?
There is no one right way. Every group and situation are different. Some need to rise from the ashes of disaster to get the motivation to do it right. Most need to look for opportunities, however brief, when they can poke their heads up out of the weeds to see what’s already there in front of them.
Baby Steps: It doesn’t matter where you start in the hierarchy. Can you agree on a “Statement of Values?” Great! One or two clear elements of mission? Please write it down. A Vision of what everyone would like to see? Awesome! If you have an agreement in one of them, it can lead to more later. If you stick with it, it will gel over time.
Practice Affirmative Inquiry: We’ve always said the Parrado Principle has a slightly different iteration in community associations. The ratio of people and issues that drive the corresponding amount of time and effort probably isn’t 80/20. It/s more like 95/5. Unfortunately, one of the foibles of human nature is that we will dwell on the 5% that divides us instead of the 95% we have in common. But what we have in common provides the most vital foundation for success. Get in the habit of asking, “What’s right?” instead of, “What’s wrong?”
Be Mindful and Seize the Opportunity: Listen carefully. Pay attention to successes. Look for patterns. Shared values are always there, waiting to be recognized. Some clarity on vision or mission may pop up while doing business. When you hear it, call it out. Record it somewhere, no matter how rough.
Here is a good, natural, non-confrontational question to ask at the right moment: “So I think what I am hearing is…. Is that right?” If heads nod, follow with, “I think we just found a (shared value/mission statement point).”
Annual Planning Sessions: This simple practice can make a world of difference. Scheduling a special meeting to discuss what you’d like to accomplish over the next year can be a terrific jumping-off point. The most useful time to hold this meeting is as soon as possible once a new board is formed after an annual meeting. You may start with strategy, but by applying the techniques above, you may find yourselves painting a bigger picture. After all, if you tell me what you want to do, I will understand what’s important to you. Once I know what’s important, values and vision begin to emerge.
Change Happens…Use It!
People change. Times change. Perceptions change. Understandings change. Physical realities change. Adopted governing principles must grow with the organization in order to remain relevant. To prevent these principles from becoming a nice and shiny, yet irrelevant plaque on the wall (a precursor to the dreaded “Actual Culture”, these must be reviewed and challenged regularly.
If you are already following our recommendation to conduct an annual planning meeting, include reviewing your principles. This is especially important as you are going through the baby step process. It may take years to clarify your values, vision, and mission.
Why Wouldn’t You?
The gap between intentional and unintentional culture is the wherewithal and commitment to finding and memorializing what’s already there. Every group has shared values. Vision and mission are waiting to be found. Taking the time and energy to identify them creates a foundation that your association can rely on when it faces everything from day-to-day challenges to major disruptions.
Clarity in culture reminds us who we are and what we believe in. It saves us from situational thinking, conflicting direction, and wasted time. Any action you take to transcend mere tactics adds depth to your association. It builds team trust, commitment, and fulfillment. All upside with no real downside – so get to it!
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The culture of an organization either creates the space for sustainable, defined success or makes it difficult, if not impossible. A healthy culture allows the organization to tap into the knowledge, talents, experience, energy, and intellectual capital of participants. It does not permit ego, politics, or dysfunction to get in the way.
In this context, culture can be defined as the environment that establishes norms of behavior for the people in the organization. It involves the connection between the goals and values of the individual and those of the group. Culture is embodied in author Seth Godin’s statement: “People like us do things like that.”
Organizational culture provides the context in which the stakeholders understand their roles and can concentrate on doing their best. Healthy cultures in community associations put boards in a position to establish desired results and provide the necessary resources to achieve them. Focusing on those results delivers rich payoffs. Building a healthy culture yields exponentially compounded interest in terms of time, energy, progress, and community spirit.
Culture is the difference-maker, and yet, community association managers and volunteers almost never talk about culture directly. It’s about time we did.
Three Cultures
Organizational culture tends to fall into one of three general categories:
Intentional Culture- Values, goals, and norms have been identified, codified in some form, and provide the basis for principled action. People in the organization are clear on “The Why.”
Unintentional Culture- Values, goals and norms are left to chance. Defining them depends on who the influential people are in an organization at a particular time. Frequently, decisions are made and actions taken on an ad hoc basis. Sometimes leaders focus on rules and written procedures without explaining why they matter. Other times, there is no focus at all. Everybody works too hard at reinventing the wheel or making it up as they go. If such a community is fortunate, things will go well riding on the backs of a few good people.
Actual Culture- Values, norms and goals have been identified. There may be mission, values, and vision statements with lofty aspirations printed on glossy marketing materials and plaques on walls. Yet, leaders and members of the organization violate those ideals on a regular basis without correction. The inherent hypocrisy of the organization destroys morale and trust.
Most organizations fall into the unintentional category. Their leaders may have no concept of culture or fail to recognize the benefits of the time investment necessary to build a successful one. They cannot see that the hard work up front will significantly decrease their time and effort in the long run. They are so caught up in the day-to-day operation that they miss the bigger picture.
What About Community Associations?
Why, specifically, do many community associations tend to have an unintentional culture? First, boards can be mired in tactics, too busy putting out fires and stuck in the weeds to elevate their perspective.
Second, exclusive devotion to the standard board meeting model can cause an unintended consequence. Leaders and managers are trained to follow the legal requirements for board meetings. They correctly conduct the association’s business in accordance with open meeting requirements and the standard meeting agenda. Well-planned and executed board meetings are highly effective in handling the day-to-day business of the association. However, regular board meetings are horribly ill-suited to address bigger picture issues, complicated projects, and strategic planning. These discussions will never fit into a standard board meeting agenda in the best of times. Switch it up by scheduling some town hall or special meetings to listen to what members have to say, get ideas flowing, and deal with big picture issues.
Getting to Higher Ground
Getting out of the weeds is not easy. Leaders and managers first need the awareness that business as usual leaves too much to chance. Then, they must recognize that the work to build healthy organizational culture is a time investment that will pay dividends. For some groups we’ve worked with, it took disgust borne from crashing and burning to motivate them to meaningful change. In our next segment, we will offer a roadmap to intentional culture for community associations.
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Everybody has a “tell” – that one, involuntary reaction that gives them away. Tells reveal themselves more readily in the face of crisis and stress. We may say that we hold to certain principles or beliefs. But when the fecal matter intersects with the air circulating device, an ugly truth may reveal itself.
A Test of Organizational Health
Pay attention to what happens when a mistake is made. What is the knee jerk reaction in the heat of anger or flash of embarrassment? If the first question is, “Who did it!?!,” you’ve got a problem. If that’s the go-to response, it is a sure sign of a sick culture. People in such organizations are motivated to stay under the radar. They fear sticking their neck out or owning up to mistakes- and for good reason! The culture fosters a fixed mindset that hinders the people and the organization from growing.
System or Performance?
Lazy leaders assume that every problem is a performance issue. The blame game is expedient, but it masks reality. When you fail to distinguish the difference between a performance problem, a system problem, or a combination of the two, you make false assumptions, ask the wrong questions, and get the wrong answers.
We’ve seen this play out in interesting ways. Sometimes the worst thing that can happen is having a superstar on the team for a long time. When they finally leave or retire, none of their replacements seem to make the grade. Only upon a more in-depth analysis of the situation does it become clear that one of the old superstar’s abilities was overcoming crummy systems. Their success masked the deficiency and set up their successors for failure.
Listen and Learn
If you listen to your organization…or yourself…and realize Bang & Blame (great song, by the way) has infected the culture, it’s time to change the game. How? By changing the question.
Organizations with healthy cultures react to errors and crisis with the following questions, in this order: • What? Determine precisely what happened. Make no assumptions. • Why? Was this a performance issue, a systems issue, or a combination? • How? What factors contributed to the issue? And only then…. • Who? Now you can address the matter, take the appropriate action, and help people grow and learn.
Reality and Success
Without mistakes and challenges, there is no innovation, no progress, and no growth. As Tom Peters would say, “Fail forward fast.” Indeed, if the answer to “Who?” shows a pattern of performance issues, a tough decision may be in order. More times than not, there is something more to be learned. Follow the disciplines of a healthy organization. Ask the right questions in the proper order. You will create a space for yourself and others to see reality and the way forward. Your organization will take appropriate and forward-thinking actions, benefitting everyone.
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Association Bridge was formed in large part due to my experience teaching CAI’s old “Essentials” program for community association volunteer leaders. Ken Ingram of Whiteford, Taylor & Preston and I were tapped to teach the full day program for a few years at Reston Association. RA member associations are typically very small communities known as “clusters.” By the early 2000s, some of these small associations were facing some serious challenges. The class gave them access to resources that board members in larger associations would probably take for granted.
I will never forget hearing a board president proudly explain his excellent system for keeping the books for his cluster.
“I use different color ink in the checkbook.”
“Oh, you mean to help identify different types of expense and income or something?”
“Well yeah, kinda…”
“OK, can you share the system with the class?”
“Sure. You see, everything in green ink is cluster activity, and everything in blue is mine…”
“Yours?”
“Yeah. That’s how I can easily separate the cluster activity from mine in the account.”
“Wait, are you saying you collect your neighbor’s fees, deposit them in your personal bank account… and pay cluster expenses from the same account?”
“Well…yeah.”
Yikes!
Time & Attention
Teaching the class was an instructive experience. Board members were searching for creative ways to get two things all community associations need if they are to be managed effectively – time and attention. I frequently heard the refrain, “Our management company doesn’t do ANYTHING!” Without fail, some follow up questions revealed the boards weren’t paying for very much of anything. Some gave up and went fully self-managed. They were doing a lot of work themselves to make up the difference between what they wanted from management and what they felt they could afford.
It reminded me that small associations have to make tough choices, all borne from the inequity of scale. Certain costs simply do not scale. Managing a 20-unit building will likely require the same number of site visits as would a 150-unit building. The time required to create board packages, produce monthly financial reports and attend meetings will not scale to the unit count. Neither will the costs of independent audits or reserve studies. This can apply to capital projects as well. A 3-story high rise and a 10-story high rise could have the same building footprint, meaning that the cost to replace their respective roofs may be about the same. Bottom line: Inevitably, unit owners in small condominiums are very likely to pay more per unit in total fees than their counterparts in larger condominium associations.
As a result, boards of smaller associations frequently opt for less service, requiring investment in the time and knowledge base of volunteers to make up the difference. That burden can be very difficult for volunteers.
There may be solutions that require some creative thinking. While I applaud the resourcefulness and sense of duty shown by the board member who co-mingled personal and association finances, I pray he never gets in a beef with a fellow unit owner. That association clearly did not have any crime coverage. I doubt they had proper directors & officers liability coverage, either. Not all creative ideas are great ideas.
What Can We Do?
The goal is to identify the needs and wants of the board and membership, and then design a plan that is in harmony with them. It is a mistake to assume that small associations can’t afford “good” service. Such thinking is a variation on the sin of fee targeting. Many a community has found that a cheap price results in a high cost later on. Whether it comes in the form of making up for deferred maintenance, the bottom dropping out of resale values, disengaged unit owners, or dissatisfied residents, sooner or later everyone bears the cost of short-term thinking.
Analyzing the Operation
A Responsibility Grid is an excellent tool to help see where you are and where you have gaps. First, list the tasks involved in operating the association along the left margin to create rows. Then, along the top of the page, create columns by listing the volunteers and paid personnel or contracted parties who have roles in the operation. A sample grid you can use can be found HERE.
Once the tasks and responsible parties have been listed, fill in the grid boxes, describing each party’s current role in each task. Soon, you will have a snapshot of the operation, seeing the interrelation of the parties involved. This frequently leads to Aha! moments. We’ve noticed that many Boards have a tendency to assume most issues are performance problems. The Grid helps to reveal weaknesses in the system, allowing everyone to differentiate system problems from performance problems. The Grid may point out that someone else in the organization is better suited to take on a certain responsibility. Or you may find that some tasks aren’t being performed at all under the current system. Once clarified, performance issues can be more effectively addressed.
The trick is to use the Grid to address system problems by making adjustments. The context of seeing the operation in totality helps the board to identify areas where more support is needed. You can redline the grid until it makes sense. It takes the guesswork out of the picture, communicates responsibilities with clarity, and increases the likelihood of finding successful solutions. The final grid can then be a tool to adjust contracted specifications and position descriptions as needed.
What Are The Options?
Many contracts are designed to be “competitive” without regard to the actual workload required for the job. Standard “full service” management may not provide the required attention needed to support volunteers in your specific case. Some approaches to bridge the gaps include:
Customizing the management agreement to provide more attention in specific areas. Quantify time and attention where possible. If a minimum weekly site visit and monthly or quarterly property inspection with written report will address many of the issues a community is experiencing, include those as specifications in the management contract. Set the expectation and create a system that takes some of the burden off the shoulders of volunteer leaders. It may be that some specifications can be decreased to help compensate for additional cost, such as decreasing the number of board meetings attended.
Decrease the management contract to “financial-only” or “financial-plus” service levels to free up assets and redirect them to on-site management. This is where it gets creative. I cut my management teeth as a part-time on-site manager for five different associations over the span of ten years. Two of them had fewer than 50 units. All of them had something in common. They were all too small to justify full-time, on-site management, but too busy to be well-served by off-site management.
Adjust the scope of the management contract to dedicate a specific allowance of time. If the management company is willing to consider an out-of-the-box option, they could provide more attention by defining a number of hours per week for dedicated attention, including on-site time. Some management companies in the northwest use this model.
It takes a village. Depending on the configuration and condition of the property, a combination of services might make sense. Perhaps the volunteer base is strong, and you can engage management on an a la carte basis to provide only the services needed when you need them. Perhaps you just need a management company or consultant to set up the annual calendar and preventive maintenance programs and come back to audit the system periodically. Perhaps a maintenance position can be beefed up with a system to provide valuable eyes, ears, arms and legs for Management and the Board. Perhaps strategically scheduling a contracted annual architectural and engineering inspection to coincide with the annual budget process combined with “financial-only” professional management gives the association the best bang for the buck. The possibilities are endless.
In the End
The quality of volunteer leadership will always be vital to the success of any condominium association. The smaller the association, the more important this is. Smaller associations have special challenges. Even volunteer leaders who have the time and talent to assume certain management roles are wise to seek resources to set up systems and find best practices. National organizations like the Community Associations Institute and the National Association of Housing Cooperatives can be very valuable resources. Associations in the Washington Metro area can tap into additional resources such as the DC Cooperative Housing Coalition, the Montgomery County Office of Common Ownership Communities, and the Office of the Virginia Common Interest Commission Ombudsman Small associations may have special challenges. But they don’t have to give up, and they don’t have to settle. There are resources and options for volunteer leaders to provide quality service to their members. It may take some creativity and a realistic view of the expenses related to inequity of scale, but it can be done.
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The struggle to attract and keep talented employees and volunteers is universal. For businesses, the hard cost of employee turnover includes hiring and onboarding, initial training, ongoing development, and integration with the team. Finally, it includes the interim costs incurred while a position is unfilled. Yet, soft costs can be far more impactful. Turnover loads a burden on the backs of everyone in a company. These can turn into hard costs with loss of business due to poor performance.
Not-for-profit community associations have different metrics. On-site staff and volunteer turnover result in soft costs such as service gaps and overburdened remaining staff and volunteers. This, in turn, takes a toll on member satisfaction. Increased stress and pressure result. Over time, this can lead to increased turnover and lack of volunteer interest.
Another common and insidious cost of turnover can be an intentional or unintentional lack of investment in employees and volunteers, which inevitably leads to more turnover.
The vicious cycle of churn is costly. And it sucks – it sucks the life out of organizations of every sort.
Strategies
There are plenty of strategies out there to retain employees and volunteers. Google the subject and you’ll find scads of them. They range from simple recognition to the adoption of lofty ideals designed to motivate the troops. Volunteer retainage is its own animal because compensation is defined differently. In all cases, strategies are focused on showing appreciation and providing benefits that are designed to reward people and keep them in the fold. And they might not work.
Don’t get me wrong, many strategies can be beneficial. They may help keep some folks around for a while. But they cannot stand alone. Strategies need to be part of a broader context to have lasting value.
Want Retention? Engage
Retention is a useful metric, but it’s not a goal. It’s a byproduct. According to a 2018 Gallup poll, 53% of U.S. workers are not engaged. Gallup states, “They may be generally satisfied but are not cognitively and emotionally connected to their work and workplace; they will usually show up to work and do the minimum required but will quickly leave their company for a slightly better offer.” Another 13% were reported to be “actively disengaged.” Let that sink in. Two-thirds of American workers spend a significant part of their waking hours at a job they don’t really want to do. Yikes! If they don’t leave, they should.
In their seminal work The Leadership Challenge, Kouzes & Posner conclude that people tend to look at their jobs in one of 3 ways; as a job, as a career, or as a calling. The difference? Engagement. The higher the level of the synchronization between the work someone does and their values and goals, the deeper the engagement.
Want Engagement? Lead
“Engagement is not an HR issue. It is a leadership issue” – Simon Sinek, Author & Organizational Consultant
If the key to engagement is the connection of values and work, it begs a couple of questions. What does your organization stand for? What deeper connection does it offer? This is where many leaders fail. Kouzes and Posner offer an approach to address this. They boil it down to what they call “The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership:”
Model the Way
Inspire a Shared Vision
Challenge the Process
Enable Others to Act
Encourage the Heart
All five practices directly impact engagement. Leaders who are hypocritical, directionless, non-communicative, myopic, micromanagers with low EQ kill engagement. If there is a serious weakness in just one or two of these areas, you can count on good people walking out the door.
So then, effective leadership begets engagement and provides a context for strategy. Putting this all together, what are the leaders charged with doing? They must develop and nurture organizational culture.
Build an Intentional Culture – Defining the Organizational “We”
Culture is who we are, proven by what we repeatedly do. Its engine is the shared values of the organization. Shared values lead to aspirational vision. The vision drives goals, which sets the mission. Goals and mission drive strategies, which then dictate day-to-day tactics. We do what we do because we are who we are.
All organizations have a culture. Leaders are responsible for making it an intentional one. That includes community association volunteer leaders. It’s not easy, but it is always worth it. Leaving it to chance leads to disconnected strategies and tactics. And churn.
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast” – Peter Drucker, Legendary Management Educator
As the stewards of intentional culture, leaders must make sure that what we do stays in line with who we are. They must walk the talk. Disconnects must be addressed. Few things cause disengagement more quickly than an organization that espouses values that are violated in the way things are done. A dedication to a values-driven culture draws like-minded persons and engages them. Engaged people not only tend to stay awhile, but they also draw others who will find a satisfying place in the culture.
“Culture is caught, not taught” – Rolf Crocker, CEO, OMNI Community Management, LLC
But They Won’t Let Me!
What if your boss doesn’t get it? What if you are an on-site manager with a board full of clueless non-leaders that make it difficult for you to lead your staff? What if you work for a soul-crushing CEO? You still create a culture with those within your sphere of influence. In fact, you must…or leave. That will be the subject of another blog. If a public high school department head can create a pocket of excellence despite deeply entrenched policies and bureaucracy, the odds are good that you can build a culture that makes a difference. Leaders don’t ask permission to lead. They may sometimes have to ask for forgiveness afterward. But results tend to take the heat off.
If You Want Them to Stay, Forget the Fence – Build a Fire
External rewards without engagement are like a fence. Engagement produces internal rewards. If you want to keep people in the fold, stop worrying so much about the fence. Instead, build a fire of culture at the center of the organization. That fire gives team members light so they can see the vision and the warmth of shared values and mission. Create a space where people are drawn and want to stay.
