You Need to Be a Contrarian and a Calculated Risk-Taker: Interview with Moshe Popack, Founder and CEO of YMP Real Estate Management
I recently went one-on-one with Moshe Popack, founder and CEO of YMP Real Estate Management.
Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks, or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?
Moshe: Back in 2009, my wife Yaffa and I had recently moved to South Florida and were looking for inspiration. The country was coming out of the real estate market crash and, although many of our friends and family told us we were crazy, we believed strongly it was the perfect time to get into real estate. So, without much experience in the industry, we took a huge chance, bet on ourselves, and bought a multifamily apartment complex in Miami … even though it was in a high-crime area and the chief of police told us it was a terrible idea. However, through hustle and hard work, we were fortunate to find success in that investment. In fact, I fondly remember going door to door collecting rent from tenants and feeling joy (and exhaustion) from that process.
From that experience, Yaffa and I knew this was our calling, and in 2011 we launched YMP Real Estate Management, and while we’ve experienced numerous highs and lows along the journey, I’m humbled to say we now have a portfolio that includes over 4,000 multi-family units, two million square feet of commercial space, and several assisted living facilities across seven states.
Adam: In your experience, what are the key steps to growing and scaling your business?
Moshe: Without a doubt, you need to be a contrarian and a calculated risk-taker. Some of our most lucrative and rewarding deals have been ones where the “smart play” was to not engage. But we did our diligence and saw opportunities where others did not. And those opportunities led to substantial windfalls. To use a baseball metaphor: we’re not trying to hit singles; we’re trying to hit home runs. It’s been that sort of opportunistic thinking and decision-making that’s been critical to scaling our business.
Another often overlooked aspect to scaling a business is knowing when to delegate work to others. In the beginning, I wanted to do everything. I felt that the success of the business was solely dependent on how many hours I worked and how “above and beyond” I went every single day. The problem with that philosophy is that it’s incredibly unhealthy, for your business and for yourself. I was burnt out, and I wasn’t as present as I should have been for my wife and kids.
I knew that my family was (and still is) the most important thing in the world and I needed to make them the ultimate priority. So, I embarked on a rigorous search for the right executive team and once they were in place I made the conscious decision to turn over some of the day-to-day responsibilities to them. I still played a very active role in the company, but I was also able to play a very active role in our growing family.
I became a better husband, a better dad, a better leader, and the company grew to new heights. By letting go, I was able to increase productivity and allow some new opinions and perspectives into the decision-making process.
Along the lines of hiring the right team, is the belief that you need to work from a place of strengths and weaknesses. The members of the YMP team complement each other in that their skill sets are unique and diverse, as are their personality types. I didn’t want to hire a bunch of people who were exactly the same. Each of them has a particular niche and a particular way of problem-solving that serves to strengthen our collective group.
Adam: What do you believe are the defining qualities of an effective leader?
Moshe: As mentioned, an effective leader is one who brings in smart, talented people and helps them flourish. Micromanaging is a colossal waste of time for all involved, and it serves as an impediment to creativity and productivity. Instead, I want my team to feel empowered and inspired. That’s when the best results happen. And if they fall short in a particular endeavor, that’s okay. As long as we can all learn from it and be better as a company because of it. That’s the environment we’ve created at YMP – we’re risk takers and we keep swinging the bat.
That said, even though I don’t micromanage, my team knows I’m here whenever they need me, and I’m happy to roll up my sleeves and get my hands dirty. In fact, I still love to do that. I just ask that when they bring problems to me, they bring potential solutions as well.
Additionally, an effective leader must be a great communicator. I have worked on that extensively, and I understand that everybody processes communication differently. Communication is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. It’s individualized, and the more you can embrace that, the better you can convey your goals to your team.
Adam: How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?
Moshe: First and foremost, by being open to learning. No matter how long you’ve led your company, the human dynamic is constantly evolving. What might have worked as a leadership style a decade ago, may now be in need of some refinement. You can’t ask your team to constantly strive to improve if you’re not doing the same thing as a leader. Complacency is contagious, and it starts from the top. On the opposite spectrum, positive, effective, inspiring leadership is also contagious and can serve to bring out the very best in your team.
I’d also say that, as a leader, the defeats are yours and the victories belong to the team. Be sure to reward your team members when the company achieves success, even if that reward is something as simple as private or public acknowledgment. You’d be surprised how much a simple “thank you” can impact somebody’s pride and satisfaction with their job.
Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders?
Moshe: First, just start. There is never the “perfect time” to launch a business. In fact, there are always numerous reasons not to start. But nothing good ever came from inaction. Instead, be bold, do your diligence, and trust your gut. Craft a rock-solid business plan, have a trusted advisor analyze it and poke holes in it, and – once you’re happy with it – adhere to it. Sure, you might have to be malleable along the way, but stay true to the foundation of what you think the company should be. And play the long game, because the beginning will be hard. There’s no way around that. But that makes your success so much sweeter.
Next, solicit honest feedback from somebody whose opinion you respect. Don’t surround yourself with sycophants and “yes men” like some leaders do. You’re not going to get everything right, and it’s incredibly helpful to get practical advice and unbiased feedback from a trusted colleague.
Third, be nice. There’s a belief that you have to be cutthroat, mean, and selfish to thrive in business. I’m here to tell you that is not true. In fact, I find the opposite to be true. If you treat your team with kindness, if you approach your business dealings with integrity, and if you always seek to leave a positive impact on the world around you, you will no doubt be successful as a person and as a leader in business.
Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading, and managing teams?
Moshe: I think it starts with clearly defining everyone’s goals and your expectations of them. I mentioned earlier that a good leader empowers their team to make decisions and be bold, but you don’t get to that level if the teammates aren’t sure where they fit in and what their roles are. Everybody must have a crystal-clear understanding of where they fit in, what the goals are, and where they should focus their energy.
Taking that point a step further, tracking your team’s progress through interactive check-ins and strategy sessions is crucial. As we say in business, “the numbers never lie.” So, meeting one-on-one with your team members and objectively and dispassionately analyzing how they’re doing is incredibly important … for you and for them. And there’s a misconception that these meetings are negative and angst-filled, but that certainly doesn’t have to be the case. On the contrary, they can be creative, inspiring, and uplifting. Often, these meetings are where the best “brain juice” is generated.
I’d also add that you need to prioritize office culture. It’s not enough that you like and respect the people who work for you, their colleagues need to feel the same way. I’m not saying everybody in the office needs to be best friends, but your company is a family and culture is king. Encourage offsites and team bonding activities. Celebrate diversity, honor your employees, and create a fun and enriching atmosphere, and you’ll get the best out of your group.
Adam: What are your best tips on the topics of sales, marketing, and branding?
Moshe: As I tell my team, “You are the brand.” It’s vital that each member of your team understands what the company is all about. At YMP, we pride ourselves on our relationships with vendors, developers, investors, and community leaders. In an industry where integrity is often an afterthought, we strive to make that a part of our DNA and we lead with it. I find there is no better marketing or branding tool than word of mouth, Sure, you can pay for advertising, be featured in magazines, and appear on podcasts, and that’s all great, but how’s your reputation in the industry and the community? At the end of the day, are you trustworthy and reliable? Do you say what you mean, do you care about people, and will you honor your commitments? If so, that’s the best way to attract business and to make a long-lasting imprint.
And that goes for the property managers and caregivers in our apartment complexes and assisted living facilities as well. We make sure they treat every resident with kindness and dignity and go above and beyond to ensure the residents love where they live. They’ve entrusted us with their care and their safekeeping, and we owe it to them to provide that. By doing that, by treating residents like family, we’ve created an environment where people want to live, and want their friends and families to live as well.
Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?
Moshe: It’s pretty simple, but it’s highly effective: in business, like life, there will be highs and lows, and wins and losses. As long as you win more than you lose, you’ll be successful.
As a business owner, the stress can overwhelm you if you let it. Every day you face adversity. Often, especially in the beginning, it feels as though the losses drastically outnumber the wins. But the trick is, not to get too high or too low, and to stay even-keeled. Not only does it preserve your mental health, but it keeps you sharp. You don’t want to make big decisions based on fear or emotions. You want to be analytical and dispassionate, and the best way to do that is to maintain equilibrium.
I’ve worked very hard through marital arts and meditation to try and consistently live in a flow state. In moments of high stress, I’m able to center myself through breathing and keep my focus. The same applies in moments of great victory; I savor those moments but make sure to stay balanced and alert.
As a leader, you are the captain of the ship, the driver of the bus, the quarterback of the team, and any other metaphor you want to use. What you project, passes on to your team. They look to you to see how they should react. So, by staying steady you will instill a confident mindset in them.
Adam Mendler is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, educator, and nationally recognized authority on leadership. Adam is the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one-on-one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal-winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations. Adam has written extensively on leadership and related topics, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. Adam teaches graduate-level courses on leadership at UCLA and is an advisor to numerous companies and leaders. A Los Angeles native, Adam is a lifelong Angels fan and an avid backgammon player.
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