The Importance of Mentorship in CRE

You have apps to check stocks. You have blogs and news outlets to keep you informed. You have email to Block Real Estate Services has structured the way our employees work around mentor relationships. Teaming an expert with someone who is newer to the industry produces positive results for both parties. We have seen this formula prove successful time and time again. For instance, we have partnered a Sr. Vice President, with our newer Sales Associate to tackle our industrial properties. This is a mentor relationship that continues to offer value to both parties involved. Having a mentor, being a mentor is important. Here's why  -

help you correspond with the world. However, gathering true industry wisdom on a personal level and on a daily basis from an expert goes beyond the screen. There is an app for that...it's called mentorship.

Why It's Important To Have A Mentor 

If you're the new kid on the block, there's no better way to learn the ropes than watching an expert as they perform in their element. Just by being a mentor's shadow and following them around in their daily tasks, a less experienced professional can learn valuable tricks of the trade they would probably never learn online. This is especially true for commercial real estate. The prospecting tricks, the subtle people and persuasion skills, the way a successful broker blocks their time are all aspects that you would never gleam from an expert unless working with them in a personal mentor relationship. A mentor can break down the commercial real estate industry for a less experienced broker from a "been done there" perspective. Mentors also push younger professionals to do more because they don't see the invisible limitations that a less experienced person might set for themselves. Richard Branson was once quoted in UK's The Sun: "A lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could.” And that's exactly why every broker should have at least one mentor during their professional career.

Why It's Important To Be A Mentor 

When you're a more seasoned professional, you work and think on a on a completely different level than that of someone new to the industry. A mentee can give a mentor a fresh perspective on the industry and also help you better understand how you are perceived in the industry. Their new eyes on material that is old for you leads to questions and conversations that expand or change your thinking. In our local commercial real estate community, I have especially seen this with younger professionals introducing older professionals to new technology and ways of getting things done. Having a mentee also expands your network. If you are a good mentor and help them develop their careers, they will be sure to connect you with their network as it grows, leading to new prospects and relationships for you. On a personal level, helping someone learn and grow is incredibly rewarding and is a great life experience. 

Block Real Estate Services has found value in creating these symbiotic mentoring relationships among our more and less experienced professionals. This mentoring relationship has worked very well for our associates and we will continue to have mentoring relationships. Find mentors. Be a mentor. You will be a better commercial real estate professional because of it.

Contributor: 
Paige Salveter 
Director of Marketing and Communications
Block Real Estate Services
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