Question #
What leadership challenges occurred due to partner management decisions affecting business operations?
Answer #
This may sound like a good thing, but it also can cause problems.
There were times when I, as the organizer of these partnerships, as I was through the first twenty-five years or so, needed to address decisions partners were making that had a negative effect on the business and investor relationships, and I did not do so.
Without strong guidance from me, which was my job, problems could build up.
Then there was a real issue to solve, and that is when I would finally step in.
One example would be partners hiring people who I knew were not up to the task, but rather than address it then, I would wait until they failed or there was a problem, then insist on letting them go.
There are many other examples, but I don’t feel it is appropriate here to go into them.
The takeaway is I had to work on myself, getting training outside of the storage industry, to become a better leader.
I sure wish I had done this from the start.
We would have achieved the vision we created a lot faster if I had.
I teach people to never get too emotionally tied to a storage project.
We need to be able to walk if, during the due diligence period, we discover the deal won’t meet our predetermined financial benchmarks.
I have had one deal that went south and did not work out at all how we planned, and it was because I, as the organizer, did not follow my own advice.
Source: The Five Biggest Mistakes I’ve Made Over My 31 Years In The Self-Storage Industry
