MOJO

There is this one question that I ask all of my interviewees.

“WHAT IS YOUR MOTIVATION AT WORK? WHAT MAKES YOU GET UP IN THE MORNING AND THINK TO YOURSELF, “LET’S GET THIS DAY STARTED!”

Sadly, I’ve had less than substantial answers. Several answers were, “The end of the day”, “Getting through the day”, “My paycheck”, and “Nothing”.

I think to truly be able to ask this question, and understand why you’re asking and understand the importance of the responses you receive from potential candidates, you have to be able to answer it yourself as a leader.

Do I know my answers to this question? Abso-friggin-lutely. Otherwise I wouldn’t bother asking this of a candidate.

So what is my mojo at work?

1. MY OWN LEADER.
I am already put in a position to be a leader, but I need to have a leader of my own above me. Not one that provides motivation, that is my job. But having a good, no, a great leader above you, is motivation enough to show up to work and SCREAM, “LET’S DO THIS!” (Sorry, but that’s exactly the form my motivation comes in, unbridled passion and energy and excitement).

2. RESULTS.
I am an Aries and as such, I want to see results. I want to work my butt off for something I can substantially see change in. I don’t care what it is. An unhappy resident….I want to see results. A bucking fudget that isn’t realistic….I want to see results. Disgruntled team member….I want to see results. Low occupancy or lack of traffic to substantiate occupancy…..I want to see results.

3. A WELL OILED MACHINE THAT I CAN PROUDLY TAKE CREDIT FOR
Property management is such a combination of so many different things. Your residents, your community, your team, your corporate office, marketing, budgets, invoices, AME, SODAS, move ins/move outs, applications, leases, and the list just really goes on and on and on and on. It’s hard to say that any one job responsibility motivates me. It’s the entire process as a whole. Having an office that operates in such a way that the left hand knows what the right hand does before it does it. Why does that motivate me? Because a well oiled machine makes all the difference…..your prospects see it, your residents see it, your corporate office sees it, and your own team feels it. It’s a happy mesh…..and it makes for a happy happy place to come to every single day.

So, yea, it’s not the end of the day for me, it’s not my paycheck, and it’s certainly not nothing. It’s the things sandwiched in the day, it’s the feeling of having earned that paycheck, it’s why I do this for a living and call it my career.

So what is YOUR MOJO??