President’s Message

Committed to Advocacy on Your Behalf

I am honored to have been chosen to lead CACM, the only California organization that solely dedicates our advocacy efforts on your behalf; our manager and management company members!

I am thankful to have a well-rounded career in different regions of the U.S. ranging from managing luxury high rises to the extra-large association with 30,000 residents. I have hands-on experience with the daily challenges that you experience in your professional career. I plan to utilize that knowledge so CACM can better serve you!

When I was participating as a member of CACM, I had an interest in how I and my management team can take advantage of the educational opportunities offered through CACM, and how my clients can see those advantages. I was concerned that the sunset clause for manager certification would be removed from Business & Professions Code 11502-11506. I am extremely happy to announce Senate Bill 1480 passed in the recent legislative session, making the manager certification program requirements permanent status effective January 1, 2019! Simply put, CACM provides the only California-specific courses that make you eligible to be called a “certified” manager in California. This is a huge accomplishment for you, our manager and management company members. Your CACM educational team is in the process of improving and expanding these courses to maintain the high education and certification standards our members expect.

Other Legislative Accomplishments

Senate Bills 1265 and 1128: Governor Brown VETOED these bills! Commonly known as the Election Bill, this Bill would have deleted certain qualification requirements to be elected to a HOA board of directors. Thankfully, CACM’s lobbying efforts, in cooperation with other industry organizations, was successful in providing common sense perspectives to our Governor.

These are highly visible accomplishments, but our work is not done! We are already gearing up for the 2019 legislative session, advocating for you. In the coming months, CACM will be improving our legislative communications to afford you the ability to ask questions and for us to provide you updates quickly.

Lastly, please add my email address (tfreeley@cacm.org) to your acceptable email system. I want to make sure we have an open line of communication!

As your new President & CEO, I am honored to represent you as the leader of this remarkable organization. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you!

A MOMENT WITH A MENTOR SERIES EXPLAINED

From inspiring and stretching you, to connecting and opening your mind to new and unique ways of mastering complex situations, mentors are an important part of your professional development. CACM understands that quality mentoring greatly enhances a manager’s success in the community management industry. In this issue of Vision magazine, we asked industry experts to provide “inside” mentoring advice with special consideration for each stage of a manager’s career. From those who are new to the industry to those who are now at a stage to become a mentor, there is something for everyone.

By Hamlet Vazquez, CCAM-HR Industry? NEW TO THE How do you become skilled at all the different facets of community management?

If you’ve just landed a job as a community manager you’re probably wondering, now what? I’m also willing to bet that you did not major in community management in college since there is no such major! In fact, community management is one of the few professions that does not have a college major and yet the expectations on a community manager are as significant, if not more, than other professions. You are expected to be skilled at people management, money management, problem management, facility management, risk management and everything in between management!

So, how do you become skilled at all of these? For starters, you learn two things: The art of asking good questions and the art of showing empathy.

ASK GOOD QUESTIONS

Did you know that smart people ask questions? It’s true! There’s a false assumption out there that if you are smart, you will know everything. As you read that sentence hopefully you see the nonsense behind it. For some reason, people think of asking questions as a sign of weakness and are embarrassed to do so but the reality is that asking good questions is key to being successful in any industry. Asking good questions will help you in all areas that you are expected to be skilled at, from people management to problem management and more!

Continued on page 10

New to the Industry?

Continued from page 9

Below are examples of good questions to keep in mind as you sit in board meetings, staff meetings, and in one-on-one conversations with staff, residents, contractors and anyone else.

Can you tell me some more about... ? What is the outcome that you/we want to see with respect to... ? What are some potential drawbacks with... ? What has the association done in the past with respect to... ? What vendors should be involved... ? What are the costs that need to be considered with... ? What are some liability issues that should be thought through before we consider doing... ? Please help me understand why this happened... ? How can I help with... ?

All of these are open-ended questions that invite others to chime in as the ‘experts’ whether that is due to institutional knowledge (i.e. they’ve been on the board for the past 10 years) or actual expert knowledge (if you are asking these questions of an actual vendor). Don’t ever feel like you need to have all the answers. Strive to be good at asking questions, even (or especially) if you think you know what needs to happen. An added benefit of asking good questions during a board meeting is that the board will feel a greater sense of ownership as they engage you in

answering your questions. This ownership provides them with a greater sense of satisfaction as a board member and the more likely they are to feel that you are doing a good job!

KNOW HOW TO SHOW EMPATHY

Empathy is “the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference (i.e., the capacity to place oneself in another’s position” (Wikipedia). In the community management industry, you will quickly find that people don’t just want you to understand them but they want you to understand how they feel. If you understand what they want (e.g. You want me to find out which unit above you is dripping water down to your newly cleaned balcony glass) but don’t show that you also understand what they feel (e.g. I’m so sorry; that’s very frustrating), the resident may end up concluding that you don’t care. When you show empathy you are showing both that you understand what they want and that you understand how they must feel. This is an essential skill to cultivate and practice on a regular basis.

While there may not be a college major in community management, remember that your veteran community managers are there for you to provide advice… don’t be afraid to ask! You can count on us to show empathy!

Hamlet Vazquez, CCAM-HR of Action Property Management is the General Manager of West Ocean Towers in Long Beach.