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Letter from the President
By JOHN BORIACK, 2021 HAA President
LEARN FROM THE LEADERS Advice from the Houston Apartment Association’s rich legacy of past presidents.
KEN BOHAN IS an iconic entrepreneur within the Houston Apartment Association. In 1977, he started The Liberty Group (Liberty) as an executive search firm serving the Houston multifamily and commercial real estate markets. Since then, Ken has led Liberty to expand each time the demand commanded growth, throughout tough transitions when innovative technology changed the way we do business and every time adversity challenged the business. Today, Liberty is a national staffing leader serving the real estate, finance/accounting and information technology industries in 28 markets, placing executives and personnel in 48 of the 50 states. Liberty even has its own screening service, Liberty Screening Services, to perform pre-employment screening, drug testing, background checks and more. Over the decades, Ken has also been an incredible volunteer leader to HAA, the Texas Apartment Association and even the National Apartment Association. In 1988, Ken served as president of the HAA Product Service Council. He remained a committed leader to HAA, serving on many committees. He is most proud of his recent volunteer role as a member of the 2020 HAA COVID-19 Task Force. In 2012, he was honored as the fourth supplier member in 52 years to receive the HAA Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2020, NAA awarded Ken with the National Supplier Council Achievement Award of Excellence. And, in 2021, Ken proudly accepted TAA’s Mike Clark Supplier Company of the Year award. I list these accolades only to display his leadership and commitment to the apartment industry. It takes a great deal of risk taking, determination and passion to build a business that lasts for 44 years. And on top of that, to be as involved in HAA, TAA and NAA as he has been. In this interview, Ken reveals what he learned in building, expanding and maintaining a nationally respected company over the course of nearly four and a half decades.
John Boriack: What are some things you wish you knew when you started your career? Ken Bohan: I founded The Liberty Group in 1977, and business began on January 2, 1978. For the first five plus years the business grew, and I had no sense that there was a potential downside. In 1985, the U.S. Congress changed the tax codes that provided tax advantages for many of my local and national clients, which had syndicated properties. Having no sense of what was to come, it was about www.haaonline.org
The most important life skill is the ability to listen and to take what you hear to heart. If given the opportunity, our clients and candidates will share their needs and give us the opportunity to address them. In addition, one has to be improvisational, to be able to think on one’s feet, to be able to react quickly and, lastly, tenacity, the ability to stay the course. I have found it will all be all right in the end. If it’s not all right, it isn’t the end.
that same time I began a significant expansion by computerizing the firm, doubling the office space and taking on, for the first time in the company’s history, a great deal of debt. The Liberty Group survived that experience, but what I learned is that we are in a service business, which needs to have significant cash reserves. I failed to learn, “What goes up will come down!” There will be cycles. Because we survived that cycle, Liberty has subsequently weathered all other cycles successfully (i.e., the recession of 1988). The lesson learned was to make sure that you have enough operating reserves to weather any financial storm. John: What skill(s) do you believe is the most important to perfect for someone who does what you do? Ken: The most important life skill is the ability to listen and to take what you hear to heart. If given the opportunity, our clients and candidates will share their needs and give us the opportunity to address them. In addition, one has to be improvisational, to be able to think on one’s feet, to be able to react quickly and, lastly, tenacity, the ability to stay the course. I have found it will all be all right in the end. If it’s not all right, it isn’t the end. John: What is the hardest leadership lesson that keeps being presented to you that you either have to learn or relearn? Ken: The hardest leadership lesson I learned was to establish realistic goals for those you manage or supervise, to effectively communicate those goals and, maybe more importantly, set minimum standards to hold those individuals accountable. The 80/20 rule applies here. I tended to spend 80% of my time with the / See President, Page 65
November 2021
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