#62 - Take Care of Your Team: Mental Health Check with Olivia Lindsey

[Episode #62]

PROPERTY MANAGERS HAVE A TOUGH JOB, WE KNOW, BUT ONE THING WE DON’T ACKNOWLEDGE ENOUGH IS THE MENTAL TOLL THIS JOB TAKES.

LEARN FROM A COMMUNITY MANAGER WHO FOUND A WAY TO TAKE CARE OF THE TEAM AND HERSELF DURING ONE OF THE TOUGHEST YEARS! 

What you will learn in this podcast:

  • Ways to use Soft Skills: Empathy, Active Listening, and Communication

  • How to take care of the mental health of you, your team, and your community.

Preview from our Multifamily Marketing Membership


We Need Our Essential Property Managers To Stay In The Game
— Barbara, Sprout Co-Founder

Olivia Lindsey

In this podcast interview with the multi-family property manager Olivia Lindsey, we talk about how to stay healthy, focus on soft skills, and take care of the mental health of yourself, your team, and your community.

Get the answers to these questions from a real property manager:

  • What do you look for in a leasing agent?

  • What advice would you give?

  • I am stressed out, what should I do?

  • How can I manage my time better?

Know a property manager that would be great for the podcast? Email us!


 

Who is Olivia Lindsey?

Hey Sprouters, we are so lucky to get to talk with Olivia Lindsey on today’s episode of Marketing Home, Marketing You! She has really been through it this year and has come out the other side with some great tips and lessons you NEED to hear.

In three years, she has gone from Leasing Consultant to Community Manager and has absolutely shined at Epic Asset Management! You can listen to the full podcast above or jump to a specific section with the time codes below.

This episode is also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Making the Leap from Leasing to Assistant Manager - 5:09
So many of us on this career path starts at leasing and wonder:

Do I have what it takes to move up?

What can I do to get ready for the next step?

It helps to hear from someone that has made the leap (successfully) and can look back. So what does it take?

Olivia suggests focusing on:

  • Details - There are so many small things that need to be handled!

  • Problem Solving Skills - New problems come up all the time. They need new and creative solutions!

  • Soft Skills- Take time to really listen to your team & residents.

 

What do you look for in a Leasing Professional? -
6:14

Maybe you are new to all of this and are looking to start a career as a Leasing Professional.

What do community managers look for?

How do you stand out in an interview?

Well, Olivia Lindsey has some tips. 

There are a lot of day to day things that anyone can learn, but Leasing Professionals need to already know:

  • Creative Problem Solving - Every lease and resident has a different need, being creative and open will let you meet those challenges successfully.

  • Empathy - Leasing Professionals aren’t just focused on sales, they help real people find real homes. Empathy lets you really hear what people need and are looking for.

 

Achievements: Helping Residents with Past Due Rent - 11:50

As CM/PMs we get to celebrate our wins and this one was big! Not just because of the 15k check, but because it really helped a community member. Our #1 job is helping people find a home, and that can also include helping them keep their homes. So this year, when people were losing jobs and simple things like making rent are harder than ever Olivia and her team worked hard to match community members in need with available rental assistance. 👏 👏 👏 

That is a reason to celebrate!

 

Supporting Teams in Challenging Times -
13:10

Olivia is a great leader, not because she manages well - yes she does that, but because she values and supports her team. Olivia was able to put together a checklist of available resources for team members to quickly access what they need to stay mentally healthy.

Learn why CMs need empathy and to give teams space to talk (that important soft skill again). Keep in mind that we’re in this job together, and working together is what it takes to make your team strong enough to overcome our daily challenges.

 

Being Open About Mental Health -
15:40

Mental Health is a buzzword that pops up all over the place, but how does it apply to your community?

First thing is to recognize that the struggle is real! Burnout is real! Be gentle, and give people the space they need to say as much (or as little) as needed so they can be healthy. They might just need to use a sick day to refresh and that’s ok.

Have teams check in on each other and communicate. Remember: we all have bad days.

 

Advice for a Future Property Manager -
20:27

We know how busy of a schedule you have. You want to get it all done but it is overwhelming. Olivia has some great advice about giving focused attention, time management, sticking to your personal values, scheduling, and more in this awesome conversation for a future property manager (but anyone tbh).

Bonus - Check out our marketing calendar that will help you manage your time like a PRO!
Marketing Calendar

How Do You Manage The Demands Of Being A Busy Property Manager? -
23:37

Time management is an issue we all struggle with, so how do we do it all and not drop the ball?

Here are a few tips, plus Olivia gives some of her favorite tools (Mail Merge) to automate and improve your work processes.

Bonus - Check out these mentioned events from Sprout.
Candy Jar. Door Hangers. Coloring Contest.

Invest in Your Teams -
30:05


This is the theme of the episode. Sprouters, if you take one thing away, make it this!

Take the stigma off talking about mental health.

Invest in your team's health and they will be better team members all around! Give each other permission to be kind.

We hope you learned as much from Olivia as we did. She was such a great guest. Be sure to check out more great info on our podcast and don’t forget: LIKE, SHARE, AND SUBSCRIBE.

Happy Sprouting!


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