It never fails…as soon as I tell people the name of my company I know what the next question will be.

“What is The Purple Approach?”

Let me tell you a story. What would you do if you lost your ability to increase/pay salaries or promote within your organization? This happened to then General George Washington during the Revolutionary War. As you could imagine it would be very difficult to convince a group of soldiers, many volunteers, to continue to wage a war when you could not pay salaries or promote their military career. General Washington was faced with a problem only leadership could solve. The General decided to inspire them with the mission of the war, independence, and recognize them for their excellent service. So in 1782 he established The Purple Heart by writing the following:

“The General ever desirous to cherish a virtuous ambition in his soldiers, as well as to foster and encourage every species of Military Merit, directs that whenever any singularly meritorious action is performed, the author of it shall be permitted to wear on his facings over the left breast, the figure of a heart in purple cloth or silk, edged with narrow lace or binding. Not only instances of unusual gallantry, but also of extraordinary fidelity and essential service in any way shall meet with a due reward”

The Purple Approach is about leadership. It is about an organization or you as an individual rallying your team around a central goal, the mission. It is about creating a culture so magnetic that you attract and retain the best talent and customers.  My personal mission is to help others connect to the leader already within them.

Your team is looking for a leader that will inspire, coach, train, protect, and lead them. Will you be that leader?

The best talent is searching for an organization that understands the best investment they can make is in their people. Will you be that organization?

Looking to grow your leadership skills. Coming soon is an opportunity for you. You must check out a “Coffee with Kareem” group coaching session. There is nothing Kareem likes better than talking about Leadership over a nice cup of coffee. “Coffee with Kareem” is a hour and a half early morning leadership session. During these sessions Kareem will present a leadership skill or issue, followed with smaller break-out activities using a new skill, and then lead a group discussion about how you can implement that skill today in your current position.

These sessions are fun and highly interactive. Each time you walk away with a new ideal or skill that will help you be a better leader today. Do not miss out on this opportunity to grow your skills and network with other leaders.

Click here to learn more about “Coffee with Kareem Sessions”

What are your career goals? Do they include earning that next promotion to manager, regional manager, vice president, or president? Do you want to be a better leader to your current team. Improving your leadership skills will open the doors of opportunity.

Why are leadership skills important? As you climb the corporate ladder the ability to lease an apartment or improve occupancy become less important and your ability to inspire and engage others to accomplish the goals of the organization become more important. Here’s an example. One of the most difficult career moves in property management is moving from a property manager role to a multi-site role like district or regional. Property managers across the industry become frustrated with how difficult it is to earn that promotion to regional manager. Look at the failure rate of regional managers and it easy to understand why VP’s and Directors are skittish. Great regional managers have similar traits. They have a good understanding of property management protocol(which most of us do) but more importantly successful regional managers have great leadership skills. They are great trainers, communicators, team builders, and deal well with conflict resolution.

So if you want to grow your career or be a better leader you must focus on enhancing your leadership skills. The good thing about leadership skills is that they can be learned. You can get better at time management, delegation, conflict resolution, team building, decision making, etc.