The New Age of Leadership

As the mortgage lending industry continues to stabilize and regain its stature as a well respected profession, leadership is an especially timely topic.

During the last few years, we have witnessed a serious exodus of mortgage industry leaders, as their firms imploded or otherwise suffered or key executives switched careers. Many watchdog critics and industry insiders have stressed that a lack of capable leadership was a major contributing factor to the mortgage lending industry's "meltdown." While that claim may be an oversimplification, it does underscore the importance that all businesses-especially those being carefully monitored by government agencies and the public-should place on developing quality leaders.

Leadership

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Our industry's crisis certainly has made companies reevaluate the qualities of leaders and how we prepare them for the major challenges as well as their everyday responsibilities.

The New Age of Leadership

Primary Traits

When evaluating the essential attributes for successful leaders, I consider "visionary" to be at the top of the list. Leaders must be able to look ahead and not only plan and execute long-term goals, but ideally how they can help enhance their company's prominent and influential position. This requires frequently stepping out of the day-to-day operational mode to look five and 10 years into the future to anticipate the industry's likely direction and how the organization can make a difference at many levels. Leaders have to be forecasters and creative thinkers.

Other key leadership characteristics include:

*Knowledge-Obviously, leaders must have a thorough understanding of all facets of the mortgage (or other industry), along with a familiarity of the general business environment. Being an expert is critical to instilling confidence among your staff.

*Adaptable-As we have seen, true leaders are able to adapt to the inevitable changes of their industry and the marketplace. Mortgage companies that have survived and thrived throughout the lending industry crisis have modified their operational policies and systems to address new regulations and other developments. We have all had to rethink our prior ways of doing business and make the transition to a redefined mortgage industry. It has become even more important for leaders to anticipate the primary changes so that they are usually in a proactive rather than reactive state.

*Work Ethic-Most leaders-whether they are department heads or company CEOs-work hard to get to their position. It typically requires a special commitment to achieve a leadership role, which involves extra hours for training, juggling new responsibilities and charting a new course for their ongoing advancement."

*Interpersonal relations-Many otherwise capable leaders lack one fundamental trait-the ability to develop good working relationships with other employees. You must be recognized as the one in charge but also show that you are able to work well with others. Establishing an open door policy that encourages people throughout our company to call or visit my office whenever they have a question, suggestion or problem has helped further strengthen rapport with employees.

*Teamwork-Growing a company is a team sport. A leader is one of the teammates, albeit a principal player. Even if you believe you know the answers to most situations, you must work with others to arrive at a consensus. Being part of the team also means that sales managers, executives and other leaders should at least occasionally work side-by-side with other employees. For example, managers who haven't closed a loan in years should spend time originating with their loan officers.

*Integrity-More than ever, leaders have to believe in and adhere to a strict code of ethical standards. Company employees must know that the people running the company are scrupulously honest in how they deal with customers, vendors and others.

While age can be a factor in determining if someone is ready to be an effective leader, it is not a primary consideration. There are "older" business veterans who aren't suited to be a supervisor or company executive and there are much younger people who are ready for a top position.

Attracting Leaders

There is no one way to identify and attract leaders. Some people definitely have innate leadership qualities that are ready to be developed. These "born leaders" may need a little prodding for their best traits to flourish.

In addition to hiring experienced mortgage professionals from outside the company, we like to hire younger people who have ambitions to grow beyond their initial position. We put them through our extensive training program that involves working closely with mentors and other staff. Some thrive on the challenging six-month program, while others quickly indicate that they are not able to "make the grade."

Watch for potential leaders by paying close attention to productivity reports, meeting presentations and other signs that someone possesses leadership qualities. Encourage people to take advantage of all appropriate training and educational opportunities so that they are comfortable and ready to assume a leadership role.

Retention

All companies invest a certain amount of money and time in developing their leaders, so they must do everything reasonable to retain them. Managers and top executives eventually become visible to others in their marketplace, including competitors who may court them to leave their current companies.

Strive to offer the appropriate compensation structure and production incentive campaigns that include sales trips and other rewards and take other steps to show that we want leaders to stay. This includes providing them with a clear understanding of their potential advancement, a positive work environment and recognition of their contributions to our success.

Hiring, cultivating and rewarding leaders is not an exact science. Books and courses provide great insights on mastering the leadership "formula," but individual companies are ultimately successful because they carefully match their current and future needs with the most qualified people at any given time. Then they continue to fine-tune their leadership program until it is even better.

The New Age of Leadership

Daniel Milstein, is CEO of Gold Star Mortgage Financial Group an INC 500 company and is author of The ABC of Sales, http://www.abcofsales.com Milstein has been recognized as the #1 mortgage originator in the nation, has been among the top 40 finance professionals in America for 10 years, and has been named the top employer in Michigan for two years by the Detroit Free Press. Milstein has achieved more than billion in personal career mortgage sales, is a licensed mortgage lender in 20 states, and has 15 years in the banking industry as an executive, originator, underwriter, productions and operations manager with the highest track record in the industry. He has been awarded an honorary doctorate from Cleary College, Ann Arbor MI.

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