With a little bit of praise: how to motivate brokers

Real Estate Weekly, August 25, 2004 by Daniel Geiger

As in sports, where some of the best coaches are often themselves former star players, Cushman & Wakefield executive managing director Kenneth M. Krasnow has displayed in the executive ranks the same prowess he was famous for during his stellar tenure as a broker. But while the transition from commercial leasing to the managerial and strategic side of the business--a move he made in 1997, after a 10-year brokering career--has been seamless for him, Krasnow admitted that he didn't make the switch without some trepidation.

"It was a very hard decision," he said. "While I thought I had the ability to lead and manage people, there was a risk associated with this move. It would get me out of the day-to-day trenches of looking for brokerage work and I would also lose the upside of unlimited commissions. There's a natural tendency not to want to divert your focus when things are going well. If it didn't work out, I didn't know how the re-acclimation into brokerage would go."

Knowing that such opportunities to advance often present themselves at unexpected or even inopportune times and having learned from brokering the importance of taking calculated risks, Krasnow accepted the position and has never looked back. Addressing the firm's need to better bridge the gap between management and brokerage, Krasnow was the perfect candidate, not only from the standpoint of his experience, but because of his selfless attitude and his superior ability to interface with brokers and encourage better performance.

"Kenny has empathy," said Bruce Mosler, president and CEO of Cushman & Wakefield. "He knows what the brokers go through and what they need to succeed. But more than anything, he is a leader and he's truly working so that our brokers can be successful."

According to Krasnow, he is doing his job best when he can accommodate impromptu meetings throughout the day with his brokers to discuss and assist them with their respective projects. The illusion of effortlessness he gives to such flexibility--which has made him a favorite at C&W--masks an infrastructure of incredible discipline and work. Krasnow is typically at his desk by 6:00 a.m., analyzing data, creating the difficult amalgamation between the spontaneous, creative part of brokering and the more measured strategic and procedural side. He gives his co-workers everything from hard numbers to informal advice and is happy to brainstorm with them ways to expand theirs and the company's business.

"You want to have people feel that they can come in and talk to you at any time because opportunities can present themselves at any time and you have to have the ability to react instantly," Krasnow said. "My favorite part of this job is comparable to when I was a broker and it's identifying opportunities where I know Cushman & Wakefield has the talent and resources to realize success."

"I enjoy thinking of ways to help the brokers assess their clients needs, anticipate those needs and have C&W react accordingly."

His ability to experience vicariously the agony and the ecstasy of his brokers' transactions has made Krasnow particularly tied to their success and elicits in him an ebb and flow of feelings reminiscent to those he experienced himself.

"I am just as motivated for them to win new business as I was about myself when I was a broker," Krasnow said. "When someone wins a new piece of business or expands a relationship I'm elated and when the reverse happens and a deal falls through I am just as devastated as they are."

Although financial compensation and a structured program of recognition within C&W help in retaining company talent--the essential asset of any commercial leasing firm--Krasnow's ability to relate to and understand the mindset of his brokers has been an integral contributor. Watching them file out and down the elevator every day has made Krasnow recognize the importance of instilling within his brokers the motivation to come back every morning.

"I think that a lot of people don't understand that brokers are motivated not just by money," he said. "They want to make money of course, but they want to be respected and recognized by their clients, their firm and by their peers."

"I can count stories where people have made more money than they've ever made in their career and are miserable because they don't feel like they get that respect and recognition, and as a broker I understand that. When I would close a nice deal or win a nice piece of business it was important to me that someone knew it. Sometimes it's as simple as calling someone up and saying 'great job' or sending them a bottle of wine or sometimes it's taking their family out. Whatever it is, it's something that I try to do to let them know that their accomplishments are recognized and appreciated."

Krasnow has received that recognition himself from Mosler.

"I feel lucky that Bruce has recognized me as a future leader in the organization," Krasnow said. "He really has the passion and energy and he knows how to make people feel good about the organization. We're entering a new and exciting era with him at the helm."