Multifamily Housing Leadership Lessons from the 2022 NMHC

Written by: Pete Regules

I was privileged enough to attend the 2022 National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) annual meeting where the keynote speaker was Robert Iger, recently retired CEO of Walt Disney World and author of the New York Times bestseller: Ride of a Lifetime… Lessons Learned for 15 years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company. 

Iger spent part of his time overviewing some of the large financial decisions that Disney has made over the years like when

Walt purchased land in Orlando for Walt Disney World at $200 per acre covering over 49 sq. miles.

In addition to this, Walt has obtained other strategic acquisitions like their purchase of Pixar from Steve Jobs who turned his Pixar $15 million investment into nearly $30 billion of equity in Disney stock through that sale. They invested in what seemed like a huge price of $4 billion for Marvel but today that is just a fraction of the Marvel universe’s net worth. The purchase of Lucas Films from Steven Spielberg was over $4 billion+ and has more than paid for itself leading to one of the most profitable cinematic franchises in history.

The key to each of these purchases was allowing each company to keep their culture and their talent. Iger did not try to turn these into Disney-specific companies. They found success from being who they were and Iger found it important to let those cultures remain.

Next, he went into his views on where technology is progressing. In his vision of tomorrow, technology will only grow faster and become more of a part of our lives (especially in the virtual space with AR, VR, and 3-D immersive environments). He envisions each of us having an avatar and visiting different Metaverses.

What I took away from the conversation, though, were some of his leadership lessons:

  1. Have priorities and communicate them repeatedly.
  2. Be decisive.
  3. Have a presence.
  4. Be in the moment.
  5. Have humility and be authentic.
  6. Develop a sense of trust with your team.

I absolutely love these leadership lessons because they’re easy to understand and can be used in any leadership position. What works for the CEO of one of the best companies in the world can work for your multifamily team!

This was by far one of the best sessions I’ve seen at NMHC. Bob Iger is an amazing leader with a true record of success and provides a great blueprint for how to have success in our own careers.

About Pete Regules

Pete Regules has worked for CORT Business Services, a company that helps businesses and individuals in transition. Today, Pete serves as the Vice President of Residential National Accounts. As an active member of the multifamily industry, Pete has held leadership positions with the Apartment Association of Greater Orlando, the Florida Apartment Association (FAA), and the National Apartment Association (NAA).  Although his friends and colleagues in the multifamily housing industry best know him as the “Doctor of Fun,” over the last 39 years of his career, Pete has also become known as a motivational speaker, event emcee, and teacher. He has even been inducted into the FAA Hall of Fame and earned the coveted Paragon Award and 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award from NAA.

He co-authored “The Apartment All Stars Complete Guide to Leasing Apartments” and served as contributing author of “Wall to Wall Multifamily Tips.”