PCA:  

Political

Willie Tucker

College of Integrative Sciences and Arts, Arizona State University

OGL 481: Org Leadership Pro- Seminar I

April 11th 2022

 PCA: Political

Situation

Going back over the situation, it was an ongoing debate about the timeline that work

could and would be completed. I believed the expectation that the property manager was setting

with clients was not realistic. When meeting with clients to gain their business she would tell

them that properties could be turned within two weeks which would not often happen. Being the

person completing the turn I argued that it would take up to thirty days to get the work

completed. This was because of the availability of vendors and the fact that we working with a

limited selection. I argued that it was done in the past because we had less volume but as the

organization grew we had to expand our vendor list or obtain an exclusive contract. In the end,

the two-week standard was not changed and it often lead to upset clients and inflated costs.

Politics

The politics within this organization played a major role on this situation, to start I need

to give a little more background on the organization. The property manager was not just the

property she was also the accountant for the organization and the owner of the organizations

girlfriend. Due to this fact she had almost complete freedom in decision making in regards to

policies, procedures, vendors used, and how the organization would be ran. Further one of the

two assistant property managers was the property managers best friend and the other was the

neighbor of the owner. Needless to say they were all friends and a part of what I would consider

the in-group. They also all shared one other commonality that the rest of the organization did not,

they all received a commission from the acquired properties.

All of these factors played into the decisions made in this situation, first the property

manager would use your status, and friendship with the assistant property managers to influence
their opinions in regards to the vendors we used and how we used them. In turn in meeting with

the owner, I was the only person who saw an flaw in the system. Further when new vendors

were brought to the table they had to be approved by the property manager, even when the

vendor had a quality portfolio of work they were denied because they were too expensive. This

fact only mattered to the property manager and property manager assistants as they were the only

one who received any commissions. But most importantly the property manager was the person

who made the final decision in regards to the timeline. Even when I had one on one meeting with

the owner about the situation he would only give me the property managers argument and never

his own.

Alternative Course Of Action

There are many things that I would have done differently in this situation. The first would

have been in my hiring practices. I understand that the organization was small organization but I

would not have had fifty percent of my staff friends and family. This cased a major divide in the

group and gave one group more power and authority within the organization. It at times created a

one sided culture were only certain peoples opinions or ideas mattered. Next as the owner I

would have taken more control of the organization and allowed less decisions to be made by my

significant other. This at times undermined the owners authority and caused an awkward tension

due to the arguments that would occur between the property manager and the owner.

Another thing that I would have done differently is give more value than given to the

opinions of those completing tasks. Myself and those who cycled through the maintenance team

often had great ideas that could make the processes more efficient and increase vendors that

could be used. But these ideas were never considered even though we were the ones completing

the tasks. Finally I would have offered some sort of incentive to the maintenance team for
completing the process within the two week time frame. The maintenance team completed the

work and I believe that they should be rewarded just as the property management staff is

rewarded for getting the property rented within 30 days. It was a team effort it should be a team

reward.

What I do the same and what I would change

Looking back on this situation there a few things that I would done differently but several

things that I would have done the same. The first thing I would have done the same was my

continued attempts at going above the property managers head to go to the owner. Although the

timeline never changed overtime some the resources available did. Another area that I would

have not changed was not applying pressure to the maintenance staff to have the job done when

it was physically impossible. I would require them to work quickly and efficiently but if it could

not be done I did not want them to feel like they would lose their job. With that comes another

thing I would have kept the same which is when the deadline could not be meet having an

explanation laid out as to why. This included the vendor schedules, others jobs being completed

and the expected completion date.

One key area that I would have not changed is becoming a in group member. This

allowed me to have somewhat of a voice for the maintenance team and continue to advocate for

the changes. With that I think I would have changed my approach to advocacy , rather showing

the property manager why it could not be completed due to the logical reasons. I think I should

have showed the financial reason to make the change. Another change that I would have made is

in my position, being that I had a real estate license I would have been an property manager

assistant. With that role came more authority and influence, I think that I would a better chance

for making the change in that role. Finally I would change the amount of time I spent trying to
change the organizations mind before I left. As many of the changes I requested for the three

year span I was there were made after I left.