'Perfect Storm' Of Construction Cost Spikes Wreaking Havoc On CRE

The lack of women in top positions at commercial real estate firms isn’t due to too many cutthroat leaders that are obsessed with the deal above all else. The problem also isn't a lack of strong candidates or that men are naturally better leaders.

Zenger/Folkman President Joseph Folkman, who leads a training and consultancy firm that works with Fortune 500 clients, said the inequitable way women often get shut out of leadership jobs in commercial real estate and so many other industries isn’t about a bad cultural fit, either. It’s about bias, aided and abetted by systemic, structural inequalities.

“If you’re choosing between a man and a woman, and you’re going to let research be your guide, you’re better off choosing a woman,” he told Bisnow. “Even during the pandemic, when women often had more work to do at home, it was the men who felt much more overwhelmed by the pandemic.”

His firm’s own research shows as much; when Zenger/Folkman surveyed the performance of male and female leaders across 16 different categories, they found women scored better on 13 of those categories, including honesty and integrity, having an openness to feedback — and also on traits stereotypically assigned to men, such as taking initiative.

“The bottom line is bias,” Folkman said.

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In Case You Missed It...

This series delves into the myriad ways people enter the commercial real estate industry and what contributes to their success.

Jennifer Baus was interested in engineering her entire life. She got a Bachelor of Science in civil and environmental engineering from Cornell University and a Master of Engineering from Case Western Reserve University and began the career she had always wanted.

In 2005, eight years into her career as a civil engineer, she abruptly changed her mind. She decided she wanted to enter development and decided she wanted it to be at The NRP Group, a national multifamily developer particularly known for its affordable and workforce housing. She enrolled in a real estate development and finance program at Cleveland State University and applied to NRP at the same time in August, and then for five months, she called the hiring manager at NRP weekly asking for a job. 

Read the full story here.