TEC member in focus.

You have a very interesting background. Can you describe your leadership experience prior to Barclay and even before you moved to Canada?

I was born and raised in Israel and lived there until immiszratinsi to Calgary in 1999. My first experience with leadership was in the army and I served as Staff Sergeant, first in the Infantry and later in an Artillery Brigade. Following my service I began a career in the insurance industry in Israel, starting as a Life Insurance Supervisor where I had a team of 15 insurance brokers, and was responsible for building their annual business plans and goals and helping them to achieve these plans and goals. Since living in Canada. I have gained leadership experience through my tenure with Barclay Street Real Estate Ltd. (BSREL) as it has developed and grown, and my preceding employment with Torode Realty.

What were some of the challenges that you faced coming to a new country and working your way up the corporate ladder?

My first challenge was to get hired. I immigrated at age 40, and many companies were not keen to hire someone of my age, with a funny accent, armed with a wife and three kids, who did not know the city, the industry, or anyone in the industry. What I have found to be very interesting and different from the culture I was used to was the fact that people did not get back to you with an answer as to whether they were going to hire you or not - they just did not give me an answer. Once I was focused on working in the commercial real estate industry, I interviewed with most of the national and international brokerages, and finally it was John Torode who took a chance and hired me. He was a TEC member and his only comment was "if he is a good guy hire him, we need good guys in the industry."

What is your approach to solid leadership?

My approach to leadership was shaped during my army service as a Staff Sergeant and is a combination of "lead by example" and "treat your people with respect." "I toad by example" is key for every leader. You can only ask your people - whether they are your kids, employees, soldiers, or basketball players to do just what you yourself would do. When your actions follow your words, when you honour your commitments and promises to your people, they will follow you. In the Israel Defense Force the command is "Follow Me" - it is not "Charge."

The other key leadership quality is respect treat your people with respect, whether it is your top sales person, or your newest employee you have to care about their personal life and their professional development. My view is that my employees are my clients and I have to maintain client satisfaction, I have to make them want to come back the next day. And if I treat my employees with respect they will treat their clients the company's clients with respect.

As presidents how do you manage your company's growth to ensure smooth and healthy transitions?

The focus for us over the past two years has been INVOLVEMENT' -- get as many people as we can in our company involved in building our future together. We went through an entire company process of finding our common values leadership, professional standards, success and balance. We have built a management team that has a representative from each division of our company. We hold town hall meetings every quarter to inform all employees where we are with respect to our goals. We also have an annual corporate retreat for all employees, providing a way for everyone to meet their peers in a fun environment. All of these activities have helped us to build a strong team.

Recently, we developed a one-page strategic plan and are now in the process of learning how to follow the plan and execute it. And last but not least, we are focused on hiring people based on their character and core values and then ensure we give them the tools to succeed in our organization. In times of growth, hiring can become a big hurdle. If you hire under pressure you may get the wrong people on the bus, and they can jeopardize everything you are trvinc to build.

How does the cultivation of a positive work environment translate into overall growth and success?

People spend between 9 to 11 I hours at work daily. It you do not build, maintain and cherish a supporting, open, fun and joyful culture, people will leave. To ensure we maintain high employee retention, we encourage leadership and recognize it within the organization. We have built a wall of fame to recognize employees. When we achieve the corporate goals we have set. then everyone is a winner.

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RELATED ARTICLE: Top to Bottom:

Three tricks for keeping your people in the loop

Whether your business is experiencing record successes, difficult times or business as usual, being open and candid with your employees is key. People prefer difficult news to no news! Communication establishes a closer connection with leaders.

1. Increase the visibility and accessibility of your leadership team members.

2. Use email, company intranets, newsletters and other means to keep staff informed and up-to-date.

3. Hold town-hall type meetings, department meetings, and lunch discussions where people can ask questions and have their concerns heard. Acknowledge those concerns and follow up when appropriate.

DAVI D WALLACH President Barclay Street Real Kstate Ltd.