Hello Mr. Collier,

I hope everything is going well for you. When you get some time can you please answer the below questions? Thank you!

How do you build great leaders?

Hard work : ) Example. Power of Attraction. Continuous Learning. Refusal to accept less than excellence. Finding someone with that special spark and fanning it into a burning desire to be the best coupled with a commitment to do the labor. One who “wants” without the corresponding relentless “will to work” is just a day dreamer.

Are there any long-term benefits to building new assets versus buying older assets and stabilizing them?

If you do it right, you create value in the development process, perhaps as much as 10 to 15% of the value of the asset. Of course, you can do the same or more by finding mismanaged/underperforming assets or those in need of major maintenance or significant CapEx.

What’s a good operator?

One who achieves Desired Results in an Ethical, Effective, and Efficient manner. Organized. Detail oriented yet also with great vision. Equally comfortable at ground level and 50,000 feet.

What makes you a good operator?

I work hard, never stop trying to climb ever higher mountains. Voracious reader. Fire in the Belly, Burning Sense of Urgency. Self-concept. I wanted it enough to throw my whole heart and soul into it repeatedly, every day, every hour. You just have to want it badly enough and do what it takes.

When you have a smaller company and limited resources like I currently do, how can I recruit the best possible people for the various missions we are looking to achieve?  How do I find great talent now without me having a massive huge track record?

You just get out there and start looking, asking everyone you know and meet: “Who do you know who wants to be in on the ground floor of something great?”. There is always someone looking for a good leader to follow, a good organization to join and build.

How do you know when someone is ready to be promoted?

Promote them and find out! You never really know for sure. Everyone thinks they are ready before they really are in part because they don’t know what they don’t know. Flip side is that real potential is such a great find that you always end up promoting folks when they are only 70 to 80% ready, the ones that should be promoted backfill and make it. Others flame out.

How do you address a team member who costs the company money?

Respectfully but with blunt clarity. One-off that was a learning lesson or on-going issues? Three Strikes and then move on i.e. Listen to the Behavior: the first time someone shows you their true self, their real skill level, believe them. Free up their future to find something they are good at and/or want to be good at. Anything less is not fair to others on the Team, to you or to your investors and customers. You should be spending your time coaching the good toward greatness not nagging the unmotivated into barely accepting mediocrity.

Would you allow a non-team member like myself to attend some of your Collier college classes?

Sure.

As always, I share what I most want and need to learn. – Nathan S. Collier