Welcome to the Leaders in Real Estate Podcast featuring LeeHayes Bradford. Lee is one of the most recognizable figures in US Multifamily and Build to Rent property management. With experience over the course of the last 20 years she has led teams for Gingko, Greystar, Quarterra, DR Horton andnow Hines. In this episode, Lee shares honest lessons on leading before you feel ready, making unpopular decisions, and why calm, compassionate leadership outperforms command and control.

We covered:

1. How comfortable was Lee in her first leadership role

2. How to handle when things go wrong for your teams

3. Leaders need to make difficult decisions

00:00 – 02:10 Introducing Lee Bradford and the scale of herrole at D.R. Horton

02:10 – 04:20 What really drives Lee and why she callsherself a “builder”

04:20 – 07:10 First leadership role and why no one everfeels ready

07:10 – 11:00 Biggest leadership challenge – aligning teamsand finding common ground

11:00 – 14:30 Report card time – how Lee leads people totheir own answers

14:30 – 18:30 The office floor story – staying calm whenthings go badly wrong

18:30 – 22:30 Hard decisions, being liked, and whyindecision hurts teams most

22:30 – 25:30 “Be brave enough to suck at something new” andleading at the top

25:30 – 28:00 Communication, DISC and adapting your style

28:00 – 30:00 What Lee looks for in future leaders andclosing advice

*At the time of recording Lee was President of PropertyManagement or DR Horton.