This month's winner is a great example of excellence in our industry!

Nominated by, "A Little Bird," who wished to remain anonymous, February's winner is a definite asset to her company and to the community that she manages.  Rose Manos of Indigo Real Estate Services in Seattle has been in the property management world for 10 years. 

What drew my attention to Rose over the other nominations that I received this month were comments made by her nominator:

•  "Rose is the kind of manager who doesn't see the problem, but instead sees the ways to solve the problem.  There's nothing that she won't overcome."  After visiting with Rose, I would say that assessment of her tenacity is dead on. Her ability to skip the "wallowing" stage of problem solving is not only impressive, but a massive asset to her company and to her property's owners, Harbor Properties.
• "She cares about people.  I mean, REALLY cares about people."  I didn't understand the distinction until sitting and talking with Rose for a bit.  We talked about how challenging the economy is right now, and she mentioned off-handedly something about protecting her team.  Upon further inquiry, Rose explained to me that she's the line between her staff and the upper management, and she takes a very protective stance.  She discussed with me her point of view about how it's not good to pass the massive stress downward right now, because if her team is upset then they can't perform well, and good performance is what they need more than anything in the current market.  I have to say, that impressed me quite a bit, as I know many managers seem to be forgetting that lately.  
• "She worked her way up, earned it. You have to respect that."  Indeed you do. Rose started as a maintenance technician and moved up to a supervisor.  From there, she accepted the challenges inside the office, moving up the chain of promotions until she reached Property Manager, all while she balanced being a mom and  going to school to get her bachelor's degree in Business Administration.

One thing that wasn't mentioned by her nominator, but that I noticed upon visiting with Rose is that she takes enormous pride in her property, The Mural.  In touring the property, I was very impressed at how clean it was and how incredibly well it melded with the local area.  She loves the building and pushes hard for integration with the surrounding community.  She talked about the excellent relationship that she has with her owners and, rightfully, too great pride in how strong the communication was. 

Rose also isn't afraid to try innovative ways to motivate her team.  She mentioned to me that her current "reward" for getting a lease included giving her people 4 hours of paid time off, noting that it had increased their closings, and upped team morale. 

For all these reasons and more, Rose Manos is exceptionally deserving of this month's Behind the Leasing Desk RIGHT ON RIBBON Award, including the 2 months of free service for her property from the amazing resident rewards program, Black Ledger!  Congratulations to Rose and to Indigo Real Estate Services for their exceptional employee!