The Climb Up The Brokerage Ladder

At the start of his career, John Adams, now a principal at Avison Young, made a key decision: despite shouldering a heavy workload, community and family commitments, he would devote time to join and participate in commercial real estate professional organizations. He earned his CCIM designation in his first two years in the industry, and has since joined SIOR as well. “I worked hard to get all of my course work for CCIM done within a two-year period to set myself apart from other people and younger people in my market,” says Adams, who is also head of the office member group and a member of the communications and branding committee at SIOR.

The advantages were many. “I could talk to brokers that are not competitors with me, and that allowed me to learn from other people that are also successful in the business,” he says. “There is a lot of sharing ideas and trademarks. That has been very beneficial.”

Joining professional groups is a tried-and-true path to climbing the career ladder in any industry but especially so in the commercial real estate community, where relationships are paramount. It is, though, just one part of what can and should be a multi-pronged approach to building one’s reputation and expertise.