Shout Out to the Community Manager

Personal Disclosures Display Value and Professionalism

By Kay Ladner, CCAM

Sometimes it can be a daily struggle to prove your value and worth to board members. If you have a portfolio of accounts you will have a large number of board members watching and wondering if you know what you’re doing. Then of course, you get new ones every year. We joke about reinventing the wheel every time a new owner gets on the board. Honestly, this aspect of our role as community managers can be quite the challenge.

I remember years ago, I was a freshman manager and my board president mentioned that I was the topic of conversation at the club during dinner. Whoa, that set me back in my chair for a moment! I never imagined anyone would be talking about me. That’s when

the light bulb turned on, and I realized I was now a very public person. Yikes! What stress that placed on my everyday communications with owners and board members. I was always wondering what was being said about me and what people thought.

Fast forward to today. While I no longer stress about such things, I do recommend that managers utilize different ways to tout their skills and disclose to owners and board members the education and training they have achieved.

Portray Your Value in the Community Newsletter

A great idea is to have a newsletter brief once a year or so to tout yourself. Owners will find a “Did you Know” article about you interesting, particularly when you’ve passed a milestone, taken advanced coursework or received a new designation. Annual Certification Disclosure

We also have a chance every year to provide our board members with details about professional accomplishments. The annual manager certification disclosure is a very important avenue to help your board understand your skills, value and commitment to your career. You can find a great example of a disclosure letter in the Manager’s Toolkit in the Members Only section of the CACM website. CACM also provides a beautiful four color brochure outlining the value of the CCAM designation. You can order copies to include with your letter!

Annual Report Updates

Another great tool is the annual report. I always write a report that accompanies the prior year audit. I recap everything the board accomplished in each category to correlate with expenses (landscape, security, etc.) I take the minutes from the prior year and use it as my guideline. In my closing, I take the

Continued on page 58

Remembering John Gachina

John Gachina, a pioneering icon of the landscape industry and a longstanding member and supporter of CACM, passed away in December. President and owner of Gachina Landscape Management, John was a great leader and an amazing human being, who enriched the life of everyone he touched. Although he will be greatly missed, he leaves behind a strong company and organization of passionate employees that will honor his memory by dedicating themselves to continue the work and service he lovedso much.

In addition to his company, John was strongly committed to JobTrain, a nonprofit organization that offers job training and placement services. John’s partnership with JobTrain to create an Organic Demonstration Garden in Menlo Park was profiled in the Fall 2014 issue of Vision magazine.

Shout Out to Managers

Continued from page 57 opportunity to disclose my education and accomplishments and thank the members for allowing me to serve them. I get numerous positive notes and calls after that mailing is received.

Other Disclosures

Additional disclosures can come at any time during the year. Disclosures that show your board that you have completed a course, obtained a designation or just demonstrated that you have integrity. You can disclose in executive session that a particular vendor has offered to pay your way in the local golf tournament or that the painter will be painting your home and what you will be paying. Keeping your board apprised of any personal transactions with your vendors shows them you take your professionalism seriously and value your ethics and integrity.

Take every opportunity you can to share your success with your boards and owners, they will truly see you as a valued asset to their community.

Kay Ladner, CCAM is the General Manager for Desert Horizons Owners Association in Indian Wells.