VAMACON Speaker Kathy Harmon On Her 2020 Heroes

This has been a truly remarkable year – and not always in a good way. Most of us work at the “front lines” of our companies, a term that usually refers to a battle. And I think that is what we are going through. 

Some of us have gotten sick, juggled childcare and teaching fifth grade math, handled the tasks of absent team members in quarantine, learned how to meet virtually, been stressed, frustrated, anxious, and been a sounding board for residents who had no one else to yell at.

But here we are. I think there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it’s you who’ve been holding the candle. 

Just as in a war and its battles, some individuals have distinguished themselves. They stand out because they have learned to adapt to the “New Normal,” however the term was defined that day. We can’t shut down. We are essential. We have customers who depend on us.

We figured out how to rent apartments by taking prospects on video tours using our cellphones. We found city and state money to help residents to pay their rent. We had social workers set up shop in our lobbies and parking lots. We learned to smile with our eyes while wearing a mask. Our tone of voice has become kinder because we cannot shake hands or hug. 

We have learned to accept the fact that, for the moment, nothing works as it should. And we’ve learned to take a breath when we are told the wait time on hold is two hours, and there is no one to live chat. But most of all, this: we have become the best that we can be for our investors, owners, team members and residents.

Some of you have been extraordinary. Here are some of my heroes. 

• Susan dresses in costume for ZOOM meetings. Today, she went as Gloria Steinem; last week she was Beyonce. Everyone looks forward to the meetings just because they know she’ll be there, and they all smile when she shows up on screen. 
• Several of my friends make an effort to call all of their residents–a few of them each morning–just to ask how they are and to offer whatever assistance they need. One of them took a recently widowed resident to an animal shelter to find a furry companion, then paid the pet deposit out of her own pocket.
• Another young leasing agent volunteered her computer skills to set up several older residents on COVID vaccine waiting lists.  
• A manager helped some of her residents with job searches and resume preparation. 
• Several others organized and participated in food and clothing drives.
• Perhaps one of my favorites is a manager who teaches non-technical residents how to virtually meet for book clubs on Saturdays and cooking classes on Tuesday evenings. She has more than a dozen in each class, and she has offered the virtual environment to other properties her company manages. Her company has offered a weekly prize for any employee with a “positively outrageous idea to better the world.”

 This is one place where copying a great idea isn’t plagiarism: it is collective brilliance! Join the crowd!