As people prepare to celebrate Father’s Day on Sunday, the Phoenix offices of Daum Commercial Real Estate is proud to have a number of dad/son teams creating great achievements together, at work and home.
Daum Commercial Real Estate Services, California’s oldest commercial real estate brokerage company established in 1904 opened its Phoenix offices in 1973. Today, the Phoenix branch is home to four sets of father and son teams working together in the industrial, office and investment real estate industry.
While the fathers originally served as mentors, now the sons are mentoring their dads as two generations learn to work together. Today’s Gen-X sons think differently than their boomer dads and bring technology skills and innovation to the workplace.
While dads bring experience, passion and the vision, the sons oftentimes pursue deals more efficiently with technology and enthusiasm for taking risks. And after first working with the parent, learning and growing their skills, some of the Daum sons have found their own niche and taken on partnerships with age-related team brokers.
Raised with their fathers in real estate, the sons have grown up with the industry and it’s in their blood, said Steve McKendry, executive vice president and principal of the Daum Phoenix office. Several dads once coached their sons in sports, and are now coaching them on sales calls. While the father/son relationship can be the ultimate pairing for business success, it takes the ability to work through expectations and differences as the father and son dynamics are complex.
Commercial brokerage is a tough business to get into and while most of the sons knew at an early age they wanted to be a broker, having a parent already there to help clear the path gives them a chance to get in and prove himself, McKendry said. While there are certain liberties taken because of the son relationship, there is greater loyalty and the trust that he’s going to go the extra mile in every situation, he added.
And it’s important to spend time together outside of the office. Daum dads and sons golf together, go on fishing trips and team up as drivers on the race car circuit – focusing together on a sport and not the industry.
