Your real estate management business can learn a lot from a cat. We all know about a cat’s innate ability to always…. always land on its feet, but do we know how a cat does it?

Here’s how:

It starts at the head.  Utilizing its inner ear, a cat first orients itself to the ground.  Imagine a dismounting gymnast first finding, and then fixing her eyes on the ground as her body twists above her.  With split-second timing, the cat then tucks its front legs inwards to reduce the moment of inertia at the head while extending its rear legs to increase the moment of inertia at the tail.  This gives it the necessary mid-air purchase to rotate aggressively without touching a fixed object.   Depending on the cat’s flexibility and initial angular momentum, it may need to repeat the tuck, thrust and roll technique a few times to complete a full 180° rotation – all instantaneously.   Finally, a cat sets its feet on a parallel plane beneath its chest, relaxing its leg muscles and exhaling to soften the coming landing.  An unusually flexible backbone, loose skin, a prehensile tail and no functional collarbone contribute to the cat’s ability to land upright ? a survival anatomy and instinct borne of millennia of threats.  It’s an instinctive trick – coming naturally in their first few weeks and perfected by the seventh.

Brilliant!   Eat your heart out Olga Korbet and Nadia Comaneci.

So how does feline finesse lend itself to real estate recovery?

Here’s how.

1. First, use your business inner ear to orient your organization towards the ground, and towards recovery.  Like a cat, fix your business vision on organizational success and keep it there while your company tucks, thrusts and rolls to right itself.   Know where you are going to land because in knowing, you will have aligned all of your actions towards a singular goal and you’ll have the confidence and comfort that comes with expectation.
2. Next, find some midair purchase.  Look for a component of your enterprise upon which you can build towards recovery.   While the balance of your organization is struggling with gravity, focus and build off of the inertia created by the grounded portion – your existing tenants and your existing assets.  Focus respectively on their happiness and condition.  Invest in their future and by doing so you invest in your own.
3. Finally, get ready to land right and land well.   When the business starts coming around, you must be ready to hit the ground running.  Don’t wait for the recovery to happen to get ready.  Keep your organization flexible enough to absorb the blow and then pounce on new opportunities.

Your business has the necessary anatomy to make the turn and land on its proverbial feet.   With leadership, vision and flexibility your real estate management business will recover.  It starts at the head.