--- title: "Getting to the next level: The four stages of successor development" description: Discover the four crucial stages of successor development in property management to ensure smooth transitions and business success as baby boomer owners retire. image: https://blog.irem.org/hubfs/successor.png --- [Skip to content](https://blog.irem.org/learning/publications-news/blog/irem-blogs/2018/02/getting-to-the-next-level-the-four-stages-of-successor-development#main-content) ![IREM logo](https://blog.irem.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Primary%20IREM%20Logo.png?width=2251&height=676&name=Primary%20IREM%20Logo.png) Open main navigation Close main navigation - [irem.org](http://www.irem.org) [irem.org](http://www.irem.org) [All posts](https://blog.irem.org/all) February 21, 2018 # Getting to the next level: The four stages of successor development By  [Michael Beck](https://blog.irem.org/author/michael-beck)  ·  2 minute read Share [facebook-f icon](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://blog.irem.org/learning/publications-news/blog/irem-blogs/2018/02/getting-to-the-next-level-the-four-stages-of-successor-development) [linkedin-in icon](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://blog.irem.org/learning/publications-news/blog/irem-blogs/2018/02/getting-to-the-next-level-the-four-stages-of-successor-development) [envelope icon](mailto:?body=https://blog.irem.org/learning/publications-news/blog/irem-blogs/2018/02/getting-to-the-next-level-the-four-stages-of-successor-development) The property management industry is in a state of flux—changing with the use of remote workers, new technologies and increased competition—but all things considered, the biggest challenge facing the industry is the fact that baby boomer owners are beginning to retire. Estimates are that somewhere between 54 and 63 percent of all property managers will be retiring over the next 10 years. The shifting real estate landscape coupled with the pending wave of ownership transfers spells trouble for the industry if successors are poorly prepared to take the reins of a company. Studies show that 70 percent of successions fail. But if successors are effectively developed through all four development stages (Worker/Contributor, Manager, Leader/Executive, C-Suite/Owner), growth and profitability are maximized, employee turnover and customer loss are minimized, and owners get paid the full value of their business. Here are the characteristics of the four stages of successor development. ### Stage One: Worker/Contributor **Skills:** • Gaining knowledge of what’s involved in managing a property • Learning how to interact with tenants and owners **Benefits from:** • Acquiring technical and industry knowledge and skills Stage ### Stage Two: Manager **Skills:** • Learning to delegate, managing multiple resources or properties • Guiding others to drive production, productivity and quality **Benefits from:** • Project management training, general management training and hands-on experience ### Stage Three: Leader/Executive **Skills:** • Influencing others to get buy-in for plans and ideas • Fostering teamwork and collaboration to resolve conflict constructively • Instill confidence and build trust in teams **Benefits from:** • Breaking old habits and forming new ones • Revealing blind spots and limiting beliefs • Gaining a deeper understanding of human nature • Honing competencies through coaching and mentoring ### Stage Four: C-Suite/Owner **Benefits from:** • Develop a vision for the organization • Hone strategic thinking and move beyond simply developing tactics to cultivating directions for the company that address fundamental problems or capitalize on opportunities **Benefits from:** • Shift perspective from short- to long-term thinking; from self- to organizational-focus; from internal to external focus; and from narrow/silo thinking to big-picture thinking • Improvement is developed over time and occurs through coaching and mentoring ### Strategies for moving to the next level of successor development **Coaching** In order to master the second two stages of successor development, coaching and mentoring is imperative. If you take on this task, you must adopt a coach-like style of leadership—meaning, ask questions (rather than give answers) that 1) Give you insights into the other person; and 2) Allow you to give the other person new insights. The only way to know what questions to ask in order to give them those new insights is to first discover where their thinking, judgment and/or perspective is incorrect. That's what the first set of questions accomplishes. Coaching will help develop the necessary leadership competencies, strengthen executive presence and improve the ability to think strategically. **Mentoring** You must also mentor the successor. This is done by allowing them to make increasingly difficult decisions. Only by guiding their thinking can a successor's judgment be honed. Start with allowing them to make decisions that aren't critical. In other words, a misstep won't harm the company. As their judgment and thinking improves, have them participate in decisions that have greater impact. **The Bottom Line** In order for successors to effectively lead an organization into the future, they need to transition from contributor to manager to leader and ultimately to owner. It is essential that development does not stop at mastering the mechanics of the business. ### Leave a comment ## Related posts [![](https://blog.irem.org/hubfs/DISI-Blog3.png)](https://blog.irem.org/learning/publications-news/blog/irem-blogs/2022/07/building-inclusive-workplaces-drives-these-disi-leaders) [DEI](https://blog.irem.org/tag/dei) ### [Building inclusive workplaces drives these DISI leaders](https://blog.irem.org/learning/publications-news/blog/irem-blogs/2022/07/building-inclusive-workplaces-drives-these-disi-leaders) [![](https://blog.irem.org/hubfs/boardroom.png)](https://blog.irem.org/learning/publications-news/blog/irem-blogs/2018/09/has-the-property-management-industry-prepared-the-next-generation-for-succession) [Economy and trends](https://blog.irem.org/tag/economy-and-trends) ### [Has the Property Management Industry Prepared the Next Generation for Succession?](https://blog.irem.org/learning/publications-news/blog/irem-blogs/2018/09/has-the-property-management-industry-prepared-the-next-generation-for-succession) [![](https://blog.irem.org/hubfs/sustainability-2.png)](https://blog.irem.org/learning/publications-news/blog/irem-blogs/2019/06/three-tips-for-marketing-sustainability-success) [Sustainability](https://blog.irem.org/tag/sustainability) ### [Three tips for marketing sustainability success](https://blog.irem.org/learning/publications-news/blog/irem-blogs/2019/06/three-tips-for-marketing-sustainability-success) [![Primary IREM Logo r](https://blog.irem.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Primary%20IREM%20Logo%20r.png?width=2213&height=665&name=Primary%20IREM%20Logo%20r.png "Primary IREM Logo r")](http://www.irem.org) IREM® Headquarters 430 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 750 Chicago, IL 60611 US [facebook-f icon](https://www.facebook.com/InstituteofRealEstateManagement) [linkedin-in icon](https://www.linkedin.com/company/institute-of-real-estate-management/) [instagram icon](https://www.instagram.com/ireminfo/) [Follow us on Facebook](https://www.youtube.com/@IREM_info)   © Institute of Real Estate Management 430 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 700, Chicago, IL 60611 [IREM Harassment Policy](https://www.irem.org/File%20Library/Footer%20Nav/IREM-Harassment-Policy---October-2023.pdf) [Privacy Policy](https://www.irem.org/privacy-policy) [Digital Millennium Copyright Act](https://www.irem.org/digital-millennium-copyright-act) Copyright © 2026, IREM ![](https://px.ads.linkedin.com/collect/?pid=1013802&fmt=gif) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Michael Beck", "url" : "https://blog.irem.org/author/michael-beck" }, "dateModified" : "2026-04-13T16:52:59.187Z", "datePublished" : "2018-02-21T06:00:00.000Z", "headline" : "Getting to the next level: The four stages of successor development", "image" : [ "https://blog.irem.org/hubfs/successor.png" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://blog.irem.org/learning/publications-news/blog/irem-blogs/2018/02/getting-to-the-next-level-the-four-stages-of-successor-development", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://blog.irem.org/hubfs/Primary%20IREM%20Logo.png" }, "name" : "IREM" } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "http://schema.org", "@type" : "Article", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : [ "Michael Beck" ], "url" : "https://blog.irem.org/author/michael-beck" }, "datePublished" : "2018-02-21T06:00:00+0000", "description" : "Discover the four crucial stages of successor development in property management to ensure smooth transitions and business success as baby boomer owners retire.", "headline" : "Getting to the next level: The four stages of successor development", "image" : "https://22645210.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/22645210/successor.png", "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://22645210.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/22645210/Primary%20IREM%20Logo.png" }, "name" : "IREM" }, "url" : "https://blog.irem.org/learning/publications-news/blog/irem-blogs/2018/02/getting-to-the-next-level-the-four-stages-of-successor-development" } ```