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CO-OP BOARD LEADERSHIP: FOUR PORTRAITS, PART 1

Co-op Board Leadership: Four Portraits, Part 1

park-city

What makes a great leader? Vision, taking charge and building consensus. A successful board president must know how to handle irate shareholders and dissenting board members while also attending to the practicalities of day-to-day operation. "Great leaders are excellent at creating a vision and strategy, and at motivating their troops toward fulfilling that vision into tangible realities," says leadership consultant Lars G. Harrison. Or as John Quincy Adams put it, "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."

Here's part one of our close-up look at four co-op presidents who have significantly improved the communities in which they live, and shown they have the right stuff to be great leaders.

 

 

HARRY MAYER: The Team Player
Park City Estates, Rego Park, Queens
Co-op — 1,049 units

Serious water damage to the underground garage at the five-building Park City Estates (above) meant that the roof had to be demolished. But the roof also doubled as a 152,000 square-foot, ground-level rotunda in the front of the complex, with roadways, walkways, paths and gardens. To make matters worse, an illegal renovation in an apartment pierced a gas line, shutting down the building just before Thanksgiving and costing $750,000 to repair. Soon afterward, a Con Ed street fire blew out the electrical box of an enitre building, while a garage-roof collapse crushed 24 cars.

The shareholders were in an uproar. "We had to deal with all the shareholders whose cars were crushed and provide them with temporary transportation, and also had to deal with the host of insurance companies who next insured these vehicles," says Charles M. Zsebedics, general manager of Park City Estates.

Harry-Mayer

Crisis can bring out the best or the worst in a person. Luckily for Park City Estates, it had the best: Harry Mayer. As a board member of his co-op since 1998 and board president since 2000, Mayer has "seen everything" while serving a property where three generations of his family reside.

The rotunda crisis began in 2002, when the board determined that repairing dangerous water damage to the underground garage and preventing further damage meant extensive roof repair. "Some agreed we had to do this but the majority did not," says Mayer who was besieged with questions regarding the necessity of the project. However difficult it was for all residents, Mayer, director of technical services for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, knew the action was necessary. "We had no choice. This was a mandatory repair for everyone's safety, and so we just did it."

The co-op obtained financing from NCB for the $8 million project, which also included renovating the five buildings' lobbies for handicap accessibility; Local Law 11/98 repairs on all the buildings; and rebuilding the exterior staircases leading up to the rotunda. "Everything that hadn't been done in 40 years, we did," says Mayer. Zsebedics adds that, although the project was "more ambitious than any board in New York City would want to tackle," Mayer knew how to make the tough choices. "He is able to speak to people and relate to them on a personal level. He has sound judgment, common sense, and is extremely wise. He combines compassion, empathy, and patience with a unique toughness."

Mayer needed that toughness to successfully lead the board through the tangle of financing, massive construction schedules, freakish accidents and insurance claims while keeping the co-op functioning on a daily basis. Once construction began, the co-op "looked like it had been blown up in a war," says Mayer, who worked overtime to soothe the fears of anxious residents. "Harry was able to lead the board, and these residents, through an extremely difficult time," notes Zsebedics. "Aside from a crane collapse or a plane crashing into a building, most co-ops do not experience this sort of thing. He exudes confidence without being pretentious. He doesn't micromanage."

Explains Mayer: "You have to know when to pull in the ropes and when to let go." He insisted on answering questions and giving face-to-face assurances with any and all shareholders. Believing communication is the key to harmony, he also saw to it that the co-op put out daily newsletters that kept everyone informed of the projects underway. And he says that the board and management staff are united as a team committed to restoring the co-op's stability, Meyer adds.

"You may be the leader, but you have to have an open mind and listen to everyone's opinions, good and bad," he observes, adding that his board "may have heated discussions but we come up with answers." The board members physically meet once a month but communicate daily via advantage e-mail and telephone. "This way nothing gets held back and delayed," Mayer says. "Everything is constantly moving." And as he points out, "Without team effort, you have nothing."

 

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