EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ-Thirty-three-year-old Brian Whitmer defines himself as a leader. It's certainly accurate in the textbook sense in that as a senior director at the local office of Cushman & Wakefield, he has a team of five he directs in multifamily investment sales.
But it's true in the larger sense as well, in that Whitmer by both nature and nurture embraces leadership as a way of life. “I think of myself as a leader because I grew up in a household where both my parents ran their own business,” says Whitmer, who received his BBA from the University of Michigan in 2002. (A nine-year C&W veteran, his first job out of college was at LaSalle Bank in Chicago.)
Beyond family, Whitmer says there's something about growing up in a small town that engenders a sense of leadership. Fremont, NE, is that town, with a population of 25,000 and the realization that “everyone knows everyone,” he says, and it's important to do good in both your personal and professional life, because they merge. The people who stand out are those who are successful and give back. They are looked up to.” There are five tenets to leadership as Whitmer defines it:
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John Salustri
John Salustri has covered the commercial real estate industry for nearly 25 years. He was the founding editor of GlobeSt.com, and is a four-time recipient of the Excellence in Journalism award from the National Association of Real Estate Editors.
