Pay It Forward: "Find The Intersection Between Your Skillset and Your Interests"
"You have to be willing to spend hours of your own time developing the skill sets you need to succeed in your functional area," says Colleen O’Connor of BioMed Realty.
Colleen O’Connor, SVP of leasing, East Coast and U.K. markets, BioMed Realty.
O’Connor’s role encompasses the management of six million square feet on two continents and overseeing the leasing team in these markets. Prior to joining BioMed Realty in 2014, O’Connor spent several years in various finance and accounting roles.
Area of expertise: Leasing, commercial real estate (life science and technology industries).
What has been the biggest challenge in your particular role/? The life science industry continues to move at an incredibly rapid pace: with record funding creating additional urgency, biotech firms need high-quality lab space on a much quicker turnaround time than ever before. To keep up with this increased demand, it’s crucial for me to remain up-to-speed on the ever-evolving industry trends. It sometimes feels like there just aren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish all that I would like to, but that’s why it’s so important to surround myself with smart people who I trust and can rely on. This, coupled with my ongoing practice of diligent time management, and I have successfully been able to grow as a professional in the industry despite its breakneck speed and new challenges.
Throughout my career, I’ve learned that one of the biggest roadblocks to success is finding and cultivating top talent so that you can drive a powerful team. It’s kind of a science in and of itself: you can be exponentially more valuable and better show off your own strengths when you’ve curated a team that maximizes people’s skill sets. Thanks to the cohesive team I’ve helped grow and am fortunate to be a part of, I’m able to be far more nimble and responsive to the ever-changing needs of the industry.
What about your current role/position at the company are you most happy with? It’s hard to narrow this down, so I’ve included three aspects of my role at BioMed Realty that bring me the most joy.
- Thanks to skyrocketing growth in the life science real estate sector and BioMed’s access to capital through our sponsor, Blackstone, I’ve been given countless unparalleled opportunities to work on high-profile, large-scale projects within our East Coast and U.K. market portfolio. The exposure I’ve had to these large projects is really unique to BioMed, and as a result I’ve had more opportunities to move up in my career faster than I might have at another firm.
- I am constantly learning. I feel so fortunate to work alongside such talented real estate professionals across functional areas at BioMed, and to be able to learn from the Blackstone team. We work in an atmosphere that nurtures innovation and creativity, so new ideas and approaches from our team members at all levels are a regular occurrence. Additionally, it’s so humbling to support and work in parallel with brilliant biotech companies doing truly life-saving work. Knowing that what we do can enable them to create crucial therapies adds fuel to the fire.
- Finally, it’s so rewarding to see the positive impacts we have on our surrounding communities as a real estate company. By investing in the neighborhoods around us, rather than simply our own sites, we can transform the landscape of our cities for the better and elevate local organizations that are the fabric of our communities. I’m proud to be part of a company that goes above and beyond to make a positive impact on the neighborhoods where we have properties.
What is the best piece of advice you have received that has helped you succeed in your industry? This can be applied to a number of industries, but effective communication is paramount. The best way to deliver a powerful message is often by being concise and limiting it to three to five key messages or ideas. I’m constantly working on ways to communicate messages in the most impactful way, and those tips have guided me to be able to convey my perspective in the clearest way possible.
Would you advise any younger person to begin a career in CRE? I would absolutely encourage younger people to dive into a career in CRE. Especially in the Boston area, there are many different ways to get involved in the industry, so there’s bound to be a position where your talents align and you can thrive. It’s essential to find the intersection between your skillset and your interests. Especially as a young person starting out in your career, you should ensure you have a value proposition, and that you’re somewhere where you can gain those technical skill sets that will allow you to grow.
You always want to bring something to the table that differentiates you from your peers. Having a strong mentor in the business can be invaluable to help you achieve your goals, but mentors are ultimately making an investment of their most valuable resource — time — when they choose to support a growing professional in the business. Naturally, a mentor wants to ensure that there’s value in that investment. As a mentee, this means you have to be willing to spend hours of your own time developing the skill sets you need to succeed in your functional area. At the start of my career, my technical expertise was in accounting and finance. For me, that meant spending many long nights and weekends studying for my CPA exam and digging through cells in Excel models to understand how various inputs impacted a company’s returns. I have since pivoted to a career in leasing life science real estate, but that technical skill set has allowed me to bring a talent to the table in terms of understanding deal economics at a deeper level and finding creative financial levers to maximize returns.
It can be tough when you are earlier in your career to know what your focus area should be, but the sooner you can commit to developing a specific area of expertise, the more value you can bring to your organization.
What, in particular, can women bring to the table as the industry continues to grapple and come out of the COVID-19 crisis? Women are resourceful and able to juggle many responsibilities at once — a particularly valuable skill set to have in an environment governed by constant change. Our higher level of empathy also sets us apart as leaders. Day to day, we don’t know what people can be carrying with them; the pandemic has made some of us feel even more vulnerable. As a leader, it’s crucial to remember this, meet your peers where they are, and bring uplifting energy into the work environment.
Commercial real estate has historically been a challenging industry for women. Little by little that is changing, but where would you say commercial real estate needs to improve for women? While we’re definitely seeing more women entering the CRE field, there’s still a considerable industry-wide gender gap in leadership positions. The industry as a whole must do a better job of retaining female talent by creating a culture that makes women feel valued and included in the workplace. Too often, when a woman joins a firm there’s a sense that only her female coworkers should be mentoring her within the organization — an obvious statistical challenge, given that most firms have mostly men in leadership roles. It shouldn’t just be the women in an organization looking to bring other women up; rather, the entire firm should be invested in new hires, regardless of their gender identity.
How can women better position themselves for success both in general and in your specific area of focus? Ensure that you’re building the skill sets to become a leader in your industry, and that you find strong allies and mentors within your organization and across the sector. That way, you’re delivering indisputable value and making yourself an indispensable member of your firm.
What 3 words or phrases or statements or mantras would you use to describe your work mindset? Resourceful, Focused, Diligent.
Find more CRE career advancement tips and inspiring stories from industry leaders in our Pay It Forward series.
