Pay It Forward: "Challenge the Norm and Never be Satisfied with the Status Quo"
"I think it is especially important to challenge, find new ways of working, and be strong in your conviction that just because something has always been done one way doesn’t mean that it is right for the future," says Jeremy Bernard, CEO of essensys.
Jeremy Bernard, CEO of essensys, North America.
Jeremy Bernard is a seasoned executive with more than 25 years of experience in the real estate and technology sectors. Most recently, Bernard was the global head of real estate for Knotel where he grew and oversaw a portfolio of 5.5 million square feet of flexible office space across 250 locations in 17 cities around the world.
What has been the biggest challenge in your particular role and how are you overcoming those obstacles/? There is a lot of noise and a boom in start-ups in the North American PropTech space, so there are some preconceived notions that if you are a tech business that you are a smaller, younger company. This can be challenging to navigate, not just for landlords and flex workspace operators trying to choose a tech partner, but for more established businesses like ours – the noise can be deafening.
We’re overcoming those obstacles by continuing to act as a trusted partner to our North American and global clients, which include some of the biggest landlords in the world as well as largest operators of flex office.
What about your current role as CEO at the company are you most happy with? At essensys we are providing the software and technology that is forming a big part of the solution for the return to the office. Currently, the commercial office industry is still figuring out what form the future of work will take, with a variety of hybrid working and flexible working models being trialled. Nobody knows the answer as to what will work best, but most are acutely aware of what isn’t working.
What we do know is that our technology can support a myriad of solutions helping landlords and flex workspace operators navigate the future of the office – regardless of what trends start becoming the norm. It has been very exciting and refreshing to be solutions orientated for our clients and be able to provide some of the answers as we come out of the pandemic into the new normal.
What is the best piece of advice you have received that has helped you succeed in your industry and do you have any advice specifically for the next generation? I’ve always been told to challenge the norm and to never be satisfied with the status quo. This is particularly applicable when you talk about shaping the future of real estate, the best way of doing things and the role technology plays.
It’s well known that real estate has been slower than other industries to realize the benefits of tech, so I think it is especially important to challenge, find new ways of working, and be strong in your conviction that just because something has always been done one way doesn’t mean that it is right for the future. Certainly, this is advice I would give to anyone coming up in the industry – the idea of never being satisfied and being brave enough to question when things could be done differently.
Please share an initiative that you are working on that you are most proud of. Aside from our company’s ESG initiatives, I am most proud of essensys Labs, which was launched about 12 months ago. essensys Labs is our unique innovation arm. It’s dedicated to design for the future and uncovering new possibilities from innovative technologies that can help our customers to remain at the forefront of the industry. We look at how technology can make our customers more profitable, more scalable, and support their ESG agendas. essensys Lab has the power to be transformative and make a real impact.
In your opinion, what takeaways did we learn from the COVID-19 crisis? If COVID has taught me anything it is how much we are all social creatures. We can’t thrive without interaction. It has really clarified for me that the office is here to stay, when you look at how it increases social capital and brings people together.
I’m a firm believer that the value of the office can be summed up with what I call the three C’s: collaboration, culture and cooler talk. These are such important elements of how people come together efficiently, in high-performing teams, be productive and successful. As office real estate continues to adapt to a more flexible, digital-first strategy, the value of the three C’s can be realized – there is no doubt that the future of the office is bright, as it starts to take on a different form and a different purpose to pre-pandemic.
What three words would you use to describe your work mindset? I’ll give you four words: Respect, Integrity, Dedication and Enjoyment (RIDE). I came up with that acronym 25 years ago and it has served me well during my career. We are all on a RIDE in this journey called life and, whether it’s your work life or personal life, keeping the RIDE mindset will make it more meaningful and fulfilling.
