Interview with Alicia Chmura

Alicja Chmura

Co-founder of The Leader’s

THE LEADER’S: We already know what roles Marysia and Paula have in the company. And what are you responsible for?

Alicja: I care about a positive work environment, and in this regard I am primarily responsible for people – for motivating and encouraging them. I care about creating conditions where girls can learn the work of an agent in peace while maintaining our high standards.

On a daily basis, I point them in the right direction and encourage them to take the steps that will lead to the finalization of a transaction. I teach them how to guide the client and how to work with them, but also how to cope when there are obstacles in the way – unfortunately, there are times in the work of every agent when there are far more failures than successes.

So I show them that this is normal and try to make them realize that worrying doesn’t do much. My job is to teach them how to deal with difficult situations and to prove to them that failure can be part of success. The key is to turn every little stumble into the next step toward achieving a goal and making a difference.

I want the women working in our company to know that with every stumble they become stronger. I want them to see clearly in retrospect that this is the case. When we recognize that we have made a mistake and approach that fact consciously, we can transform it into lessons and, as a result, move on even more courageously.

TL: How did you come to be involved in human resource management?

Alicja: As Marysia and Paula mentioned earlier – everything worked out quite naturally and in response to the needs of the team. From the very beginning, the girls turned to me with worries and obstacles they were facing in their work. They called with questions and requests for advice or help. I watched on a regular basis as the need for mentoring came to the fore.

Fortunately, I also excelled in this role and began to derive a lot of pleasure from it. With such a structure in place, both parties are happy – me, seeing that the girls are doing well and enjoying their work, and the agents, who can always count on support.

TL: Let’s stop for a moment more about people. You are growing very fast. You started in February, and today your Team already has more than 10 people. Was this the plan from the beginning?

Alicja: Yes, we wanted to build a strong foundation. We wanted to create an agency consisting of ten very good female agents who will stay with us for many years. We want the girls to be not only our business partners, but at the same time business friends, to whom we can hand over our clients with the feeling that they will take care of them as well as we do. Of course, this is a process that usually plays out over a period of years.

There is a very high turnover in this industry. A lot of agents come in, don’t perform well and leave in a while. Right now, my main goal is to create a team of experienced female agents who will be with us for years to come. We want to take care of each agent who comes to us as best as we can and bring out all her potential, so that in a year’s time she will be fully independent.

TL: Do you feel a big difference with your new roles? Don’t you miss being just (and as much as) an agent?

Alicja: Previously I was both an agent and (for a while) a team leader. I liked it a lot, but I didn’t feel like I was creating something of my own and on my own terms. Now I have total freedom to create the Team and implement my own ideas. I like the way we are together – we match each other’s personalities.

I’m still an agent and have tasks to perform for which I am fully responsible, but I get just as much satisfaction and pleasure from working with our girls. Personal successes become commonplace at some point. When new people come along, you can exchange experiences and support each other. Each of the girls has a more difficult day or, most simply, doubts, and to each there are times when they feel they can’t cope with something.

I try to show them that difficulties can always happen and are not an obstacle, and that each of us follows a different path. In one’s case, the most difficult is at the very beginning, in another’s case, this moment appears only after a few months. Most importantly, everyone, without exception, has to go through this period.

I believe that it is much easier to experience this if you follow this path with someone. I try to be that person for the girls who walks with them, right beside them. The successes that our agents begin to achieve then taste even better than their own.

TL: What do you find most challenging besides closing deals?

Alicja: In the work of a manager, mentor or team leader, the biggest challenge is the amount of energy, love and commitment you put into your work. I attach myself strongly to each of the girls, and I really care that they all achieve success – for themselves and according to their own definitions of it.

The hardest part is the clash with the reality that there are many external factors that none of us has control over. This is the kind of moment when I feel like a parent who wants to protect his child and give him direction. Then it turns out that it’s the child who goes his own way, and you just observe it and are there at the moments when the need arises.

This is a big challenge, but at the same time it brings me a lot of satisfaction. Everyone has to stumble, everyone has to make their own mistakes, and that’s when I want to be supportive. I’m counting on the girls to always keep this in mind and to create a strong bond that makes no one our equal.