Real estate thrives on high-functioning teams, fast-paced decision-making, and visible leadership. But beneath the surface of productivity, many brokerages and teams experience slow-burning dysfunction—not from a lack of skill or drive, but due to unresolved problems and toxic leadership. In an industry that celebrates vision and agility, poor leadership behaviors—whether subtle or overt—can quietly sabotage results, morale, and retention.
To lead effectively in today’s volatile housing market, brokers, team leads, and executives must master the art of problem-solving while identifying and neutralizing the impact of toxic leadership styles. Here's how real estate leaders can raise the bar, starting with clearer diagnoses, wider perspectives, and a zero-tolerance policy for dysfunction at the top.
A successful real estate team doesn’t suffer because of one bad quarter or one underperforming agent. Problems are rarely surface-level. Leaders who rush to action without fully identifying the root of the issue often waste time and resources fixing the wrong thing.
Take a common brokerage challenge: declining client satisfaction. Without analysis, it may look like poor agent communication. But dig deeper, and the cause might be burnout from poor scheduling systems, misaligned compensation incentives, or even toxic team dynamics triggered by a manager's unpredictable behavior.
Effective leaders ask the right questions before proposing solutions:
In real estate, defining the actual issue might involve reviewing CRM data, interviewing agents, or conducting anonymous internal surveys. One of the most effective moves? Simply listening—deeply and consistently—to the perspectives of the agents and staff closest to the problem.
Real estate leadership too often falls into binary traps: Should we invest in new tech or hire more agents? Should we drop the top producer with toxic behavior or keep them for their numbers?
But according to decision-making research from Chip and Dan Heath’s Decisive, binary choices limit outcomes. The best decisions come from widening the lens.
Smart brokerage leaders apply this by:
For example, instead of choosing between firing a toxic top producer or ignoring their behavior, some brokerages have introduced peer review systems, behavioral contracts, or created alternate leadership tracks that separate production from management influence.
The real estate industry is fast-moving, but that speed can amplify blind spots. Great leaders slow down long enough to zoom in and out. One effective method is a pre-mortem—a strategy session imagining that a decision has failed and tracing back to the reasons why. This process helps prevent costly missteps, especially around leadership appointments and strategic pivots.
Another critical shift: expanding the decision-making circle. Include the voices of assistants, transaction coordinators, buyer agents, and yes—clients. A brokerage solving internal miscommunication, for instance, might discover the true issue isn’t the agents, but overlapping systems or unclear SOPs.
Asking, “What would this look like from our client's perspective?” or “How would a competitor interpret this change?” opens up insight not typically found in the C-suite echo chamber.
While strategic problem-solving is essential, it won’t matter if the person leading the effort is the problem. Toxic leaders—whether overtly aggressive or subtly divisive—can fracture even the most talented real estate teams.
The behaviors are often masked as charisma or “just being results-driven.” But underneath, these leaders:
The result? High drama, team member turnover, gossip-laden cultures, and repeated, costly interventions like team-building events or coaching sessions that fail to address the root issue. In one documented case, a leader continually sent the entire team to psychological counseling while excusing themselves from participation—at the organization’s expense.
If a real estate team is caught in a cycle of dysfunction despite repeated attempts at training, process improvements, or structural changes, leadership behavior must be scrutinized. Effective leaders invite feedback, hold themselves accountable, and know when to step back and let others lead. Toxic leaders do the opposite.
Real estate organizations must shift their focus from individual underperformance to systemic health. This includes:
Kofi Nartey, founder of Globl RED and a leading voice in luxury real estate, exemplifies leadership rooted in clarity, emotional intelligence, and empowerment. His commitment to team-building through culture, not control, has been instrumental in retaining top talent while expanding nationally.
Beyond Nartey, leaders can take notes from:
These organizations and individuals share one thing in common: a refusal to tolerate toxic leadership and a clear commitment to solving problems at the root—not the surface.
Leadership in real estate is no longer about titles or top-line numbers alone. It’s about cultivating environments where agents thrive, problems are tackled with curiosity—not assumptions—and where culture isn’t sacrificed for short-term wins. When leadership functions well, everything else falls into place: retention, productivity, and profitability.
Real estate leaders who understand this aren’t just managing teams—they’re building legacies.
