Knowing little about real estate might have seemed like a problem when the chief executive of the Americas for the world's largest flexible workspace provider landed his first job with IWG.
But Wayne Berger was hardly some rookie out of school — he had 17 years of experience and was a vice president of retailer Staples Canada in 2014 when he was lured to IWG to be executive vice president of its Regus division in the country.
"I did not come from real estate," said Berger, who had a long history in sales. "I got a call from an executive recruiter [from IWG], and it was literally the 16th call asking me to hear them out because they thought it would be such a great fit."
Berger challenged himself to go through a "deep level of induction" about the property world. He eventually rose to be CEO of IWG's Americas group, the U.K.-based company's largest and most profitable region with more than 1,250 locations in the United States, Canada and Latin America.
"I literally spent weeks in our centres, answering phones, delivering mail, working copy machines, talking to clients, going on sales tours, working procurement," said Berger, adding he credits the company's broker of record Colliers for teaching him the industry. "They taught me what I needed to know."
An avid runner who has completed 30 marathons, Berger immersed himself in the industry in other ways.
"I love being able to run through a city and think about the heritage of the building, what is behind the architecture and what the building does today," said Berger. "Shorts and shoes in a suitcase were always all I needed.
Berger said coming to IWG would have been much more challenging if he pretended he knew everything.
"I had my skills, knowledge and expertise around people development and building great teams and great businesses," said Berger. "You are granted a level of respect coming in because people respect you were selected for a reason. But it's easy to lose people incredibly quickly. But it's also easy to gain respect. I came in focused on listening and being a ferocious learner."
He took the information he learned in those first six months, relayed it back to employees and explained how important it was to grow the Canadian business based on that feedback.
The executive said what he has learned from growing a company is it is important to take the time to ask questions and remember the steps it took to get you there.
Today, Berger said the experience leaves him open to hiring people who don't have traditional real estate backgrounds.
"What I learned is you really want to find great people who are aligned with a vision and have not just the experience and background to the role they are applying for but also they have intangible attributes and assets that can help and raise and prop up team members," said Berger.
R É S U M É
Wayne Berger | CEO of the Americas for IWG PLC
Hometown: Ottawa, Ontario
Current city: Toronto, Ontario
Years in industry: Eight.
Education: Degrees in public relations from Algonquin College and information management from Ryerson University.
Hobbies: "Chasing my 18-month little boy and spending time with my partner and my teenage girls."
Advice to those starting out in the industry: "Embrace the three critical rules of treatment: 1. Treat everyone you meet as you would like to be treated. Understand their values and perspectives, their goals, and their background. 2. Treat your career as an adventure in life. I am a huge believer in taking big calculated risks and challenging myself to take on the challenge few want and to constantly learn, evolve and change. 3. Treat everyone you work with as they are the most critical people that hold the keys to the company’s success. When everyone understands the important role they play in the company’s mission and quest, game-changing results and culture are created."
Everyone in commercial real estate had to start somewhere. First Job explores where careers began.