A confident outlook is just the beginning
Leanne Pilkington is CEO and Director of real estate network Laing+Simmons, with over years’ experience in the industry including. What has she learned along the journey? She shares her wisdom in her own words:
SO much of the work of our corporate team at Laing+Simmons is about creating an environment and providing the tools for our people to build confidence.
But you can’t just tell someone to “be confident”. It took me years. Like leadership – you can’t tell someone to “be a leader.” Confidence must be learned and fostered to grow.
It was never my intention to work in real estate. The industry “chose me.”
At 12, I was answering phones at dad’s agency. After high school I began working there full-time.
The more I learned, the more my confidence grew, but I still had a long way to go. I stayed for seven years before deciding to explore new challenges.
I moved into retail and commercial management and leasing, where I was pushed in new ways, and it was a steep learning curve
Then, in 1995, I joined Laing+Simmons. Starting in admin, I worked my way up through various roles, including Franchise Manager, to become General Manager in 2000.
Then, in 2015, I became Managing Director, where my focus was the growth of each office through new systems, programs, training and services.
Progressing through the ranks in this way, I gained an understanding of what business owners need to succeed. Part of it is to make them feel they belong to something greater.
I was fortunate to learn from some of the best. The Laing+Simmons owners at the time, Rob Farrell and Tony Anderson, taught me a great deal.
By empowering me to make the decisions I felt necessary, they fostered an environment in which I was able to build confidence, including as a leader.
Industry positions followed. Having served on the REINSW Board for years, I became President and saw the industry through the challenges of COVID. More recently, I was REIA President, and it was a privilege to lead the national body. With every new leadership challenge my confidence grew.
Then, in 2021, I took Laing+Simmons matters into my own hands.
By this time, Rob and Tony had moved on, and Laing+Simmons was under different ownership. I recognised the culture of the workplace I’d helped build for the past 30 years demanded a different, more democratic ownership style.
Assembling a group of like-minded business owners from within the group, I organised to purchase the brand. It was certainly a leap of faith, a bold move only made possible through confidence in myself and the people around me.
In the years since, our business has grown considerably. And personally, I see no reason to stop. Retirement, at this stage, is not an aspiration. Rather, leading people I greatly respect is my inspiration.
