# How to Build a Leadership Team That Runs Your PM Company

- Author: Peter Lohmann (property management operator; owner of RL Property Management, Columbus, Ohio)
- Published: 2026-10-30
- Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOpCHQI_5Cs
- Course page: https://peterlohmann.com/courses/property-management-leadership-team/
- Topics: property management leadership structure, delegation, COO and integrator role, decision-making policies, EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System), L10 meetings, owner responsibilities, time freedom

## Summary

My property management company does about $3 million a year, including our maintenance operation, and I spend less than two hours a week running it. I have taken all of June off for the last four years with no email, no Slack, and no phone calls. This works because I built a leadership structure that operates without me: one operating leader (my number two, Brennan) is accountable for the business and everyone else reports to him; I delegated decisions as well as tasks by turning recurring decisions into policies; the leadership team runs on EOS with a 3-year vision, 1-year plan, quarterly rocks, and weekly L10 meetings; I keep only a short list of owner responsibilities; and I deliberately let low-stakes problems go unfixed. This course explains how to build that structure and how to work up to a month away.

## Key terms

- **Number two / operating leader:** the one person accountable for the day-to-day performance of the business. Titles include COO, VP of operations, or president. Everyone else at the company reports up to this person, and this person reports to the owner.
- **Integrator (EOS term):** the EOS name for the operating leader. The integrator integrates the departments, keeps the business running smoothly and improving, solves problems, resolves conflicts, and is involved in key hires.
- **Delegating tasks:** documenting work the owner does (for example, monthly owner disbursements) and handing it to someone else.
- **Delegating decisions:** handing off the judgment calls the owner is asked to make, usually by turning recurring categories of decisions into written policies.
- **EOS:** the Entrepreneurial Operating System, an operating system for small to medium-sized businesses.
- **VTO (Vision/Traction Organizer):** the single-page EOS document where the 3-year vision is recorded.
- **Rocks:** specific, measurable quarterly targets for specific people or specific metrics, derived from the 1-year goals.
- **L10 (Level 10) meeting:** the weekly EOS leadership meeting where the team reviews rocks, the scorecard, and the 1-year goal, and solves issues.
- **IDS:** identify, discuss, solve. The EOS method for working through issues by finding and fixing the root cause.
- **Letting fires burn:** deliberately leaving low-stakes problems unfixed in exchange for time freedom.
- **Crane Break:** the term used in the Crane community for a full disconnect from the business.

## Prerequisites

- Documented processes for recurring work, so tasks can be handed off.
- A person inside the company, or a new hire, the owner trusts to be accountable for the business.
- A company culture with clear core values, which helps the team make good decisions without the owner.

## Step-by-step

1. Set the goal: the company should handle normal, recurring work without you. If something happens once a month or more, such as owner disbursements, document it as a process and hand it off. The person running it brings exceptions or unusual problems to you.
2. Give day-to-day execution to one person.
   1. Choose someone at the company, or hire someone, you are comfortable handing the keys to.
   2. Tell them they are now accountable for the performance of the business; you will set the vision and give guidelines.
   3. Move every direct report to them, so you have one direct report for the business.
   4. Structure below them with managers. In my company, the director of accounts (who handles all the property managers), the director of maintenance (who runs the techs and maintenance coordinators), the marketing manager, and the business development manager all report to Brennan.
   5. Give the role a title such as COO, VP of operations, or president. I first hired someone into a COO-type role in 2021, Kathy, and gave her the COO title.
3. Give the operating leader real authority.
   1. Do not jump in every time they do something differently than you would.
   2. Expect mistakes in work product (property management agreements, leases, letters, notices, eviction notices) and in relationships (property owners, vendors, tenants, software providers).
   3. Stop attending every meeting, being copied on every email, and participating in every Slack thread or channel.
   4. Allow some significant mistakes, short of business-ending mistakes or losing your largest client, so the team learns and does not repeat them.
4. Delegate decisions as well as tasks.
   1. List every decision you make each day, week, and month in a Google Doc or on paper. Examples: whether to allow a dog at a rental property; whether to replace a garbage disposal when the owner cannot be reached for approval; whether to evict a tenant; whether to terminate a difficult client; whether to take on a short-term rental account.
   2. Group the decisions into categories.
   3. Document your decision-making process for each category.
   4. Write policies that capture those decisions.
   5. Introduce the policies to the team.
   6. Track the number of decisions that still come to you; it should fall over time.
5. Become less responsive.
   1. Stop answering every Slack message as soon as you see it.
   2. Turn off phone notifications for new email.
   3. Let questions go unanswered for a couple of days, even weeks, on things that are not important, such as whether to collect a particular late fee or replace a garbage disposal.
   4. If you see a consistent pattern of wrong decisions (for example, always waiving late fees), step in and tell the team how to adjust course.
   5. Expect the team to use their own resources: NARPM, newsletters, podcasts, the company knowledge base (such as Notion), and teammates and industry contacts.
6. Run the leadership team on EOS.
   1. The owner writes a detailed 3-year vision and gives it to the leadership team. It is recorded on the VTO.
   2. The owner and leadership team set a 1-year plan: what must get done this year to reach the 3-year vision. Many EOS companies hold a two-day annual leadership retreat for this.
   3. Break the 1-year goals into quarterly rocks: specific, measurable targets for specific people or metrics.
   4. Hold a weekly L10 meeting: review rock progress, review the scorecard of key metrics, check the 1-year goal, and solve issues.
   5. Run every issue through IDS (identify, discuss, solve) and address the root cause: why it happened and how to prevent it from happening again.
   6. Record to-dos that come out of issue solving, for example "Jeff talks to this customer to reset expectations."
   7. Put exactly one person's name on every rock, issue, and to-do. That person is accountable even if they delegate or collaborate on the work.
   8. Once the team is strong, stop attending the leadership L10. I stopped attending ours earlier this year, and it runs fine without me.
7. Keep a short list of owner responsibilities.
   1. Leadership team hiring, firing, and promotions. My number two and I discuss them, usually with his recommendation, and I make the final decision.
   2. Unusual legal and tax items, such as an IRS letter or an unfamiliar invoice.
   3. Banking: the bank relationship, new accounts, new credit cards, and loans. Examples of banks: Enterprise Bank, a specialty bank that understands property managers and trust accounts, and Chase, which my company uses.
   4. Vendor decisions: selecting, switching, or expanding vendors, including the main property management software, self-showing and listing software, maintenance coordination software, and workflow software. Weigh the cost, but weigh the impact on team workflow even more: how many tools the team uses daily, whether those tools work together, and whether data is entered in multiple places.
   5. Explain vendor changes to the team with the full picture, for example "We're rolling out Property Meld, and here's why," and lead the change management.
8. Decide which fires to let burn.
   1. Accept that you cannot fix everything. Get comfortable with 80%.
   2. Let low-value problems go unfixed. Example: my company's supply warehouse is messy, but organizing it would not solve a customer problem, make money, or reduce risk, so I leave it.
   3. Forward direct escalations from property owners to the number two. When an owner emails me about a problem with my team, I forward it to Brennan, and he contacts the owner.
   4. Once you have a great team, stop talking to rental owners directly and let the team solve difficult problems.
   5. Always step in on safety, threats to the company's ability to operate (such as its real estate license with the Division of Real Estate), fraud or criminal negligence, or rental homes becoming unsafe or unhealthy.
9. Work up to a full month off.
   1. Before leaving, tell your number two to contact you only if the building burns down, they quit, or something prevents the company from operating as a business, such as the license being revoked by the Division of Real Estate. Everything else waits until you return (for me, July 1st).
   2. Start with a one-week full disconnect (a Crane Break), then two weeks, then a full month.
   3. After every break, debrief with the leadership team: what broke, what happened, and what went wrong. Review the inbox, the mail, and the issues list, and change the business or systems so the same problem does not happen next time.

## Decision rules

- If something happens once a month or more, it should not require the owner.
- If a recurring task or process hits an exception or unusual problem, the person running it brings it to the owner.
- If six or seven people still report to the owner, the owner cannot step away; move them under one operating leader.
- If the operating leader does something differently than the owner would, the owner does not jump in unless the mistake is business-ending or would lose the largest client.
- If the owner is asked the same category of decision repeatedly, turn it into a written policy.
- If a question is not important, let it go unanswered and let the team decide.
- If the team shows a consistent pattern of wrong decisions, the owner steps in and resets the direction.
- If an issue comes up in the L10, solve it with IDS at the root cause.
- If a rock, issue, or to-do is assigned, it gets exactly one person's name.
- If a problem involves safety, the company's license, fraud, criminal negligence, or unsafe or unhealthy rental homes, the owner jumps in. Otherwise, the team handles it.
- If a property owner escalates directly to the owner, forward it to the number two.
- During the month off, the number two contacts the owner only if the building burns down, the number two quits, or something prevents the company from operating.

## Common mistakes

- **Keeping too many direct reports.** The business grinds to a halt while everyone waits on the owner. Fix: one operating leader with everyone reporting to them.
- **Giving a title without authority.** The owner keeps making the leader's calls. Fix: give the leader a big leash and a real share of the owner's authority.
- **Preventing every mistake.** The team never learns, and the owner stays the bottleneck. Fix: allow significant, non-catastrophic mistakes so the team learns from them.
- **Delegating tasks but not decisions.** The team still brings every judgment call to the owner. Fix: list decisions, group them, and turn them into policies.
- **Being an answer dispenser.** Constant availability robs the team of growth. Fix: respond more slowly and let the team use its own resources.
- **Shared accountability.** Two names on an item leads to "I thought you were doing it." Fix: one name per rock, issue, and to-do.
- **Treating every problem as urgent.** Perfectionist owners try to fix everything. Fix: decide which fires to let burn and get comfortable with 80%.
- **Saving key accounts personally.** The owner fixes one customer's problem, but the team never fixes the cause, so future customers hit the same problem. Fix: forward escalations to the number two.
- **Going straight to a month off.** Fix: start with one week, then two, then a month, and debrief after each break.

## Questions and answers

**How can a property management owner work only a few hours a week?**
I built a leadership structure that runs without me: one operating leader accountable for the business, decisions delegated through written policies, a leadership team running on EOS, and a short list of responsibilities I keep. I spend less than two hours a week running a company that does about $3 million a year.

**Who should a property management owner's direct reports be?**
Ideally one person: an operating leader such as a COO, VP of operations, or president. Everyone else reports up to them. At my company, the director of accounts, director of maintenance, marketing manager, and business development manager all report to my number two, Brennan.

**What is the difference between delegating tasks and delegating decisions?**
Delegating tasks means documenting work like owner disbursements and handing it off. Delegating decisions means handing off judgment calls, such as whether to allow a dog at a property or replace a garbage disposal without owner approval. I list my recurring decisions, group them, and turn them into policies.

**How do I stop my team from bringing every decision to me?**
Write policies for recurring decisions, and stop being so responsive. I stopped answering every Slack message right away, turned off email notifications, and let unimportant questions go unanswered for days or weeks. The team figures it out and usually makes the right call.

**How does EOS work for a property management company?**
The owner sets a 3-year vision recorded on the VTO. The leadership team sets a 1-year plan, breaks it into quarterly rocks, and meets weekly in an L10 meeting to review rocks, the scorecard, and the 1-year goal, and to solve issues with IDS (identify, discuss, solve).

**What should a property management owner still handle personally?**
I still handle leadership team hiring, firing, and promotions; unusual legal and tax items; banking relationships, accounts, credit cards, and loans; and decisions about selecting, switching, or expanding vendors and software.

**Why should the owner make software and vendor decisions?**
The team sees their own department and advocates for the best tool for themselves. The owner has the view of how the whole business works together, including how many tools the team uses, whether they integrate, and whether data gets entered twice.

**Should a property management owner talk to rental owners directly?**
Once you have a great team, I don't think so. When an owner emails me about a problem, I forward it to my number two, Brennan, and he reaches out. If I save key accounts personally, the team never fixes the underlying problem.

**When should the owner step back in?**
I always step in on safety, threats to our ability to operate (such as our real estate license with the Division of Real Estate), fraud or criminal negligence, or rental homes becoming unsafe or unhealthy.

**How do I work up to taking a month off from my property management business?**
Start with a one-week full disconnect, then two weeks, then a month. Before leaving, tell your number two to call only if the building burns down, they quit, or something stops the company from operating. After each break, debrief with your leadership team and fix whatever broke.

## Related course

The systems behind this structure (a weekly scorecard, a task map, and a company wiki) are covered in my free course: https://peterlohmann.com/courses/property-management-systems-month-off/

## Video timestamps

- 00:00 Intro: running a $3 million company in under two hours a week
- 00:42 What "running without me" actually means
- 02:01 Give day-to-day execution to one person
- 04:26 Hand over real authority
- 07:59 Delegate decisions, not just tasks
- 10:39 Stop being so responsive
- 12:50 Run the business on EOS
- 16:40 What I still handle as the owner
- 21:45 Decide which fires to let burn
- 26:22 Work up to a full month off