Week 1: Leader-Follower Relationships

During the first week of my internship, I learned a lot about the leader-follower relationships within CBRE. My first day was virtual, filled with Zooms explaining what CBRE does, how they do it on such a global scale, and what my internship will entail. Because CBRE is such a large company, it is divided into divisions, then departments, and then teams. I am located in the Mid-Atlantic division, which includes Maryland, Washington DC, and Virginia. I have met the interns of the Mid-Atlantic division over zoom each morning for an “intern learning session” and have the others working in the Baltimore office. I was assigned to the multi-market team, which is the largest team in the office and has clients internationally, which is different from the other teams in the office as most of their clients are locally located in Baltimore or in DC. Tuesday through Friday I was in the office.  Because of COVID, there is a capacity limit in the office, so I have slowly met everyone on my team throughout the week. As I have learned the roles of each member on my team, I have witnessed the leader-follower relationship on my team. Everyone works with different people on the team and constantly collaborates with each other. Members of the team are often on calls together or talking to each other across the office about current news in the industry, clients, relationships/connections, or just overall questions. Although there are four Vice Presidents on the team, they are sitting alongside any level on the team in cubicles, including me. The VPs are doing the same work as lower level members and engaging with everyone the same way, asking questions and talking with everyone. The VPs lead through example, demonstrating hard work and motivating the other team members. They are very well respected and love offering insight and help answering anyone’s questions. Everyone on the team, despite their level of experience, respects each other to the same degree and learns from each other. As an intern, despite having the lowest level of experience, everyone on the team will talk and engage with me. I work closely with a junior associate helping him with tasks, but I also meet with any of the VPs or senior level positions and join in on their calls and meetings. 

Although it was only my first week, I have learned a lot about commercial real estate so far. Being in the office and hearing everyone on the phone and talking to each other, listening in on meetings, meeting with people to gain their perspective and doing tasks for the team, I have been immersed in the commercial real estate world and I find it super fascinating so I can’t wait to learn more.