UH Law Center Alum Mr. Anthony L. Marre was a recipient of the HBJ most admired CEO Award. He is managing shareholder at Wilson Cribbs + Goren.
The Q&A can be found below
What was the biggest lesson you
learned about yourself during the
pandemic and how did that affect
your leadership style? I learned that
one of the most critical aspects of
being a good leader is having empathy
for your fellow human beings. The
pandemic affected everyone in a unique
way — I’m not sure any two people
had the same experience. Listening,
understanding, and accommodating
the needs/concerns across the entire
spectrum of pandemic experiences was
very necessary. I tried to make sure I
spoke to each employee personally at
different times during lockdown. We
tried not to talk about work, but just
about their experiences and how they
were handling things. I always tried to
end the conversation on a positive note.
What changes made during the
pandemic do you intend to keep?
Our entire team of attorneys meets
every Monday to go over our active
list of real estate deals. In the past,
we have all crammed into our large
conference room for lunch together.
However, during the pandemic, we
opted to host the meeting over Zoom,
which proved to be very effective. We
barely fit in the conference room as it
was, and since the beginning of the
pandemic, we have added more to
our team. So, it makes sense to keep
the meeting virtual. We are also going
to continue to be flexible with remote
working arrangements.
What advice would you give to
emerging leaders? I learned early
on that you can never be too close to
the action. I think young professionals
tend to want to go hide in their office,
keep their head down, and just do the
work they were hired to do — they’ll
figure out how to lead later if they
ever get the opportunity. Try to resist
that temptation and put yourself in a
position to see your senior-level people
in action. You will learn so much just
from listening to them talk on the
phone to clients, referral sources,
suppliers, and other colleagues.