Commercial Investment Real Estate March/April 2017 | Page 14

CCIM
Q& A
Adept Adviser
Berry (left) reviews plans for a new
project with a young professional.
by Gina Orlandi
s a long-time mentor, Lloyd Berry, CCIM, under-
stands how to use his leadership skills to guide a strong
team. He ensures the teams have the resources they
need to succeed, while simultaneously serving as a
coach and mentor to improve each team members’ success.
Berry credits his success in becoming an effective leader in
commercial real estate to his CCIM designation training. “When
I look at CCIM Institute, it’s clear that it delivers an educa-
tion and methodology for how to construct a deal,” says Berry,
senior vice president of Real Estate Management Services at
Colliers International in Chicago. “CCIM’s training has had
the most significant impact on my commercial career. There
is no other organization that so adeptly helps commercial real
estate professionals to cultivate the necessary skill sets, obtain
practical knowledge, and apply that knowledge to the benefit of
their careers.”
Berry has been an active volunteer for CCIM Institute, as
well as a past president of the Illinois CCIM Chapter. One of
his proudest moments with the organization was becoming a
founding member of the John Keepper Society, named after the
founding president of the Illinois CCIM Chapter. The Society
created the John Keepper Scholarship, which provides financial
assistance to a University of Illinois Rho Epsilon Society member
A
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March | April 2017
in pursuit of the CCIM designation. Berry talked to Commercial
Investment Real Estate about his experiences and insights.
CIRE: How did you get your start in the commercial real
estate profession?
Berry: I started when I was young. My dad and his partners
owned student housing property at the University of Illinois in
Urbana-Champaign, Ill. We did maintenance work projects,
while helping to manage the property. That was my introduc-
tion, and those experiences resonated with me. I began college
at the University of Illinois, then decided to transfer to Baylor
University in Waco, Texas, where I finished my bachelor’s degree
in real estate and finance.
CIRE: What insights have you gained during your career?
Berry: Cultivating relationships is the key to everything we do
in life. This applies to marriage, parenting, and working in a
professional business environment. And with these relationships,
I now coach people to interact in person rather than behind email.
The simple act of picking up the phone or walking down
to a colleague’s office to solve problems is incredibly effective.
I’ll watch situations develop when the 10th version of an email
has been circulated yet no one is working toward a solution.
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