Four lies CRE leaders tell themselves—and the truth that sets them free.

Real estate leaders are being asked to do the impossible.
Reduce costs. Increase agility. Preserve culture.
All while using tools and models that feel like they were built in the fax machine era. (Wait, they were.)

So what happens?

We get comfortable telling ourselves and others little lies.
Half-truths that help us cope. Narratives that make standing still feel safer than moving forward. Conspiracies with other stakeholders that paper over the truth.

But here’s the thing about lies:
They don’t age well. Especially when the boss or the board starts asking questions.

So let’s lay them out.
Then let’s let them go.

Lie #1: “We just need to wait until things stabilize.”

Truth: This is the new stable.

Hybrid isn’t a phase.
Low utilization isn’t a blip.
Dispersed teams and hybrid workers aren’t coming back to the mothership en masse.

The workplace will keep shifting. The economy will keep tightening. And the companies that win won’t be the ones who waited—they’ll be the ones who learned to move through the fog anyway.

Stability isn’t the return of predictability.
Stability is becoming the organization that can flex without breaking.

Lie #2: “We already trimmed enough last year.”

Truth: “Enough” is a moving target.

That 12% reduction you pushed through in 2023? Congrats.
Now do it again—with less friction, less time, and less employee pushback.

Every other function in the business is getting more efficient, more data-driven, more responsive. If CRE doesn’t keep pace, it becomes the cost center everyone wants to shrink.

The real game now is continuous rationalization.
Which doesn’t mean being reactive.
It means being always-on.r.

It means the workplace puts and takes on a yearly, monthly, and even daily basis - not just once a decade when a lease rolls over.

Lie #3: “Our people will still like this office.”

Truth: Sentimentality doesn’t equal utilization.

Yes, a generation (or more) of our employees built our success here.
Sure, the new marble lobby is beautiful.
Yes, the rooftop’s a vibe.
Yes, gathering is truly “mission-critical.”

But if occupancy hovers below 30% and no one’s asking to gather there—you’re not running an office. You’re paying a mortgage on an expensive memory.

Use doesn’t lie. Behavior is data. Sentiment is context.
You need all three—but stop letting nostalgia override numbers.

Lie #4: “Our broker’s handling it.”

Truth: Your broker’s job is to close. Not to rethink.

This isn’t personal. Good brokers are great at what they do—transactions.

But most of them aren’t incentivized to tell you to cut.
Or to switch to flex.
Or to model five “what-if” scenarios that threaten their pipeline.

Strategy is your job.

And if you’re still waiting for your broker to tell you where to build hubs, how to balance cost and culture, or when to exit underperforming assets?

You’re not being strategic. You’re being sold to.

So what now?

Stop telling yourself stories that make stuck feel safe.

Because the leaders I see breaking through right now aren’t the ones who waited for perfect clarity.
They’re the ones who said:

• “Let’s model the scenarios anyway.”
  
  
• “Let’s name the trade-offs out loud.”
  
  
• “Let’s do the hard thing before it becomes the forced thing.”

They stopped lying to themselves.
And started leading the business.

Which is what this moment really demands.