The Leadership Gap: What Real Estate CEOs Miss When They Don't Draw to Communicate
Drawing is a necessary and vital form of communication in the spatially focused real estate industry
What Real Estate Executives Get Wrong About Thinking Visually
In all my years in commercial real estate, I have rarely—like almost never—seen a commercial real estate CEO, or president responsible for billions of dollars of investments pick up a pen to draw in a meeting. They listen to the market research presentations, ask questions about financial projections, give opinions on design aesthetics, and the good ones opine on the predicted outcomes. But rarely do they map, diagram, or draw to communicate their spatial thoughts in an industry that revolves around space.
I can’t help but wonder: Are we failing to fully engage with the essence of our spatial world because we see drawing as beneath us?
As a visual thinker, I regularly draw to process, recall, and express my thoughts beyond numbers and words. Whether it’s sketching a quick map to convey an idea or diagramming a relationship between concepts, drawing is my way of organizing and externalizing complex thoughts. It’s not about artistic skill—it’s about thinking more deeply and communicating more effectively.
Drawing is More Than a Sketch
Drawing isn’t just a tool; it’s a cognitive process that turns the abstract into the visible. It helps all of us explore possibilities, clarify relationships, and test ideas in real time.
Research even supports this theory: drawing enhances cognitive abilities, boosting neural activity in areas of the brain associated with planning and problem-solving.
Yet so many leaders dismiss drawing, believing it either unnecessary or intimidating. But if you never sketch, how can you truly contemplate the essence of the spaces and ideas you’re shaping and thus the foundation of the financial projects?
A Personal Challenge
I’ve been in meetings where the most sophisticated tools were at my disposal—financial models, renderings, and immersive visualizations. But sometimes, the clarity we all needed came from sketching a simple diagram or tracing someone else’s drawing to better understand their perspective.
If you won’t draw, then trace. Trace master plans, site sketches, or design studies. Pay attention to the lines and patterns others have created and think what were they thinking.
In a business rooted in creating places where people live, work, and gather, refusing to engage with space through drawing may be limiting your ability to think—and communicate—on a much deeper level.
Begin by taking a pen and drawing a line, followed by a box, and then a circle. Proceed to trace a map or a plan, go off-line, and diagram your big ideas out. Your drawings, diagrams, maps, and charts will serve as invaluable communication tools that provide deep insights into the nuances of your rich human visual experience and that’s real leadership.
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