REAL ESTATE NEWS

The toughest part of a complex real estate deal is not the capital stack or the entitlement risk. It is getting every stakeholder to yes and making them feel they came out ahead, according to veteran real estate attorney LaVon Johns, who spoke at the GlobeSt. Women of Influence Conference.

For Johns, the real legacy in commercial real estate is less about marquee closings and more about the leadership, listening and influence that keep transactions moving and teams growing.

In a conversation with Monique Howery, partner at Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila LLP, Johns reflected on decades of negotiating large-scale real estate, infrastructure and development projects and how her view of success has changed over time. Early in her career, she believed that technical mastery and hard work alone would be enough to stand out.

"I started my career a long time ago and thought if I put my head down and did the work, that was how you became a success story," she said, adding that in hindsight, influence and leadership proved just as essential as legal excellence.

Johns said she would tell her younger self to step outside her comfort zone earlier and to focus sooner on the skills that move people, not just paper. That shift, she suggested, is what separates a strong technician from someone who can shape deals, organizations and careers over the long run.

Listening As A Deal Tool

Johns spends much of her time stepping into transactions after clients have already decided what they want to accomplish, which emphasizes how to structure a deal that works for every side of the table. She described that balancing act as the most difficult part of her job because it requires aligning construction teams, public agencies and multiple private parties in a way that allows each to feel like they have won.

"We get the opportunity to throw those marbles into a structure, but the most difficult part to me is making sure that everyone wins," she said. "You have to make the construction team happy, the government happy, all parties happy – and make them all feel like they won."

To do that, Johns said she spends significant time understanding the motivations behind each position, rather than assuming that a stated demand is the true bottom line.

When asked what most often stalls a transaction, Johns did not point first to financing gaps, political opposition or shifting market conditions.

"The impediment to getting to yes on every transaction is listening," she said. "If you are a fantastic listener, you can get everybody's buy-in." She stressed that listening to understand, rather than to respond, is what allows a negotiator to uncover what is really behind a "no" and what needs to change to move the discussion forward.

"You have to understand why the no can't change to a yes right now and what you need to do to go back and sharpen your pencil," she said. "That's where influence comes into play."

For investors and deal-makers, her point was that listening is not a soft skill sitting outside the transaction; it is central to diagnosing risk, adjusting structures and ultimately closing.

Influence As A CRE Edge

According to Johns, influence remains one of the most valuable and underestimated skills in real estate because the industry runs on relationships that last well beyond a single deal.

"In real estate, influence is top priority because of our relationships," she said. "The key is how can I influence the folks I need to see."

She framed influence not as pushing reluctant parties but as earning the credibility to suggest adjustments that other stakeholders will seriously consider. That credibility, she said, comes from consistently understanding each party's "why," recognizing when a position reflects a core risk concern versus a negotiable preference and using that insight to propose paths that protect everyone's interests.

Johns also noted that influence can compound over time as professionals become known for listening well and structuring fair, durable agreements. In her view, that reputation can be as valuable as a track record of closed volume, because it determines who gets called into the next high-stakes assignment. For investors and developers, working with leaders who can build consensus and maintain trust, she suggested, can be the difference between a stalled project and one that finds a way forward.

Leading With The Pack

As her career has progressed, Johns said her leadership philosophy has stayed grounded in collaboration rather than hierarchy.

"I continue to lead by doing," she said. "I like to be in the weeds with my team. I don't micromanage. My leadership style is to lead with the pack."

She approaches developing talent with the same intentionality she brings to deal-making, emphasizing that each team member learns differently and needs a tailored path.

"I have a strategy for each and every person on my team," she said. "I teach it, release it, then step out and understand that it's going to get a good result." That approach, she suggested, is designed to build confidence and give people room to grow while keeping them supported on complex assignments.

Johns traced some of her instincts back to her upbringing as a middle child, which she said forced her to negotiate from a young age and helped her become comfortable engaging with people in all kinds of situations.

"I had to negotiate everything as a kid," she said. "I grew up with this mentality that I could lead, and I have never met a stranger. I'm not afraid to step out there."

For Johns, leadership has always been about helping others succeed and creating space for the next generation of professionals to step up. She told attendees that she hopes that mindset, more than any individual project, will be the legacy that lasts after the deals close.

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Source: GlobeSt/ALM