I'm going to start with a question that might make some people uncomfortable: whatpoint did we all become CEOs?
I ask this because in our Dominican real estate sector I find more and more CEOs every day: CEOs of real estate companies, CEOs of construction companies, CEOs of development companies, CEOs of sales teams and, sometimes, CEOs of companies where the same person sells, collects, manages, publishes on social media and makes absolutely all the decisions.
Let me be clear: I'm not questioning entrepreneurship. Quite the opposite. Creating a company, taking risks, and generating jobs deserves my utmost respect. What I am questioning is something else: Does the title truly describe the structure behind it?
CEO stands for Chief Executive Officer: the top executive responsible for leading an organization. It's not automatically synonymous with owner, founder, or the person who started a company. And here's where the debate begins. If I'm a real estate advisor and I create my own company, am I automatically the CEO?
If I'm a developer working on my first project, does that automatically make me a CEO? Or have we ourselves started exaggerating titles before developing structures? Because owning a company is one thing, building an organization is quite another.
A true business structure requires processes, defined responsibilities, controls, planning, financial management, compliance, capable teams, and, above all, accountability. In housing development, this is even more crucial.
The head of a real estate development company doesn't just sell apartments. They manage expectations, resources, contracts, and often, a family's years of savings. The higher the title, the greater the responsibility should be.
A CEO shouldn't just be the one who appears in the photo when a project is announced or the one who receives accolades when sales are going well. They should also be the one who shows up when there are delays, when the numbers don't add up, when a buyer needs answers, or when the consequences of a wrong decision have to be faced.
And this also applies to us, real estate professionals. We can fill our business cards and profiles with words like CEO, Founder, President, Managing Partner, Broker/Owner… But there is one title that no professional can claim for themselves: trustworthiness.
That title is bestowed by the market. It's granted by clients after verifying our conduct. It's recognized by our colleagues when they know our word carries weight. And it's confirmed by time when we remain relevant after many years. Experience has taught me something: titles impress during the presentation; it's the track record that remains afterward.
I'm not proposing to eliminate the word CEO from our business vocabulary. Nor am I trying to dictate who can or cannot use it. My suggestion is much simpler: before we adopt a title, let's build the structure to support it. Our Dominican real estate sector is growing and increasingly needs greater institutionalization, professionalization, transparency, and corporate governance.
Perhaps it's also time to mature in how we present ourselves. Because we don't need more CEOs per square meter. We need more companies that function without depending exclusively on one person, more promoters who stand by their commitments, and more advisors who understand that reputation is worth far more than any title.
That's why I leave the question open: Are we building companies that live up to our degrees... or are our degrees simply bigger than our companies?
Recommended readings:
