Zev Mandelbaum, president and CEO of Toronto-based Altree Developments, knows how to handle tough times.

Like opportunities, challenges abound in virtually every real estate sector these days. It’s hard to start, let alone finish, a project. But Altree has more than 17 residential, commercial and retail projects under development in Canada, the U.S., and the Caribbean, including a potential 477-unit apartment tower in the New York City area.

The projects have an estimated completion value of about $5 billion, include 6,000 multi-residential units and comprise more than five million square feet.

Mandelbaum recently shared some insights with Connect Canada CRE on how he has enabled his company to get ahead.

What’s the best decision you’ve ever made as a business leader?

The best decision I ever made was to let go and give my people the autonomy to make their own decisions and their own mistakes.

What’s the most common mistake leaders make in an inhospitable market?

We follow the trends. We get on the bandwagon and either buy too fast or sell too fast, because the market is trending in a certain direction and there’s pressure from stakeholders to respond the way everyone else is. That is the most common mistake: Listening to the noise instead of blocking it out.

What’s the most valuable leadership advice you’ve ever been given?

The best advice I ever received was to be an individual within the collective. To push through every roadblock not by replicating what has been done before, but to be unique and creative to become the best we can be in our market space.

Connect CRE interviewed 32 commercial real estate industry leaders as part of a series on dealing with difficult circumstances. Check out what the leaders said.