More than three decades ago, USC graduate Damian McKinney noticed two framed posters in his boss’s office. One read, “Poverty Sucks.” The other read, “He Who Dies with the Most Toys Wins.” These messages didn’t sit well with Damian as he reflected on what his parents had taught him: Leaders are responsible for using their power to benefit others.
Damian made it his mission to build a commercial real estate company that pushed back against the ideas on those posters through every lease, sale, and investment. One that recognized the importance of hand selecting the right team with a Servant Leadership mentality. A company that gave back to the community a piece of every success it achieved. A purpose-and-profit-driven player in a typically profit-driven game. Today, that legacy is still here – as McKinney Capital & Advisory.
“If you live your life for the sake of others, you will be amazed by how life will serve you,” Damian says. “And if you can merge what you are passionate about doing professionally with serving others, you don’t have a job – you have a future.” Over the last 35 years, Damian has served clients in their commercial real estate brokerage and investment needs. Damian has managed the transactions for leases and purchases of all property types. Damian works with decision-makers to leverage real estate dealings toward bottom-line savings while protecting their interests. Damian’s reputation is internationally recognized, strengthened by his deep understanding of the current economy and diverse experience in multi-market real estate transactions.
The McKinney company measures its success by the number of years it has maintained relationships with clients and investors, as opposed to using the number of clients as the only KPI metric. A key example? McKinney has represented a Fortune 500 healthcare company for 28 years and has managed their portfolio as they grew from 1,200-square-feet in 1989 to occupying 4.8 million-square-feet in 2017.
McKinney’s total transaction value in 2017 was $867 million and over his entire career, Damian has completed approximately $6.5 billion in transaction value.
Damian has been recognized in the San Diego community as a real estate thought leader and servant leader. In 2018, he was named a San Diego Top 500 Influential, published by the San Diego Business Journal. For the third year in a row. Damian was also named a Top 10 Office Leasing Power Broker in San Diego. And the company was named a Top 10 Leasing Power Broker Firm in San Diego through CoStar, both for the fourth year in a row. In addition, San Diego Leadership Forum honored Damian and McKinney Capital & Advisory with a Servant Leadership award.
When asked what difference he wants to make with his life, Damian said, “I would like to be remembered for being trusted and providing a guiding light, not to give all the answers, but a guiding light of assurance. Every breath of energy I have, living life for the sake of others will be my focus. I become a better version of who I am if I live that life.”
He also speaks about the value of being a member of Sage Executive Group. “I enjoy the culture of comradery and servant-led mentality of every member of Sage Executive Group,” he said. “Everyone comes to Sage events with the genuine intent to help each other grow professionally and personally, resulting in a network of advisers who help resolve matters as true friend