Michael Glancy

Michael “Mike” Glancy has had an unconventional career in real estate. Early in his career at JLL, he kept count of the number of client meetings in his diary while striving to gain more caps (a player's appearance in a game at the international level) playing rugby for Hong Kong.

A native of Ireland, Mike went on to represent his adopted city of Hong Kong nine times at two 'Asia 5 Nations' tournaments during leave days away from the office.

“The firm supported my rugby career by allowing me time off to go on tour and make key training sessions with the team. I have a lot of people to thank for giving me a chance along the way, firstly Anne-Marie Sage, who recruited me for then-new International Residential Property division here,” he recalls.

“We need to embrace change and our new activity-based workplace will help us achieve this. I feel like JLL is pushing boundaries and is at the forefront of the real estate industry.”

In the early days, Mike regularly travelled to London and Australia to source new residential projects to market to potential buyers in Hong Kong and across Asia Pacific. It was at that time that the firm ventured into new markets such as Shanghai, Beijing and Bangkok to offer these projects.

After two years with the International Residential team, Mike shifted his career to office leasing with the Markets department, where he represents multi-national corporate (MNC) occupiers, and is responsible for growing our flex space offering and work on landlord projects.

“I am grateful for the exposure to so many senior people at such an early stage of my career at JLL. It meant that I had to study and prepare in-depth before each meeting, which helped me to learn at a fast rate.”

Our new environment makes it easier to work with a range of departments across the business, which is a great way to meet more people and learn at the same time, Mike says.