Special Feature
Leaders raise leaders: How Donavan Tan became the mentor he needed
Tan grew his ERA team from 4 to 17 associates within a year while maintaining 100% retention. (Photo: EdgeProp Singapore)
"Opportunities are presented to those who are present.” — Donavan Tan
Upon meeting Donavan Tan, it becomes clear how his growth as a real estate leader and mentor was inevitable. His demeanour is warm, measured and at times understated.
Yet beneath that calmness sits an intensely deliberate philosophy around growth, resilience and leadership. “You can’t expect your associates to win if you’re not winning yourself,” he says matter-of-factly. “As a leader, you must always be humble and willing to keep learning.”
Since joining the industry in quarter three of 2022, Tan has quickly built momentum, securing the Rising Millionaire Award in his first year and generating $1.03 million in commissions the following year in 2024. Even then, he was already known as a hands-on mentor with strong technical grounding, a sincere advisory style and growing recognition within Singapore’s property industry.
From mid-2025 to mid-2026, the ERA division director expanded his team from 4 to 17 associates, with multiple emerging team leaders beneath him. More notably, no one has left since joining, largely due to the value derived from being part of Tan’s community.
Several associates have also crossed $200,000 in commissions within their first year in real estate, surpassing what they previously earned in corporate careers.
Tan himself progressed rapidly through ERA’s achievement structure, becoming the only Platinum Tagger in his group within three years — a benchmark associated with roughly $500,000 in tagging commissions and close to 100 completed transactions in new launch sales.
Yet Tan speaks little about awards. Instead, he talks about people, their mindsets and, most revealingly, leadership.
Today, he directly oversees 11 Tier One associates, while several others manage their own teams. Rather than centralising authority, Tan deliberately develops independent leaders capable of coaching others.
“Leaders raise leaders,” he says simply.
Beyond the workplace, the team stays connected through sports, building stronger bonds with every game. (Photo: Donavan Tan)
Built through discomfort
Beneath the visible growth of Tan’s business sits a more personal reason for how he mentors today.
Bullied as a child and not naturally athletic, Tan spent much of his youth deliberately placing himself in leadership environments to grow stronger socially and mentally.
In school, he took on leadership roles across multiple domains — from vice-president of the choir, to president of the wakeboarding club within his university’s watersports community. He also organised large-scale university camps as part of his hall’s executive committee and represented Singapore in regional wakeboarding competitions.
Those experiences taught him a principle he now repeats often: small tweaks compound.
Good mentors, Tan believes, do not simply motivate. They identify blind spots their protégés cannot yet see.
“A lot of the time, people just need someone to point out minor adjustments,” he explains. “Step out of your comfort zone, lean into your strengths, and improve your weaknesses. That’s how people grow.”
Tan co-trained the team through an immersive tour of Sentosa, turning first-hand experiences into trusted client advice. (Photo: Donavan Tan)
An apprenticeship model
Tan’s ecosystem operates more like an apprenticeship studio than a conventional sales team.
Associates learn through immersion: conducting client presentations at showflats, reviewing resale negotiations and prospecting together. Team meetings function as open clinics, where challenges are shared and solved collectively.
“The immersion is intentional - because in my experience, the biggest threat to a new agent isn’t the learning curve, it’s what happens in their head.”
“Most people don’t lose deals because they can’t do the job,” he says. “They fail because rejection affects them emotionally.”
This blend of empathy and realism, combined with his investment in developing people, is a quality his associates value.
Tan’s leadership style is also highly collaborative. He regularly co-hosts focused training sessions with established industry trainers and divisions, including collaborations with Ivan Lam Advisory and Chris Tee Division.
While broader training systems exist at the upline level, Tan’s strength lies in translating complex concepts into practical field execution.
Tan's team operates on an apprenticeship model, where associates learn through real client interactions and field immersion. (Photo: Donavan Tan)
Grounded in systems and strategy
His specialty is in residential, in particular the private sector like resale condos, new launches and landed properties.
Associates are trained rigorously on timelines, upgrading pathways, market dynamics, floor plan nuances and policy shifts. For instance, even as executive condo (EC) restrictions and timelines have lengthened, Tan remains confident in sustained demand.
“When three-bedroom ECs are around $1.55 million while surrounding private condos are above $2.1 million, many families will still see value in the EC route,” he explains. “Especially for long-term buyers with holding power.”
That analytical rigour likely stems from his earlier engineering role at a statutory board, where he earned about $10,000 monthly before making a decision that surprised many: he resigned without an exit plan.
By then, Tan had already seen the potential of property investing firsthand through a co- investment purchase of a two-bedroom, one-bath unit at Stirling Residences. After holding the property for three years, the investors exited with a collective profit of approximately $240,000.
Tan emphasises mindset training, believing emotional resilience is often more important than technical knowledge. (Photo: Donavan Tan)
Relationships over transactions
When asked about his success, Tan points to one principle: remaining relentlessly relationship-centric.
A large proportion of his leads come from referrals, warm introductions and recurring social circles — former classmates, friends of friends, Instagram followers and past clients who value his advisory approach.
“If it doesn’t suit them, I’ll tell them honestly,” he says.
That means evaluating not just upside, but holding power, rental yield, financing comfort and long-term sustainability before recommending any move.
It also requires emotional maturity, something Tan increasingly prioritises alongside technical ability.
Team lunches, informal conversations and gatherings involving spouses and partners are part of his divisional culture, reflecting his belief that personal stability directly affects professional performance.
“Sometimes people are struggling mentally or emotionally and nobody notices,” he says. “As leaders, we need to care.”
Built largely on referrals and relationships, Tan’s business reflects his commitment to honest, client-first advisory services. (Photo: Donavan Tan)
Standards that do not shift
For all his warmth, Tan is not relaxed about standards.
Opportunities, he believes, belong to those willing to stay present, coachable and resilient long enough for growth to compound. While he empathizes with his associates’ challenges, his direct communication style reflects his belief that people are more capable than they realise.
Ultimately, this is why Tan continues to stand out.
In an industry often driven by individual performance, many realtors see him as a leader intentionally building others - driven not by recognition, but by the quiet conviction that nobody should have to figure it out alone.
For more information,
Contact Donavan Tan | 96680193
Division Director (R066799J)
ERA REALTY NETWORK PTE LTD
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