Archive for Coaching
Are You Committing These Four Recruiter Sins?
Posted by: | CommentsAre you committing any (or all) of these four recruiter sins? Have you hired ‘abundantly’? Unhappy with your production and retention rates? Most brokers are. Yet, it’s so easy to see why they have low retention rates. They’re creating them with their selection practices! And, in this ‘new normal’ market, we can’t hire so ‘abundantly’ and expect our agents to hack it in the real world.
The Four Recruiter Sins
Here are four of the most common “sins”, with recommendations about how to avoid them.
Sin # 1: Not considering a potential recruit a ‘candidate’
What do you call your potential recruits? I’ll bet you call them ‘leads’ or you say that you’re trying to recruit this person. Stop acting ‘needy’.
To become a ‘saint’: Call those potentials ‘candidates’. After all, you are screening, qualifying, and selecting them to your unique culture, your company. Shouldn’t they consider themselves lucky to get chosen by you?
Sin #2: Selling too much and too soon in the selecting process
The first part of the selection process consists of questions, questions, questions. Why then, do agents tell me they were asked very few questions, but were sold, sold, sold?
To become a ‘saint’: In your first interview, or first part of the selection process, ask questions and listen 75% of the time. Your candidate will tell you exactly what she is looking for, so, you can arrange your ‘tell’ (presentation) portion to fill her needs.
Sin #3: Not using a planned selection process
We teach our agents to use a planned presentation for buyers and sellers. Yet, we selectors just ‘wing it’. We have no system in place. What do you think we look like to the candidate who is interviewing for a position in a ‘real business’?
To become a ‘saint’: Create and master an effective selecting system. Know your steps. Follow your steps. Have your whole system written down. Use it with each candidate.
Sin #4: Asking questions that don’t tell us what we need to know
Most brokers have their favorite interview questions. However, it’s not connected to their agent job description or to the qualities they are looking for in real estate agents. It’s just a question they like.
To become a ‘saint’: Design your questions to reveal the skills, traits, and qualities you’re looking for in that real estate agent who represents your unique culture.
SAVE in March: $70+ off Recruiting Resources
For in-depth how tos in these four sins to saint status, see Your Blueprint for Selecting Winners. 
A $40 value, the Blueprint is FREE to those recruiters who purchase The Complete Recruiter. Plus, get The Complete Recuiter at $30 off (regularly $129.95, now $99.95) AND my new eBook on recruiting, From Romance to Reality. Order now and save $70+. This offer expires Mar. 31, 2012.
Another ‘Whack’: The Market Won’t Motivate–You Must
Posted by: | CommentsIn this series, I’m sharing some ‘whacks up the side of the head’ for managers.
Whack: The market won’t as motivator anymore. You must provide an atmosphere to motivate.
Fear and greed are terrific short-term motivators, and the on-fire market furnished those generously. Fear of loss pushed buyers to make that buying decision or they would be left out. The market generously provided appreciation to sellers, so they could see the advantage of more money to sell now. (greed). The market provided the fear and greed motivators to agents, too. Now, the market isn’t pushing buying decisions. The market isn’t providing easy deals to agents. Guess what? The motivation finger has just been pointed to you! You must provide an atmosphere that motivates your agents to go to work. You are appreciating your agents. You are already encouraging them. If you’re not seeing changes in their production, you are leaving out the motivator the market used so effectively: fear.
A different way to use ‘fear’ as a short-term motivator. Don’t stop reading now. You don’t have to use that stern parent/dictator style of management. You don’t have to threaten. Instead, you must get skilled at creating, explaining, and implementing standards of production. Why? It’s a business. The market won’t motivate now. Consumers expect much better performance from agents than they are getting.
Standards as Motivators
Standards of production (minimum expectations) let your agents know what is expected of them to have the privilege of staying with you. They also create accountability for management. You must have programs that leap agents over your standards. If you don’t do this one, you are forever dependent on the whims of the market or the whims of your quasi-committed agents. Can you afford to let your business rely on those whims?
Recommendations:
a. Decide whether you’re a business or a baby-sitter. (harsh words, but, remember, these are ‘whacks’.)
b. Decide what is reasonable for you to expect—production-wise—from each of your agents (minimums).
c. Decide whether you deserve a certain level of excellence for all the hard work you do each day.
d. Implement production standards.
e. Look at your ‘agent development system’ and see where the holes are. For example: When do you expect them to start lead generating? If you expect that the first week in the business, when are you engaging them in a start-up plan? When do you start your coaching with them? One of the biggest mistakes managers make is letting agents sit around waiting for something good to happen to them—and it’s not going to happen as an accident in a transitioning or normal market.
Get a Leadership Strategy Every Month
Do you want to step into a better leadership style? Be more effective? Recruit more and better? I’ve created a very special, unique program for managers and owners: Once a month I share a specific leadershp strategy to recruit, choose, train, coach, and retain winners. These are proven strategies to get you out of a rut, take you past crisis management, and energize and inspire your team. See more at 365 Leadership. This new series closes for enrollment March 15. Find out more here.
A Third ‘Whack’: Father Knows Best Management Style is Out
Posted by: | CommentsIn this series, I’m sharing some ‘whack up the side of the head’ for managers. Here’s today’s whack: ‘Father knows best’ is so fifties old-style management.
In the fifties, ‘father knows best’ was the preferred management style. The CEO made the decisions. The agents, the workers, sold real estate. Unfortunately, too, many managers took that top-down management style clear to the doting parent extreme. When you act like the parent, guess what the agents are supposed to act like? The kids. That management style caused a rebellion from agents in the seventies, when they decided they ‘didn’t need a manager’ (a parent) and left the traditional ‘parental style’ management real estate offices for offices promising more independence.
The Extreme ‘Father’
Many managers have taken that parental management style to the extreme in a challenging market. I call this the ‘loving parent’ manager. The ‘loving manager’ dialogue sounds like this: “If I just love them enough they will come back and go to work. I feel sorry for them. I just need to be there for them because times are so tough.”
Unexpected results. There are, unfortunately, negative outcomes from this management style:
1. This style appeals to the non-producer. Loving your agents bleeds clear into sympathy, and sympathy encourages victimization. And victimization encourages non-action.
2. This style treats adults like little kids. When a three year old skins her knee, we kiss the knee to make it better, and put a cute little band-aid on it to comfort that three-year old. Why are we treating our agents like three-year olds?
3. This style drives producers crazy, lowers their production, and they ultimately leave. A recent study from The Ripple Effect, a Washington , D. C. management training and research firm, asked over 70,000 executives, managers and employees in 116 organizations what kind of impact underperformers were having on their workplaces? Eighty-seven percent said working with a slacker actually made them want to change jobs (retention issues, anyone?). Ninety-three percent said it had hampered their development or decreased their productivity.
Poor producers cause producers to produce less.
Poor producers cause good producers to leave.
Recommendations:
- Respect each agent as a responsible adult. Have an adult conversation with each agent. Ask that agent if he/she intends to work in real estate? Ask for a commitment to a work plan. After all, this is a business, not a love-fest!
- Move your ‘love them into business’ actions toward ‘business love’. Ask yourself: Is it fair that they work in the business to enjoy those commissions they want to earn? Is it fair to expect that they work even half as had as you work? Is it fair to expect that they keep honing their skills, keep getting better? Is it fair for you to expect them to invest in their businesses?
The irony of the ‘adult-style’ manager, foundationed in standards, is that it actually is the kinder of the management styles—by far. Why would we want to keep agents in careers where they were failing? Why would we want to provide sympathy instead of helping them create and implement a plan of action?
Leadership by the Month
Do you want to step into a better leadership style? Be more effective? Recruit more and better? I’ve created a very special, unique program for managers and owners: Once a month I share a specific leadershp strategy to recruit, choose, train, coach, and retain winners. These are proven strategies to get you out of a rut, take you past crisis management, and energize and inspire your team. See more at 365 Leadership. This new series closes for enrollment March 15. Find out more here.
Managers: Here’s a ‘Whack Up the Side of the Head’
Posted by: | CommentsThis January and February, I’m featuring the topic ‘leadership’. Why? Because it’s one of the biggest real estate industry trends (and probably world trends) of 2012 and beyond. Look for leadership strategies and trends (not just in the real estate industry), plus ready-to-use documents to go from ‘maintenance management’ to leadership. And, check out my complimentary recorded webinar for leadership. See more below, too.
The market was on fire. To take advantage of that situation, the majority of brokers were hiring everyone that walked in the door They knew even the least dedicated agent could find a friend, a relative—a stranger—to sell a house. Most brokers considered the business as a ‘bigger is better’ proposition.
The ‘on fire’ agent mentality. Agents scoffed at the notion of business plans. They didn’t need business plans. They were too busy. They didn’t need training. Who needs training or coaching when buyers and sellers find them? In truth, there were plenty of opportunities to make money in real estate without much dedication, hard work, and skill required. So, that’s what brokers got: Lots of agents having happy ‘accidents’, not skilled, not very committed to the long term—but making some money.
Happy Sales Accidents Come to a Screeching Halt
Then, things changed. Those ‘fair-to-middlin’ agents having many happy ‘accidents’ in an on fire market weren’t really ‘fair-to’middlin’. In a more challenging market, their deficiencies showed up. They became one-to-two transaction agents who had a few lucky accidents and sold some houses. Even though we love to tell agents to create referral businesses, we would all agree that closing one to two transactions yearly will never create the critical mass needed to drive a referral business.
Agents reacted quickly to market change. Realizing that the market wouldn’t be so forgiving, agents found ‘real’ jobs. But, in most cases, they kept their licenses with the brokerage, hoping to run into someone with whom they could work. Some hoped that this was just a blip in the market and that the fire would rise from the ashes again soon.
Brokers less quick to adapt. While agents sought other jobs or relied on other sources of income, most brokers took no actions. So, brokers were left with half their office ‘checked out’. They languished about their work force. “How can we get them to work?” they asked. The answer is simple but not what brokers want to hear. Most agents who had a few happy accidents in the former market aren’t willing to lead generate to make sales.
Bottom line: What worked in an ‘on fire’ market just doesn’t work when the market isn’t ‘pushing’ sales.
Get Whacked and Make the Changes Needed to Profit
My dad used to say when my sister and I were behaving badly he thought we needed a ‘whack up the side of the head’. Don’t worry. He didn’t actually do it, but we did pay attention when he said it, because we knew it was time to stop, look, and listen—and change our behavior! It’s time, I think, for brokers to get that ‘whack up the side of the head’, too.
In my next few blogs, I’ll provide that ‘whack up the side of the head’ I believe we brokers need to move our businesses past ‘maintenance to leadership.
Gain Innovative Action Strategies
Do you want to step into a better leadership style? Be more effecctive? Recruit more and better? I’ve created a very special, unique program for managers and owners: Once a month I share a specific leadershp strategy to recruit, choose, train, coach, and retain winners. These are proven strategies to get you out of a rut, take you past crisis management, and energize and inspire your team. See more at 365 Leadership. This new series closes for enrollment March 15. Find out more here.
Do You Have a Group or a Team?
Posted by: | CommentsThis January and February, I’m featuring the topic ‘leadership’. Why? Because it’s one of the biggest real estate industry trends (and probably world trends) of 2012 and beyond. Look for leadership strategies and trends (not just in the real estate industry), plus ready-to-use documents to go from ‘maintenance management’ to leadership. And, check out my complimentary recorded webinar for leadership. See more below, too.
A Group is Not a Team
So, you’ve got a group of people together in an office. They’re a team, right? Wrong. Until the leader orchestrates teaming, the group is just a group. Can’t associates start teams without the support of the manager? Sure, but the leader (who, I assume thinks he/she is the leader) can’t be assured that the team is going in the direction that’s best for everyone. (Prima donnas, anyone?) Reminds me of the saying, “Where are they going? How many of them were there? I must find them. I’m their leader….”
When a group of musicians gathers to play together, we first have to decide where we’re going–the tune we’ll play. We must decide what key it will be in, and what rhythm we’ll use. To make these decisions, we find ourselves starting to cooperate and compromise, to share the talents of each player. I’ve played in musical groups that obviously weren’t teaming–just getting through the tune. That’s no fun, and actually takes more energy than it’s worth. I’ve played in other groups that were so attuned to each other, that it the joy in creating became so infectious that we all played better than we knew we could. That’s when a team starts happening.
Creating Team Synergy
Without the synergy of the team feeling in an office, agents (and manager) spend too much energy just fighting to stay in business. Managers spend too much time with crisis management, constantly handling internal and external conflict. Working together toward common, inspiring goals, crisis management shrinks, while inspiring leadership blossoms. With teaming, agents and manager perform to higher standards than they thought they could. With consumer expectations so high today, it’s much safer, and a better way to reduce risk, to orchestrate methods where agents are working together for the best interests of the consumer. That takes teaming.
Taking another look at ‘teams’ in the real estate office. There are three reasons why the industry should redefine teams–and use them:
1. The public is pressuring real estate companies to be accountable to them. When they call a manager, they want to know “who is supervising that agent?” Risks could be reduced greatly by agents working more closely together for the good of the consumer–and much more return business, at low cost, could be generated.
2. The industry is changing too quickly for managers or agents to keep up ‘on their own’. Too much information too fast– on our own, we simply can’t process and prioritize this information sufficiently well to compete in the future. Agents who have been extremely independent are finding out that the isolation they thought they treasured is leaving them behind the learning curve.
3. The business world internationally is using new combinations of teams to manage their new work force–the values of Generation X and Y. With more workers staying home to work, or working in a ‘mobile office, the most successful businesses in the world are finding that innovative teams solve the problems of ‘culturizing’ and sharing vision. As real estate offices hire more of these people, they must change their management strategies to fit the style of the Generation X and Yers, who value education, information, and teamwork.
Translating teams to the real estate office. One of the biggest concerns of real estate companies today is raising the productivity of their agents. Those of us in performance fields know that raising performance comes from associating–working with–the best. Creatively orchestrating people working together is the best way to enhance performance.
What’s your take on teamwork and the real estate industry? Have you had success creating a team?
Are you a Manager or a Leader?
Posted by: | CommentsThis January, I’m featuring the topic ‘leadership’. Why? Because it’s one of the biggest real estate industry trends (and probably world trends) of 2012 and beyond. Look for leadership strategies and trends (not just in the real estate industry), plus ready-to-use documents to go from ‘maintenance management’ to leadership. And, check out my complimentary webinar on Jan. 30 on leadership, trends, and what you should do about it! See more at the end of this blog.
Are you a manager or a leader?
In truth, if you’re managing day to day, you hopefully are both. Why? Because there are normal, repetitive things you need to do as a manager, and there are those bold, new, innovative steps you need to take to move your office forward. Here’s my quick definition of management:
Management: Managing the day-to-day tasks of a real estate office
Leadership: Creating the vision, values, and strategic ‘moves’ that move an organization from maintenance to vision-attainment
To further define the differences, let’s look at what I call ‘maintenace’ management:
Maintenance Management: Doing the day-to-day tasks that keep an organization operational; a tactical approach; a somewhat defensive approach
How do you know if you’re a maintenance manager or, if you’re doing some leadership actions?
It’s not easy. Everyone talks about leadership, but has trouble identifying leaders. In fact, one company owner I worked for has been called a ‘visionary leader’. From working closely with him for many years, I know him to be a very tactical thinker. There’s nothing wrong with tactical thinking, when it’s appropriate. But, without a strong vision, and the true leadership activities that relate to and move the organization to that vision, you’re just maintaining the stability of the company.
Why Visionary Leadership is Important
When I worked for this tactical owner, I could see he didn’t have a real core reason for what he was doing. He just copied other owners in his brain-storming group. So, we were constantly changing course, trying new things without logic, and wasting money and talent going down too many paths at once. In addition, we would start a new project seemingly every week, and none got defined, refined, measured, and retooled. It was very frustrating to see some good ideas not developed! To compound the errors, people let him to believe that all these disparate, poorly-developed tactics were effective (just feeding his ego.)
Does this ring some bells with you?
In my next blog, I’ll show you a contrast between the activities a maintenance manager does and what a leader does.
Exercise: Write down 3 ‘moves’ you made last year that were new to you, that took you out of your comfort zone and moved your company ahead. My question: Were these strategies related to fulfilling your vision, or, were they done just because you wanted to do them or heard someone else had success with them?
Complimentary Leadership/Management Webinar
Join me on Jan. 30, from 1-2 PM PST for Leverage the Top Trends for Profits in 2012. We will explore the top real estate business trends for 2012 and beyond–and I will provide you specific strategies to not only manage to those trends, but to thrive because of them. This is a complimentary webinar. Space is limited, so register today.
Jan. 30
Time: 1-2 PM PST
To register: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/306755846
The Changing Face of Real Estate Leadership
Posted by: | CommentsThis January, I’m featuring the topic ‘leadership’. Why? Because it’s one of the biggest real estate industry trends (and probably world trends) of 2012 and beyond. Look for leadership strategies and trends (not just in the real estate industry), plus ready-to-use documents to go from ‘maintenance management’ to leadership. And, check out my complimentary webinar on Jan. 30 on leadership, trends, and what you should do about it! See more at the end of this blog.
Check at the end of these blogs for those ready-to-use documents and checklists to put these ideas to work.
The guidelines of effective leadership have changed dramatically in the last thirty years. Top-down decision-making is out; participative leadership is in. Having no standards is out; standards-driven leadership is in. Everyone doing their own thing is out; mutual accountability and teamwork is in. Yet, as I look at real estate offices nationally, I see most leaders still leading as though it was 1970—or earlier.
In fact, a new book by Morris and Murray, Game Plan: How Real Estate Professionals Can Thrive in Uncertain Times, names Need for Leadership as one of the trends for 2012 and beyond. Get this book. You’ll find some trends predictable–but some are not.
Compare and contrast. Let’s look at four principles of effective leadership today. These principles have been proven effective again and again by huge companies internationally. They should be embraced by the real estate industry, which badly needs effective leadership in this challenging time:
- Vision-lead: Few companies have an articulated vision that’s shared by all in the company. Fewer yet have leaders who have the fortitude to ‘do the right thing’ (as stated in their vision), even if it means turning down a deal.
Example: When is the last time you saw a manager fire a top producer who acted unethically? How do managers treat customer complaints—especially if it’s against a top producer? (Ask agents if they feel managers unfairly favor the top producers. Boy, will you get an earful!) In too many cases, the ‘leader’ isn’t leading. The big loser long term: The company, because agents are de-motivated when they feel there is not a level playing field, and consumers will seek out new companies if they feel their complaints are not handled seriously. (read Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, Porras and Collins, for stunning examples of vision-integrated companies.)
- Everyone is involved in the decisions: This is participative leadership, and it’s the leadership style that is best suited to our real estate industry. After all, with independent contractors, we need strong organizational structures to pull people together. What percent of real estate companies have effective leadership councils, one of the attributes of participative leadership? In my teaching, I’ve found about 2%. What this means it that the vast majority of agents don’t feel it’s ‘their company’, they don’t feel empowered, and they aren’t very loyal. I will be writing blogs about participative leadership in January, so watch for them.
Leaders will be those who empower others. Empowering leadership means
bringing out the energy and capabilities people have and getting them to work
together in a way they wouldn’t do otherwise.
—Bill Gates, fellow Washingtonian, founder of Microsoft
As you read articles and books on leadership, you will find every successful company today has turned its hierarchical leadership upside down and/or flattened it to become inclusive, participative, and as some people term it– ‘spiderweb’. (read The Female Advantage, Sally Helgesen).
3. Standards-driven: During my presentation at a recent National Association of Realtors’ Convention, I asked attendees if they had productivity standards (minimum expectations) in their companies. Out of 200 attendees, three raised their hands. No wonder agents don’t believe they must be ‘on the team’, pulling their own weight in production.
In a recent study by The Ripple Effective of Negativity Leadership IQ, 87% of the 70,305 executives, managers, and employees interviewed said working with a slacker actually made them want to change jobs; 93% said it hampered their development or decreased their productivity. So, without standards, real estate leaders are de-motivating their good performers!
Here’s what Roy Disney says about effective leadership, from the New Leadership Paradigm:
Leadership is the ability to establish standards and manage a creative climate where people are self-motivated toward the mastery of long-term constructive goals in a participatory environment of mutual respect compatible with personal values.
4. Mutual accountability: Creating a participative environment suggests that everyone must be accountable to their goals. It’s just amazing that managers are frustrated by agents’ lack of business plans and accountability. Yet, as I coach managers, I find that many in each organization don’t feel they need to be accountable to their recruiting goals. (In fact, only about 2% have written recruiting plans!). In addition, owners have not hired and coached them to standards, so the managers just want to ‘leave that part out’!
What is the result of this leadership paradigm switch? A real team, a team with a common goal. Why is it in the real estate industry’s best interests to adapt to this participative leadership style? To preserve the industry, maintain commissions, add ‘pride in belonging’ back to the real estate company, and, most important of all, put the consumer first, where he belongs!
Do you have the attributes of a ‘change leader’? Click here.
In an earlier post, I talked about the 3 things change leaders do to impact the industry. See how you stack up here.
Complimentary Leadership/Management Webinar
Join me on Jan. 30, from 1-2 PM PST for Leverage the Top Trends for Profits in 2012. We will explore the top real estate business trends for 2012 and beyond–and I will provide you specific strategies to not only manage to those trends, but to thrive because of them. This is a complimentary webinar. Space is limited, so register today.
Jan. 30
Time: 1-2 PM PST
To register: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/306755846
Leading with these 4 ‘change leadership’ attributes assures a future, thriving business.
Change Leaders Do These Three Things to Impact the Industry
Posted by: | CommentsThis January, I’m featuring the topic ‘leadership’. Why? Because it’s one of the biggest real estate industry trends (and probably world trends) of 2012 and beyond. Look for leadership strategies and trends (not just in the real estate industry), plus ready-to-use documents to go from ‘maintenance management’ to leadership. And, check out my complimentary webinar on Jan. 30 on leadership, trends, and what you should do about it! See more at the end of this blog.
Check at the end of these blogs for those ready-to-use documents and checklists to put these ideas to work.
Look Outside our Industry for Leadership Examples
No one in the real estate industry would argue that we’re in turbulent, changing times. In this climate, many real estate owners and managers are looking to others inside the industry for the “answers”. Unfortunately, in times of great change, this may not be the best place to look for smart business moves that ensure a bright future. Instead, it may be more valuable to look outside our industry for adaptable strategies. Not only must we look for these strategies, we must identify the kind of leaders who have the personal initiative, commitment, and courage to lead the change–and, perhaps in some cases, the charge.
The leaders, the strategies, and the real estate examples. I decided to do just that–look outside the industry for leadership examples. I found several commonalities. Then, I related these leadership actions to real estate and found examples of that leadership in the industry.
Proven ‘Change Leadership’ Strategies
Here are three of the most important strategies that are assuring long-term profitability–and stability–in businesses. These strategies solve many of the critical problems in our industry, including low customer satisfaction levels, management disillusionment, and lack of common focus. Bottom line, these strategies have been proven to deliver long-term, unassailable profits through change:
1. Leading from your vision.Businesses today have found that It’s not enough to strive only for profits. Today, to be profitable, the values of the firm and its real purpose must guide business decisions. According to a recent study, firms who had a firmly company-held vision earned twelve times the profits of other companies! (Nordstrom was one). This means, for many real estate companies, it’s time to look at the behaviors of the “team” members and ask whether these behaviors reflect the values the firm says it has.
Disparities? If there’s a difference between stated values and real behaviors, change leaders must have the fortitude (that’s guts, in real language) to do something about it. Why? Leading with your values allows a company to project the kind of image the consumer trusts–and the agent values most highly. That’s money in the bank for recruitment and customer retention.
The new book, Game Plan: How Real Estate Professionals Can Thrive in Uncertain Times , names leadership as one of the huge trends for 2012 and beyond. The authors, Ian Morris and Steve Murray, urge real estate leadership to lead from vision–from their recruiting to their retention practices.
2. Getting everyone in the firm “into management.” Businesses internationally are switching their management styles from autocratic to participative. They know that, with the radically-different profile of today’s worker, the old “my way or the highway” just doesn’t work (and neither does the ‘leave them alone’ school). The most successful businesses have created structures to share accountability and rewards. Real estate companies have been struggling with adversarial relationships which result in a tug-a-war on commission dollars. The answer lies in mutual accountability and sharing the management decisions. When all involved are focused on mutual goals, everyone profits. Change leaders must be willing to go through the challenging process of a management paradigm switch–from autocratic to participative. The pay-offs are in the ability to recruit real winners, and retain proven producers.
3. Marketing paradigm switch: From getting new business to keeping old business. Businesses internationally have discovered that chasing new business is a way to spend money they don’t have. To maximize marketing dollars, they’ve developed programs to keep the customer enthusiastically happy for a long-term, mutually-productive relationships. Real estate agencies need to switch their emphasis from getting, getting, getting, to keeping, keeping, keeping. This means more mutual profits, better customer satisfaction, and a more pleasant consumer-agent relationship.
We Realtors wish our theme song were “On A Clear Day, You Can See Forever”. In truth, our approach today must be closer to “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On”. Applying change leadership in this turbulent, “shakin’” climate while adapting proven innovative strategies to our business assures we lead the industry through change with confidence and success.
Want to know more about change leadership? See this blog.
Do you have the attributes and actions of a ‘change leader’? Take the questionnaire I created for you. Click here.
Complimentary Leadership/Management Webinar
Join me on Jan. 30, from 1-2 PM PST for Leverage the Top Trends for Profits in 2012. We will explore the top real estate business trends for 2012 and beyond–and I will provide you specific strategies to not only manage to those trends, but to thrive because of them. This is a complimentary webinar. Space is limited, so register today.
Jan. 30
Time: 1-2 PM PST
To register: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/306755846
Are You a ‘Change’ Leader?
Posted by: | CommentsThis January, I’m featuring the topic ‘leadership’. Why? Because it’s one of the biggest real estate industry trends (and probably world trends) of 2012 and beyond. Look for leadership strategies and trends (not just in the real estate industry), plus ready-to-use documents to go from ‘maintenance management’ to leadership. And, check out my complimentary webinar on Jan. 30 on leadership, trends, and what you should do about it! See more at the end of this blog.
Check at the end of these blogs for those ready-to-use documents and checklists to put these ideas to work.
Leadership: It’s REALLY Big for 2012
According to authors Ian Morris and Steve Murray, leadership is one of the big trends of 2012 and beyond. In fact, to read their take on 10 big trends, grab Game Plan: How Real Estate Professionals Can Thrive in Uncertain Times . In fact, I think leadership is in such a crisis state (think companies, politics, families, etc.) that I created a 12-part subscription series for real estate owners, managers, and team builders. In 365 Leadership, I provide one new leadership strategy per month, with everything subscribers need to put that strategy right to work (low or no cost and workable for the 5 person or the 500 person office). I know how difficult it is to go from maintenance to leadership (and especially so, because the majority of managers and owners now also sell!). So, I want to make it as easy as possible to step into effective leadership.
Needed today: A Special Kind of Leader
I think we would all agree that leadership is desperately needed in the real estate industry. I read a book several years ago titled Sacred Cows Make the Best Burgers (I also highly recommend it). In it, authors Kriegel and Brandt show why people resist change, and the kind of leadership it takes to move people off dead-center into new actions. Isn’t that what’s needed in business today? Not ‘maintenance management’ but leadership. (I’ll write more about the differences in another blog). The authors introduced the concept of a ‘change leader’. So, what’s a ‘change leader’?
An individual who leads initiatives that influence others to perform differently–and better.
If you’re an owner or general manager, you need this ‘change manager’ in your organization. If you’re an agent, you’ll want to look for a ‘change leader’ to help you adjust to the rapidly changing real estate industry. How would you identify one? Find a leader who leads the way great leaders of businesses internationally today are leading.
Change Leader Attributes
Commitment to a better way
Personal initiative to go beyond defined boundaries
Stay undercover (stay close to the everyday business)
Sense of humor
Courage to challenge existing power bases
Motivate themselves and others
Care about how people are treated and enabled to perform
Change leaders believe in:
Tough standards of performance
Joint accountability
Democratic principles to tap creative power
Even though the real estate industry cries for ingenuity and creativity, compared to other businesses, it has been slow to change the way it does business. Allowing ‘change leaders’ to come forward and thrive is vital for the very existence of our industry–and, of course, vital for a bright future.
In my next blogs, I’ll be talking about how to implement these attributes of change leadership.
Do you have the attributes and actions of a ‘change leader’? Take the questionnaire I created for you. Click here.
Complimentary Leadership/Management Webinar
join me on Jan. 30, from 1-2 PM PST for Leverage the Top Trends for Profits in 2012. We will explore the top real estate business trends for 2012 and beyond–and I will provide you specific strategies to not only manage to those trends, but to thrive because of them. This is a complimentary webinar. Space is limited, so register today.
Jan. 30
Time: 1-2 PM PST
To register: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/306755846
Do You Have a Job Description for your Agents?
Posted by: | Comments 
Do you have a job description for your agents? Most agents tell me they did not receive a job description when they started in the business (or in the interview). If not, why not? In my last blog, I discussed the fallacy that agents should start out as ‘independent’ business people. Now, I don’t mean they shouldn’t take responsibility for their actions and success. I mean that we shouldn’t abdicate our responsibility to teach, train, and coach them so they become great salespeople (so they can become independnet). Besides not having skills they need to succeed, they usually don’t even know what the job is!
Poor Job Descriptions Abound
As I teach management courses nationally, and speak nationally, I see many examples of poorly thought-out job descriptions and activity plans. What do you think is a poor job description? Take a look here. 
( a preview is to the right).
Why do you think I regard it as a poor job description? It’s not:
Prioritized
Some of the activities don’t result in success
My conclusion: This job description was written by an academic who had never been successful in real estate!
Abdicating our Leadership Responsibilities
Part of that abdication of management responsibility, I believe, is not providing a prioritized job description to your agents. Notice I said ‘prioritized’. Which activities should the agent start with? Which are important to be successful? Which are less important?
Before I share my job description with you, please write the job description you believe is the one you expect agents to follow.
When do you share that job description? In the interview? I hope so.
My Prioritized Job Description
Now, take a look at the prioritized job description I developed as a foundation for the new agent’s start-up plan, Up and Running in 30 Days. How does yours differ? What does your job description say about what you think is important? Are you gaining as much success for your new agents as you should? What does your job description and start-up plan have to do with those results?
For a printable copy, click here.
Get that job description refined. Talk to some of your agents to assure it’s the job description that reflects how you hire, train, and retain. Start using it in your interviews. Now, you’re getting much more effective and efficient.
If you’re a busy owner or manager, you’re probably wondering how you possibly implement the leadership you know it takes today to move your company forward. I’ve got the answer. Once a month, I’ll share a new leadership strategy–a strategy you can instantly implement in your company to motivate, energize, and help your agents be more productive (plus, these are great recruiting tools). Take a look at 365 Leadership.
For just $39.95 per month, you’ll get that strategy/action plan, an instructional webinar, a coaching tele-conference call, and all the ready-to-use documents you need to make that strategy a reality. Our new session starts in January, 2012. Don’t worry: You can join through March and get any sessions you may have missed. And, you will have access to all the completed sessions any time you want to view or review them. Check out 365 Leadership today. Let me share with you the specific, creative strategies I used to rebuild 2 real estate offices into exceptional profits.