Managers: You motivate others. Who gets you up when you’re down? That’s a really important question for us managers. Why? Because we’re expected to be the ‘cheerleaders’ for our associates. So, if we’re down, we can bring everyone down.
Have you ever gotten poison oak? In Oregon’s Willamette Valley, where I grew up, poison ivy seemed to be waiting in the woods ready to attack me each time I ventured out of my yard. Getting poison ivy meant itchy skin, at the least, and, at its worst, it meant a face swollen to the point where my eyes were just slits. That will get you down. In fact, I’d look in the mirror and wonder if I’d ever look like meA� again.
During one particularly horrible bout with my enemy, poison oakA� (you can tell I really hated this stuff), I remember riding in the car with my mother to pick up my sister at school. (I couldn’t go to school with the poison oak raging, but I was probably driving my mother so crazy that she let me take this little trip). We got near the school, and I forgot I had this grotesquely swollen face for a moment. I waved at a friend. I got a stare back. Turning to my mom, I asked, “Will I ever get over this?” Of course, as good moms do, she replied, “Of course, sweetie. It’s just temporary. You’ll look like your cheery little self real soon again.” And, of course, after a couple of weeks, I did resemble me. (But I still hated poison oak…)
What do you do when your mom’s not there?
We managers have many varieties of poison oak waiting to attack us as we venture into the ‘woods of management’ each day. An agent leaves us, a call from an unhappy seller, a letter from a new homeowner, saying, “What is your company going to do about our pest infestation problem?” I’ll bet you can think of 25 others! Sometimes you wish your mom could just sit with you in your office each day and say, over and over, “It’s okay, honey. They don’t dislike you, they just have a problem.” Sounds far fetched, but, the real question is, “Who gets you up when you’re down?”
An Industry-wide Problem
It’s not just us brokers who seem to be fighting more ‘poison oak’ every day. It’s all of us in the industry. As agents capture more of the commission dollars, they’re more ‘on their own’. They’re fighting more of their own battles, with less management help. There’s less ‘broker supervision’. Now, to independent people like you and me, that sounds great. We don’t need someone standing over our shoulder telling us what to do. But, there’s a downside to no supervision. When we do something right, there’s no one to congratulate us! And, since most of us in this industry thrive on recognition, we’ve given up a chance to get it from an ‘authority’.
The biggest desire of a human being is simply recognition.A�[ctt template=”3″ link=”cGbq4″ via=”yes” ]click to Tweet[/ctt]
On the other hand, when things go wrong, with less interest and guidance in how we’re doing, we’ve given up the chance to let someone who cares about us ‘pump us up’ when we’re down.
How do you respond to barriers? How quickly can you bounce back? Tell me your strategies and share them with our readers.
Let Me Motivate Your Agents While I Train Them
As a manager, do you have a lot on your plate? I know. I managed for over 2 decades! Why not let me train and coach your agents, while I motivate them to high goals? Check out my online training/coaching/accountability program, Up and Running in Real Estate. Along with 25+ training webinars and dozens of checklists/documents to guide your agents, I’ve also built in lots of motivation and accountability. Check this unique program out here.A�
