You know how much you’ve learned as an agent–and how much more you have learned as a manager. I’ve had those learning experiences. Plus, boy have I learned a lot as a CRB (Certified Real Estate Brokerage) instructor and coach. So, this month, I’m going to share what I’ve found to be the critical pieces of the puzzle that lead to sustainable profits. I’ll spotlight the 4 foundations you have to have to be exceptionally profitable. Actually, I’ve come to these foundations by observing how companies fail to be profitable over a period of time without these four foundations. In each of these blogs, I’ll spotlight one foundation. The first is

Vision: The Missing Component in Most Business Plans (and in most real estate offices!)

Is your business plan missing the inspiration? (If you have a business plan at all…..) If so, you need to put in the a�?visiona�� component of your plan. What is a�?visiona��? According to Jerry Porras and Jim Collins, authors of the great business book Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, vision

Provides guidance about what core to preserve and what future to progress toward.

In other words, you must first know your ideology and core values before you can create the rest of your direction in your business plan. The lack of vision in a plan leads to a de-motivating and certainly uninspiring plan. (As you can imagine, numbers dona��t in themselves inspire. They only inform. Martin Luther King didna��t say a�?I have a business plan. He said a�?I have a dreama��.)

For you managers: I think helping your associates create an inspiring and motivating plan will remove their reticence at doing a plan.

Shared Vision in a Company Also Leads to More $$$$

Collins and Porras studied very successful companies to find out the differences between a�?stunninga�� (high profits and highly regarded), and other like companies who were almost as profitable, but not so successful). They published the results in the best business book Ia��ve ever read, and I mentioned above, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies.

What did they find was the common difference between the highly profitable and merely very successful?

A common vision and values shared by every person in the company.

Porras and Collins’ conclusion was that the desire for profits isna��t the main driver for profits. The focused and tenacious vision, shared by all in the company, was the biggest determinant for profits.

Components of Vision

Your vision is made up of your core ideology and your envisioned future.
Your core ideology is made up of your core values and core purpose. If you look at your life, youa��ll see that the things that inspire and motivate you are the things that adhere to your belief system. Thata��s what this part of the vision statement says about you.
Your envisioned future is made from a vivid description of this future, and BHAGsa��big hairy, audacious goals. Those are goals five years out, that you really dona��t think you can attain.

The Power of BHAGs

Surprisingly, as Porras and Collins found, when companies stated these goals, they actually attained them in three years! (Inspirational goals that are congruent with your core values and core ideology are powerful motivators!).

Creating your Vision

Click here to get my worksheet to create your vision.

Ia��m convinced that we reach or dona��t reach our goals based on the intensity of our desire, driven not by cold numbers, but by the warm emotion of aligned values and inspiring goals. Yogi Berra said it well:

Life is like baseball; ita��s 95% mental and the other half is physical.

Include the a�?Drivea�� and Drive Your Company

When we know the a�?whya�� of what wea��re doing, wea��re driven by our own motivations. Put the vision into your business plan and see your motivation soar, and your goals met next year. And, don’t forget to communicate it every day to your team in various ways.

In my next blog, I’ll reveal the 2nd foundation–the one which forms the ‘put your money where your mouth is’ –from vision to proof.

Who Helps You Step Up to the Next Level?

As owners and managers, too often we feel like we’re ‘on our own’. Yes, we have the company–if we’re in a franchise–but, who’s really looking out for you? It must be YOU. Yet, few leaders have coaches. At the same time, we urge our agents to get a coach…….if you’re wondering whether coaching is for you, why not investigate our Leadership Mastery Coaching program? It’s true one-on-one coaching–no cookie-cutter or set topic approach, because you’re seasoned, you’re knowledgeable, and you’re unique. Carla Cross is a ‘coach’s coach with a winning background as a turn-around leader. Why not find out more in a Complimentary Consultation? Click here to arrange.