3.22.2013

Real Estate Team Building: Get off the Rollercoaster

 
I've asked many agents "Have you ever thought about WHY you want to build a real estate team?"  Many agents think that they can skip over this seemingly elementary initial step before initiating their ascent on empire building. Growing a real estate team is not easy. The lack of a firm grasp of "why" an agent wants to head down such a challenging path typically results in a team that ultimately does not benefit the lead agent and becomes more difficulty than its worth. 
 
How Agents can Leverage off of
the Real Estate Rollercoaster 
 
WHAT'S YOUR BIG WHY? 
All teams are not created equally, so your team's purpose must be crafted to fulfill your own needs. Do you want to dramatically increase production and income? Is providing better customer service your focus? Will the team enable you to increase your standard of living by spending more time with your family or other pursuits?
 
THE NATURAL CEILING OF ACHIEVEMENT
Agents often reach a point in their real estate career where they feel like they're too busy to take on any more business without sacrificing personal time, customer service, health, family or other relationships.  They hit a natural ceiling of achievement like this repeatedly over the course of their career.  A career filled with too much business, then not enough business, then too much business again, and so on.  Repeatedly bumping their head on the ceiling can begin to instill a limiting belief that the only formula to increase business is: Work + Time = Money. 
 
BREAK THROUGH & FAIL
Breaking through the natural ceiling of achievement involves a significant amount of change.  Change and action always involve taking risks. Risks are never easy, but the alternative choice of doing nothing through inaction is almost never the better alternative. So one must be willing to fail, often multiple times, in order to truly learn and succeed. Those that choose to learn by taking action are rewarded if they embrace failure as the only means to achieve success. This concept of failing forward is embedded in the minds of top real estate agents. They actually seek out opportunities to fail as they understand that it is the only way to achieve significant personal growth. Soon the habit of getting uncomfortable until it becomes comfortable is formed, and they break through ceilings of achievement on a regular basis. They understand how to learn as an ongoing part of their practices.
 

LET GO
Agents looking to grow a real estate team must be willing to transform from a warrior into a chief. A true leader of others does not believe "The only way to do things right is to do them yourself!"  So the first uncomfortable step for a real estate agent must be to let go of many daily tasks and activities by allowing a new hire to begin failing at them.  Imagine permitting a new assistant to mishandle a valued client.  Now that's uncomfortable!  Yet a leader of a successful real estate team must be willing to allow team members to fail forward in order for them to learn and grow. 
 
No one ever said it would be easy to get off the real estate roller coaster.  Which is why such a large number of real estate professionals have been riding it for their entire careers.  It takes identifying why, getting very uncomfortable, failing, breaking through and letting go.  Clearly everyone's not cut out to be a leader.  Only you can determine whether you prefer being a warrior or a chief. 
 
 

Other real estate team building training videos with Brian Icenhower: