WorkPuzzle

How To Answer The Excuse: "I Don't Have The Money"

This edition is intended for our recruiter clients and those in the real estate industry who actually talk to new agent candidates on a regular basis.

We have heard the common and repeated concern that candidates have now more than ever (even if they have shown initial interest in knowing more about becoming and agent): "I don't have the money."  This statement has begun to take a significant toll on new agent enrollment in licensing school and new agent ventures overall.

I'm unclear how most recruiters choose to answer this objection, but I have a few thoughts that hopefully might stir some creativity and resolve in your ability to challenge this response.

What are their options?  Most smart people know that it takes education and often risk and investment, to succeed at anything in life that is worth doing.  Remember the old saying..."If everyone could do it, it would be too easy, and everyone would."...meaning that the competition would be too great for anyone to really succeed.  But, that's not my point...

My focus here is primarily on the cost and reward of any education.  Education is almost always an integral piece of the solution to being stuck with no options for growth.  Education helps one figure out if something is right for them, and gives them hope and freedom for the future.  These facts are so widely accepted that most households are willing to shell out plenty of money to make sure it happens.

A May 2011 Pew Research white paper called "Is College Worth It?" reports that 5% of all household debt, including mortgage, is dedicated to education.  This, despite the fact that only 40% believe they have gotten their money's worth:

"Amid rising costs and a sluggish economy, many Americans are questioning whether a college education is good value for the money.  A large majority (75%) of the public says college is no longer affordable for most Americans.  And only four-in-ten say the higher education system does an excellent (5%) or good (35%) job providing value to students given the amount of money they and their families are paying for college."

So, from this finding one would expect, given the economy and 60% believing it wasn't worth cost, that enrollment would be down.  But, it's not- It's up!

So, what's happening?  The answer seems clear:  People are using this moment in history to invest in their futures.  They are using this time to bite the bullet and make the necessary sacrifices now, so that they can build a better future later.

Education builds hope.  It opens options.  It gets people out of a sense of learned helplessness and helps them build towards something new.  Everyone needs this hope.  There are reasons that people click on our ads and tell you that they want to be contacted.  They had a moment of hope.  Remember, people will often resist change and throw into your lap their worst fears, often times subconsciously, hoping that someone will help shake them out of their own self-sabotaging defenses.  It's not your job to convince them... However, it is your duty to challenge them.  If you believe that education in real estate is worth it, it seems a bit easier to sell.  How much less does real estate licensing cost than a college education?

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

The Rise of the Free Agent: Good News for Real Estate Recruiting

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a blog that boldly stated that the publication of some recent articles (one most notably in USA Today) about an increased number of people becoming entrepreneurs, was probably a false trend.

Well, I might have been wrong... As I researched this topic some more, I found some additional data that may be very good news for the real estate industry.  Kelly Services, an internal staffing and Human Resources consulting company, recently published research that documents a significant trend toward employees becoming “free agents” in today’s job market.

This topic was highlighted in a recent ERE article written by John Zappe.  Here’s how John summazied the research:

“The number of 'free agent' workers has nearly exploded in the last three years, and now 44 percent of working Americans describe themselves that way.  A Kelly Services survey says economic necessity, the desire for more freedom and flexibility, and age have driven up the number of workers not tied to a single company for their livelihood.  It’s a dramatic change from 2008, when Kelly’s survey found 26 percent of workers describing themselves as free agents.”

That’s a trend worth noticing.  When an employment statistic goes from 26 percent to 44 percent in just three years, something is changing.  So, what’s changing?  The research addresses some causes:

“A significant driver is the economy.  Respondents to the 2011 survey were twice as likely as their counterparts in 2008 to say they became free agents because they were laid off or couldn’t find another job. …Also fueling the rise is the increasing reliance of American business on contingent and contract labor, say the authors of a whitepaper detailing the results.  Companies, note Jocelyn Lincoln and Megan M. Raftery, 'can scale up and down faster and easier by adopting more flexible workforce strategies.'”

So, lots of workers have been laid off in the last three years, and many companies are hesitant to commit to a typical employee relationship as they rehire to meet their needs.  So, how does that help the real estate industry?

What used to be strange (working as an independent contractor) is now becoming much more normal.

The research goes on to highlight one other issue that I thought was worth noting—the “quality” of the typical independent contractor.  Are these folks all the corporate losers who can’t keep a job?  Not according to the research:

“More than one-third of all free agents have earned a master’s degree or higher, and compared with traditional employees, more free agents (77% compared to 62% for traditional employees) possess technical or professional skill set.  What does this trend mean for American business?  It means there’s a huge pool of available talent in nearly every discipline and industry for employers to tap.”

So how do you go about tapping this great pool of talent?  The Kelly Services researchers found three trends:

1. Money.  You need to offer opportunities that reliably produce cash for the independent contractor.  Remember that you’re competing for the attention of the best candidates with other companies that do compensate for verifiable skills and results.
2. Type of Work/ Quality of the Project.  We talk frequently in WorkPuzzle about the tendency of individuals to languish in their jobs.  Be ready to address this issue.  Will the individual find the work you’re asking them to do interesting and engaging?  This needs to be a major theme of the interview.
3. Reputation of the Company.  This one surprised me.  I suspect that talented people who operate as free agents want to be associated with organizations who (in their own mind) match their level business acumen.  The more prominent and trusted your company’s brand, the higher the level of talent you’ll be able to attract and engage.

The final thing worth noting is that many talented free agents have multiple jobs.  While it is the desire of many real estate companies to hire full-time agents, it may be difficult to get someone to a full-time status without first taking some babysteps.  The facts are that kids have to be fed, mortgages have to be paid, and most talented free agents want a “project” to grow into a fulltime obligation—not be deemed one from the start.  That’s too risky and doesn’t fit the free agent’s mindset.

Your homework…study the free agent trend and be able to speak about it during interviews and other recruiting conversations.  It is one of the few truly positive trends that could directly help the real estate industry.

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Editor's Note:  This article was written by Ben Hess.  Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.  Comments or questions are welcome.  If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email.  If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

How Your Expectations Shape Your People

In the last edition, I revealed definitive research that should forever alter your approach regarding professional negotiations...from one of an aggressive--win/lose strategy, to one of positive expectation.  If you haven’t read it yet, please read it now...My hope is that it will change your view forever regarding what makes for a successful negotiation process.

How do you decide who will succeed and who will fail?  Despite the fact that some of you are convinced that you can reliably predict who will succeed and who will fail, research suggests that it might actually be your expectations that are producing the results. 

The Rosenthal Effect refers to the phenomenon in which the greater the expectations placed on people, the better they perform.  Since 1968, a number of experiments have proven that the reality of performance can be greatly influenced by the preconceived expectations of others.

In the famous first study, Robert Rosenthal told a number of teachers that they had assessed all of the incoming 5th graders with a special new instrument that was designed to identify which children were poised to experience an intellectual “growth spurt” in the upcoming academic year; they were “high potential” children.  In reality, these children were chosen at random, and there was nothing special about them at all.

By the end of the year, the majority of that group had, indeed, made the greatest strides among all the children, despite the fact that there was nothing different about those children, outside of having the highest expectations placed on them.

What did the teachers do differently with these students?  They tended to downplay obstacles, they showed more positive patience and, most importantly, they conveyed a strong confidence in their belief that these children would do well.  The children apparently picked up on this positive expectation and lived up to the challenge of achievement.

The Rosenthal Effect is a form of self-fulfilling prophecy.  In this respect, people with poor expectations internalize their negative label, and those with positive labels succeed accordingly.

We all are guilty of doing this.  We make snap judgments about people early on in our experiences with them.  When we do this, we unconsciously set the stage for failure.

This once again proves a simple, yet eternal principle:  If you want to bring out the best in people, expect the best; expect that they CAN do it...show patience, positive confidence, and a greater number of people WILL succeed.

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Are You a River Person or a Rut Person?

By river people, I'm not talking about the guy who lives in a van down by the river (like on Saturday Night Live).  Rather, I'm referring to the type of person who keeps everyone around them hopeful and motivated to press on toward a goal, even when times get tough.  Don't confuse my use of the term with what a few self-help gurus have suggested.  I'm talking about these people in contrast to those (some by no fault of their own) who have become "rut people," or those who have been infected by the dreaded learned helplessness (LH).  (I'll explain more about LH in the next edition.)
 
Over the past 25 years of providing psychotherapy, my chief mission has been to free people from unconscious ruts that control their lives.  This isn't easy.  People rarely see how they have boxed themselves into a view of themselves and a view of the world that limits their perspective, beliefs and actions.

When a person is in a rut through learned helplessness, they limit their own movement, growth, vision and freedom to act.  They see the world in a fixed way, and try to convince everyone around them that their "rut trapped" perspective is indeed reality.  The way they lead their life unveils consistent themes, describing their own personal rut repeatedly acted out.

A person who is not stuck in a rut, flows like a river, emanating wisdom, humor, and humility, even in difficult times.  They may have a long list of things that haven't worked out, but have no regrets for their efforts.

When things are going well, economically and emotionally, it is much more difficult to differentiate the "rut people" from the "river people."  In good times, everyone can fake their way to appearing like positive, hopeful geniuses.  But when the tide goes out, you can sure see who isn't wearing a swimming suit!  In difficult times, ruts are bound to show themselves.  Even the most fluid people can be temporarily thrown into a rut in these extreme circumstances, simply because life isn't familiar or secure.

Losing a job, a home, and plans for the future can certainly appear as an insurmountable rut.  "River people" however, don't allow themselves to get stuck there.  They manage to continually pull themselves up and out of the rut, dust themselves off, and move on with life.  I feel fortunate to know many river people and they are always refreshing and encouraging to be around.  They are the Salt and Light of our world.

As leaders, you owe it to yourself and those you coach to be this Salt and Light for your organization, to give people hope.  Whether you're coaching agents or interviewing new candidates, help people find hope and envision the opportunities that can unfold if they exercise the "formula for confidence."  Help them realize their freedom and potential through new ideas, new innovations, new training, new commitments, new values, and perhaps even an entirely new direction.

You'll find that everyone within an organization benefits once every single individual tributaries finds their "flow," and can contribute their full potential once again.  It's not only practical to encourage this hope, it's the right thing to do.

But, change is difficult - Even the most healthy, rational people tend to avoid change, preferring instead the security and safety of what is known.  Ironically however, change can produce incredible growth, if responded to effectively.  If you're interviewing new candidates without both empathy around change, PLUS the encouragement to change, you're missing an incredibly useful and helpful tool.

Have candidates answer this question:  When have you experienced the most growth in your life?  For most people the answer is when they were undergoing tremendous change, accompanied by uncertainty...perhaps when they were much younger.

It's normal to risk more when we're younger, because we don't have that much to lose. If you analyze that statement, you will begin to see the problem:  Security and hanging onto what we've acquired becomes paramount for most of us when we're older.  We cling to it and cherish it, without ever reflecting on its inherent value to our well-being.

Of course it's irresponsible to take foolish risks.  But, you can also make the argument that it is foolish to follow a course of action simply because it offers the illusion of security.

In the next edition, I'll describe the concept of Learned Helplessness, so that you can better understand how people get stuck in ruts, and how you can help them out...

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Blazing A Trail For New Agents To Follow - Part 2

Last week, I shared a hiking experience I had with two of my teenage sons.  Toward the end of the discussion, I mentioned that I gained some unexpected recruiting insight from the experience.
 
The insight came on the heels of an article I read the week prior in CNBC.  The article discusses the fact that many employees are starting to give up on corporate America, and are making the decision to strike out on their own.  Here is a short excerpt:

“With the U.S. unemployment rate at 9.1 percent as of July 31 and a fragile economic recovery underway, many workers feel they are left with no choice but to take their careers into their own hands.
 
Employees are bidding farewell to corporate America in the hope of finding a more secure, or at least fulfilling, future.  They are reinventing themselves by starting their own companies or by pursuing long-put-off dreams that include creative or charitable endeavors.
 
While it might seem like a bold move, countless workers believe the abundance of uncertainty in today’s job market mitigates the fear factor.”

I’ve read 10 to 15 articles like this in the last couple of years.  Most of them (this one included) contain a few anecdotal stories about frustrated individuals who have a passion to strike out on their own. 
 
Does this mean there is some significant new trend toward corporate employees starting their own businesses?  I don’t think so... This is a frequent topic in business publications, which tells me there is always a group of individuals in our society who feel a strong desire to own a business.  From various sources I’ve read, there are usually about six million people per year who start small businesses.  I would bet that many of the individuals who have this desire would be great candidates for the real estate industry. 

So, back to last week's hike...  As we were hiking the last mile toward the lake that was going to be our final destination, we came across a number of obstacles along the trail.  The previous winter, there was apparently a severe windstorm that blew down a number of trees.  Over this part of the trail, there were about a dozen “blow-downs” that obstructed the path.  Hiking into one of these lakes is hard enough, but climbing over large tree trunks, crawling on your hands and knees through brush, and even holding some of your gear in your teeth so that your hands are free to grab branches (all with a 30 pound pack on your back), makes it all the more difficult.  
 
As we crossed over the fifth or sixth obstruction on the trail, my son Camden said, “I’m sure glad I was not the guy who explored this area for the first time.  Can you imagine how hard it would be if there was no trail to follow?  It would be like constantly going over these blow-downs!”
 
If you think about it, this is exactly how most people feel when they start a business.  It’s like forging a trail though a forest for the first time.  It takes lots of energy, perseverance, and luck to be successful.  This is why more than 50% of new businesses fail in the first year.
 
So, what do you have to offer the six million people who want to venture out each year and start a small business?  
 
Quite simply—a trail.
 
Your company has explored an area of business, found some great destinations, and built a trail for others to follow.  If a person is willing to make a commitment to follow the trail, they have a much higher chance at success than venturing out on their own.
 
Keep in mind, embarking on a 13-mile hike and climbing 2,000 feet in elevation is not for everyone.  In fact, there is a large portion of the population who would fail to accomplish this, whether they follow a  trail or not.  But, there are some individuals who are physically fit, motivated, and willing to make the necessary sacrifices to reach the destination.  For those people, the trail is often what makes the difference between success and failure.
 
Finally, as you’re talking to candidates, let them know there are more obstacles on the trail in recent years than there used to be.  It’s nobody's fault—sometimes trees blow down and make things more difficult.  Eventually, the park rangers will come and clear the trail with chainsaws and the path will once again be clear.  

The real estate industry has faced some difficult circumstances in recent years that have made everyone’s job more difficult.  It won't always be that way, but acknowledging the current realities is important.
 
While my sons and I were on the trail to the lake, we met a group of hikers who were on their way back.  They warned us about the blow-downs and told us it would be slow-going for the last mile.  Then they said something really important…"It is tough to get into the lake, but the fishing is incredible."  At that point, you couldn’t have kept us out.
 
Hope of success, plus a trail, are the best things you can offer to someone facing the prospects of blazing their own trail.... 

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Editor's Note:  This article was written by Ben Hess.  Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.  Comments or questions are welcome.  If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email.  If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

The Spark of Greatness in Everyone: Part 2

As I mentioned earlier this week, I spend roughly half of my work life practicing as a Clinical Psychologist (my first love, really).  I enjoy that, on occasion, I get a new and inspiring glimpse into the resiliency and brilliance of the human condition...I love seeing undiscovered treasures that are hidden within each of us, begin to surface.
 
I went into some detail about one of my clients who is a very successful businessman, and who was also, unfortunately, exposed to many years of significant and continuous childhood trauma.  I described how his sanity remained intact due to the fact that he had a very special gift...a gift of being able to boil complex business problems down into simple, core solutions.  He took solace in his goal to see this gift used for good in the world.

I had also mentioned that because of his gift, he was drawn to find others who were compelled to exercise their gifts in the world and "find ways to do what others think is impossible."  He was motivated to recognize gifts in others and developed some fundamental beliefs about people.  To recap, here are three of his beliefs that I mentioned last time:

1. There is a Spark of Greatness in everyone...
2. Very few leaders are looking to find or develop that spark...
3. And, if they are, they never know when they'll run into someone with a special gift to match the needs of their organization.

I also asked these questions of managers:

1. Do you look for that Spark of Greatness in others?
2. And, when you find it-- Do you look to develop it?
3. Do you make snap judgements that may lead you to miss potential talent?

I asked my client, "How do you interview to find people who want to develop to their full potential?"

He replied:

"The questions I ask help me figure out whether a person wants to be developed to their fullest.  I ask questions that get at whether they can see the difference between bosses who did this previously (mentored them to be their best), and those who didn't, and what their response was to each of them.  If they can't resonate with the power of tapping their strengths for the good of the organization and for their own satisfaction, I seriously doubt their ability to find their own spark and attempt the impossible."

He goes onto say:

“I have a firm belief that anyone who is willing to ride out market highs and lows, ups and downs...and be satisfied, isn’t the type of individual who will achieve something special.  Instead, I believe it is possible and preferable to be surrounded by people who want to exceed market expectations.”

As I think about his comments, what comes to me is this:  You need to be looking for people who hunger for Autonomy (a healthy need to be self-directed), for Mastery (a desire to tackle new learning and new goals), and for Purpose (a higher principle that will fuel their motivation).

Conversely, I asked him what he would recommend to those savvy candidates looking for jobs...What should they ask their prospective managers in order to successfully detect those who want to develop people well?  He offered this:

"Candidates should ask a hiring manager, 'What in your career are you most proud of?'  The next questions would be, 'Is there an employee (agent) you've worked with that you are most proud of?  Why?  Tell me about the situation?  How is your relationship now?  Could I talk with that person?'"

Another line of questioning would seek to uncover how many and what types of people have followed the leader.  Good leaders bring their teams with them as they move from company to company.  My client explains:

"Ask the hiring manager, 'How many people work for you now, who worked for you in the past?  Why did they follow you?  Who, if you had a spot, would you recruit right now?  Why?'  People who naturally think this way will have a bunch of stories off the top of their heads."

How would you, as a manager, answer these questions?  Would the most savvy candidates be attracted to you?  Would you have powerful and numerous examples of bringing out the best in people?  As an owner of a company, how many of your managers would fare well with the most skilled, less desperate candidates?

My guess is that many of you continue to interview as if you only expect the most desperate and time-wasting candidates to request an interview.  If that is your default recruiting mindset, then your system of recruiting agents is terribly broken, and you will miss out on the best and the brightest....because the best and the brightest are watching you.  You will, by the very nature of recruiting well, have to go through many duds to get to the stars -- And the stars don't respond well to arrogance.  Let me be clear:  The very best candidates will detect disrespect a mile away...and possibly, before the interview ever begins.

Sure, it takes enormous amounts of your effort and energy to make these discoveries, but so does mining for gold or sifting for diamonds...

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

The Spark of Greatness in Everyone

As many of you know, I spend about half of my work life practicing as a Clinical Psychologist.  This is not only my first love, professionally, but it occasionally gives me new and inspiring glimpses into the resiliency and brilliance of the human condition, and allows me to uncover some of the undiscovered treasures that are hidden within each of us. 

One of my clients is a very successful businessman, who was also, unfortunately, exposed to many years of significant and continuous childhood trauma.  No one under those circumstances escapes unscathed, and many get stuck in a world full of hopelessness.  What kept him going?

It turns out that he was one of the few people who, on his own and by the grace of God, became aware that he possessed a very special gift.  The gift first began to reveal itself when he was just eight years old -- At this young age, he was compelled to read almost anything he could get his hands on, if it had to do with great wars and leaders of the past.  He was especially enamored by leaders who could see things (solutions) that no one else could see, and through that "seeing" could convince others to attempt "the impossible."

This special interest, he would learn, didn't exist in a vacuum or appear out of the blue.  To the contrary, he began to see that the very existence of the interest in reading (what most of us would ignore) was because it was an extension and sign of his gift.  It was later, in his work life as an adolescent, that he began to see clearly that he had a knack for finding efficiencies that no one else could see, and implementing the changes necessary, much to the amazement of his employers.  And even later in college, graduate school, and beyond...he clearly grasped that he had a knack for boiling complicated political, financial, or business ideas and images down to single page descriptions that would get to the heart of the business solution that seemed to elude everyone else.

Because of this gift and his history, both at home and in business, he has developed many foundational ideas that have successfully guided his hiring and his expectations of others.  Here are just three of his beliefs:

1. There is a Spark of Greatness in everyone...
2. Very few leaders are looking to find or develop that spark...
3. And, if they are, they never know when they'll run into someone with that special gift to match the needs of their organization.

If you are a manager of people, ask yourself these questions:

1. Do you look for that Spark of Greatness in others?
2. And when you find it-- Do you look to develop it?
3. Do you make snap judgements that may lead you to miss potential talent?

In the next issue, I'll further this discussion with comments (as described by this client) regarding how to interview in a way that uncovers people who want to develop their talents, and how to elicit those cross interview questions that I'm hoping agents will be asking you.

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Nine Steps That Will Help Your New Agents Get Up and Running Quickly

I had a conversation with a real estate executive yesterday, and a common theme again surfaced:  It is very difficult to bring new talent into the real estate industry and help those individuals attain a sustainable level of productivity.

There is no doubt that market conditions have made the process more difficult, but I don’t believe that this is the core problem.  There is still a tremendous amount of opportunity in the real estate industry.  I’ve watched hundreds of agents (through the performance statistics our company tracks) become productive in the last few years.  

How did they do it?  That’s an important question, but an even more important question is…How did their manager, trainer, or mentor help them find this success?  This is the primary value a real estate company offers a person who is starting a real estate career.  Make this your passion, and I believe you’ll find both success and meaning in your leadership role.

How can you become more successful in this role?  This is a complex question.  Here’s one idea that I ran across this week that resonated with me:

Help the new agent understand they are in an execution business.

The concept came from a outstanding blog written by Jim Estill.  Jim is entrepreneur who started a company out of the trunk of his car in 1979, called EMJ Data.  In 2004, he sold EMJ to SYNNEX for $350M.  He now runs a venture capital firm called Canrock Ventures.  Here is Jim’s advice on helping a new entrepreneur (agent) find success in an industry that has low barriers to entry (like real estate): 

"Some businesses have such barriers to entry and such competitive advantage that they can still thrive even with poor execution.  Companies that have patents, government regulation, rocket science (very tough intellectual property to copy), massive development costs to get into the business, high capital cost, high market share etc.

EMJ was an execution business.  It was simply not that hard for anyone to get a product line to distribute.  Over time we were able to grow to create barriers to entry with things like size, having the 'good' lines, and having market share within a niche, but in the end, it was always still an execution business.

It can be fatal for an entrepreneur not to realize that their business is an execution business.  Ask - Is it really that tough for someone to copy what we do?  If the answer is no then follow these steps for success:

9 Ways to Thrive in an Execution Business

1 - Be frugal.  Frugal does not mean cheap, it means getting appropriate value for money spent.  Spend on function, not on show. 
2 - Focus on process.  The key is to create replicable steps that can be repeated time after time.  As an early entrepreneur, often this means trying it yourself.  Time how long it takes to make 10 calls.  Track which message gets the most meetings.  Refine and learn.
3 - Test everything.  Fail Often, Fail Fast, Fail Cheap.  This is a continuation of Focus on Process. 
4 - Look for areas of minor competitive advantage.  Really that is what execution businesses are all about.  Although they may lack the monopoly or defacto monopoly characteristics of other businesses, they can have minor advantages in many different small areas.  If I look at why EMJ was a success, it was not one thing, it was a number of tiny things.
5 - Know your numbers.  By nature, execution businesses have small margins for error.  Competition ensures that there are few 'high profit' opportunities.  So knowing what areas make and lose money and knowing true costs is essential. 
6 - Look for niches.  Often execution businesses can develop competencies within a specific expertise.  Within a niche, it is easier to be the expert - less to study, less people with your focus.  It is also easier to figure out ways to thrive and customize your company to address only those specific things the niche needs.
7 - Work hard.  We worked long and hard year after year.  My work ethic was a competitive advantage.
8 - Take full responsibility.  It does not matter if the economy is good or bad, if China is selling for X, if the US$ is trading at Y, or 'the VP sales cannot sell well enough' or any other 'condition.'  Those are just conditions.  We live with them and figure out how to be profitable.  There are no excuses - If we fail, we are the ones that did not execute well so we need to change our product, our approach, our tactics and anything else. 
9 - Study and practice time management.  I think that is why I ended up writing a book on time management.  This is really an extension of Be Frugal.  Time is the biggest cost so get the best value from it possible.

If you can teach your new agents to exectute well, they will be successful.  And at that point, you'll be exectuing well also. 

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Editor's Note:  This article was written by Ben Hess.  Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.  Comments or questions are welcome.  If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email.  If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Relationships or Objects: How Do You Treat Your Candidates?

The most common recruiting questions that I get from real estate owners and general managers usually involve the topic of interviewing.  More specifically, everyone wants to know if their hiring managers are interviewing effectively...and if not, how improvements can be made.

As you know, effective interviewing is critical to the hiring process.  While our company encourages the use of assessment technology early in the hiring process, many factors important for assessing a candidate can only begin to be captured by sitting down with a person in a face-to-face meeting.

At this point, there are many great practices and research-based methodologies for making the most of an interview.  However, even the best techniques will produce poor results if they are not built upon an appropriate understanding of people.

John Sumser, a recruiting consultant that I’ve referenced several times in WorkPuzzle, wrote a very insightful article on this topic.  He makes the simple point that if you treat candidates like objects or transactions, you’ve short-circuited the recruiting process before it has even begun.

“At the heart of good recruiting...is the mastery of relationship management.  Relationships are hard to develop in volume and many people take statistical shortcuts in processes that develop relationships based on the luck of the draw.

The reason that direct marketing techniques generally have a bad name is that they tend to treat people like objects as a precursor to a deeper form of relationship.  The message in this approach is 'If I can figure out what value you bring to me, I will invest in a deeper relationship.'

No good relationship begins with the proposition that it will depend on my understanding of the value I’ll get.  They begin with the question 'What value can I give?'  They start with the notion that the 'objects of our desire' are people first.  When they are 'objects' first, the very beginning of the relationship is sowed with the seeds of its ultimate failure.

In situations that require people to sift through volumes of potential relationships, the tendency to objectify feels like a quick shortcut to successful completion of the task… Remembering that each resume represents the desires, hopes and aspirations (and sometimes desperation) of a person is a nearly superhuman task that requires the constant availability of forgiveness, a sense of humor and a willingness to see beyond the data.  It is tremendously hard to keep this perspective fresh and foremost, particularly in a reactive environment.

But, it is the process of evolving and maturing relationships, that characterizes real sales or recruiting effectiveness.  It’s a process that can be supported but never automated because it involves the feelings of the person doing the recruiting or selling.

...All of the sourcing and record keeping programs in the world won’t begin to compensate for a recruiting process that treats potential candidates as objects.  To the extent that current systems perpetuate the myth that data constitutes a relationship, they are major contributors to the problem.”

Treating candidates with a “relationship-based” framework is a high calling—it is not an easy thing to do.  Seeing the candidates you interview as human beings first requires patience, compassion, and a sincere desire to want the best for those you engage.  Self-interest is a powerful motivator for all of us, but it can be crippling if you’re a short-term thinker or have a transactional mindset.

Please understand, I’m not suggesting that you run a charity or abandon your focus on results.  Quite the opposite.  Our highest performing clients understand and build upon this principle of sincerity much better than those who struggle to meet their recruiting and performance goals.  There is really no way to be successful (in the long-term) if you build upon a deficient foundation. 

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Editor's Note:  This article was written by Ben Hess.  Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.  Comments or questions are welcome.  If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email.  If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

How to spot a Narcissistic Agent...and how they can poison your company

I have probably had more people ask me about narcissism than any other disorder in the Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders.  This doesn’t surprise me.  Unlike most other disorders, narcissistic individuals can be very successful, and almost always very charming (when they want to be).

Most questions about this topic come out of pure curiosity, but some inquiries about narcissism come from executives raising concerns over a common dilemma: "This successful person (client, agent, other executive etc) is causing me constant headaches!" 

In lay terms, "narcissism" means an almost total self-absorbtion. These individuals are focused on getting a continual stream of adulation on the one hand, and exhibit a complete lack of emotional vulnerability on the other.  Narcissistic individuals can appear very charming superficially, and are often times (but not always) the life of the party.

The primary focus for them is to be "perfect" in every way in order to be above criticism or critique of any kind.  They don't seek out any depth or attachment in relationships.  Their egos are extremely fragile and to protect themselves, they devalue any input that may reveal flaws.

After seven years of successful therapy with one particular man who had this condition, he told me that he remembers a cheerleader in high school telling him (the star football player), "You are the most conceited person I have ever known," to which he replied: "Conceited?  Me?  No!  Conceit is a flaw; I have no flaws!"

Unfortunately, when untreated, these individuals can ruin the overall reputation and character of a company or office.  Narcissists can behave in ways that may lead other agents to want to sever ties and leave a company to get away from the arrogance. They tend to increase conflict, and lead to political and counterproductive office competition.  Narcissists are likely to withhold information that could benefit everyone, including your customers, in order to get their needs met primarily.

So, regardless of how much market share a narcissist brings to your office, you need to seriously weigh the hidden costs:  How do they impact morale?  How many consumers do they turn off on their way to getting deals done?  How do they represent your company?  Do they act with the values that your company stands for?
 
I’m hesitant to give you a symptom list for Narcissists, but I will offer you just a few tips to consider when coaching, assessing, and training your agents to succeed in their attitudes towards others (From Bob Sutton's "17 things I Believe"):

• One of the best tests of a person's character is how he or she treats those with less power.  Train your agents to treat everyone equally. 
• Most agents are either novices or experts:  Encourage your experts to seek-out novices to help; and your novices to seek out experts whom they can learn from. 
• Encourage good questions rather than encouraging smart answers. 
• Find people who err on the side of optimism and positive energy with others. 
• Avoid pompous jerks whenever possible.  They not only make you feel bad about yourself, chances are that everyone in your office will eventually start acting like them.    

 

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.