WorkPuzzle

Coaching High Potential Agents: When Encouragement Backfires

On occasion, I come across some research or insight that is so counter-intuitive, it makes me question the progress I've made in my quest to understand people. Earlier this week, I had one of those moments.

It came when I read an article written by Dr. John Sullivan, a well-known thought leader in the world of Human Resource consulting and a professor at San Francisco State University. This article deals with the topic of succession planning in large organizations.

While this is not normally a topic that would interest the typical real estate manager who manages a single office, the insight came in how Dr. Sullivan suggests that business leaders communicate with the "high-potential" members (he affectionately calls these individuals "HiPos") of their organizations.

The conventional wisdom is that these HiPos should be identified early and given a bunch of encouragement when their above-average performance starts to emerge. I've often heard comments like this when I've spoken with real estate managers:

"Let me introduce you to Roger...he's closed more transactions in his first six months on our team than any agent we've ever had!"

or

"If I just had more new agents like Jill our office wouldn't be in a slump. She runs circles around most of the people who have been here for years."

or

"Why can't more of our agents be like Jason? He comes in here and operates like a true professional. And look at the results! We need more people like him."

Of course, all these comments come from a hiring/selection perspective because my conversations with managers typically focus on this topic. But, they reveal an attitude that is very prevalent among real estate companies: When someone comes along that quickly performs at a high level, the tendency is to first marvel at such a thing and then hold that person up as an example.

At this point, Dr. Sullivan suggests that we may be shooting ourselves (and our organizations) in the foot. When a person starts to figure out they are a HiPo, all types of strange behavior tends to ensue. Here is an abbreviated list of the potential impacts on the individual and the team:

1. The probability of losing this person to a competitor increases. If you tell employees that they are high-potentials, it is highly likely the news will spread both inside and outside the organization.
2. Increased frustration and turnover if early success and perceived opportunites don't materialize. Acknowledgement leads to expectations, and unfortunately opportunities do not always materialize as planned.
3. Employees may not take development efforts seriously. If the HiPo is aware of their status, they may not see the value in actively self-improving. In addition, they may not take full advantage of any improvement and development opportunities offered.
4. Reduced effort after “making it.” Following acknowledgement, the HiPo may expect things to happen automatically, going into coast mode as they assume their future is set.
5. Ego issues. Notifying HiPos lets them know they are valuable, but may also create an ego boost that results in a change in behavior (i.e. arrogance, sense of entitlement, etc.)
6. Frustration among those not designated. As managers identify HiPos (directly or through subtle comments like the examples above) other agents may react unfavorably. If the informal designation process is viewed by other agents as biased or not fair, these factors could lead to reduced productivity and increased turnover.
7. There may be sabotage. A HiPo could face subtle or direct attacks from individuals who feel that they don’t deserve the designation. Once identified, others within a competitive organization may work to slow them down or even sabotage them out of bitterness.

[Dr. Sullivan identifies another nine risks if you care to read more on this topic]

As this list of concerns and issues illustrates, successfully dealing with those under your care and nurturing is rarely straight-forward and easy to understand...and, the HiPos are an especially challenging lot.

The lesson here is to treat everyone on your team with respect and provide as much thoughtful insight and encouragement as possible. Try to discern what every person needs and customize your assistance to each indivual. And finally, understand the risks of elevating one person (especially if the individual is a new HiPo) over the others on the team. Encouragement and praise is necessary and good, but make sure it is not administered in a way that creates divisions.

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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.

Why you should Ignore the Generation X, Y and Z Rhetoric

During a recent presentation focused on the psychology of recruiting, I was asked to elaborate more fully on the difference in the psychology of generations X, Y and Z.  Specifically, the manager wanted to know what they could do to more effectively reach these elusive generations.  What was originally meant to be a brief response to this question turned into a prolonged sermon that resulted in more nodding heads than I’ve seen in a long time.  It resonated so much with these managers that I felt pretty strongly it was worth the time to pass these thoughts on to you.

There are three things you need to know: 

1. Yes, X, Y, and Z generations are very different.
2. Self-indulging and child indulging baby-boomer parents made them this way. 
3. At their core, most people are the same and will respond favorably if you meet their most basic needs. 

 Let's unpack each one of these individually: 

1. These younger generations do appear to be disloyal, are out for the best deal, expect to be paid immediately, aren't willing to do menial tasks first, and are willing to change jobs or firms in a moments notice.  These are real and true observations, and because of these observations, companies and vendors go to great lengths to try to find ways to respond to these characteristics that only wind up exacerbating the condition.  Why do I call it a condition?  Because it is a disease.  It cannot sustain your company, our culture, the nation, or the world.  Find a company or country that attempts to cater to these needs, and I’ll show you one that is on the precipice of collapse.
2. It's time to take responsibility and fess up to the values many parents within the baby boomer generation have created.  This is a generation that believed that immediate personal pleasure was more important than service to others.  Self-esteem without contribution was more important than earning the respect of others.  Frustration, struggles and hard work were to be soothed as quickly as possible and replaced with rescue and pampering.  Unfortunately, while all the above was going on, their most basic needs were being ignored.  Many of them were left alone, with a Nintendo, or X-box as a babysitter, activities were valued over relationship building, and family dinners were held on Thanksgiving and Christmas.
3. The good news is that to redeem the mistakes of the past, we can easily return to the core needs of all human beings.  There is an old saying..."There is nothing new under the sun."  When it comes to people, we are all basically the same and will never, at our very core, change.  When you purposefully seek to meet those needs, you can reclaim the dormant needs of these individuals and bring out the best in them, and your company.  As we have presented repeatedly in WorkPuzzle, science has proven without question, that happiness is never experienced through increasing the frequency and duration of personal pleasure.  Being confident in this allows you to offer these young people something more compelling that meets a need they didn’t even know that they had, and deeply resonates with every human being. 

People need to belong, they need to have high expectations, and they need a goal that is bigger than themselves...with a company painting a picture of doing something special.  Are you doing that?  What you have to offer is better than what many of these young people are being offered elsewhere: A chance to learn some skills that would be transferable to many occupations.

My 26-year-old son recently quit his last job to tour the world for five months.  Upon his return he had three organizations giving him fairly generous offers to work for them.  What separated the one he chose to work for from the other two?  The one he chose went out of their way to make him feel welcome.  Everyone greeted him as he walked in for the interview, several people emailed him with positive comments, and each of his questions was followed up with immediate answers.  He even received a very nice note from the boss of bosses in this firm.  In other words, he was treated like he was already hired and part of the big, efficient, family.  He was also introduced to top performers who treated him like he was a peer, and yet clearly introduced to what was expected in a way that raised high expectations without undo pressure.  The support he would receive upon being hired was clearly seen in every interaction. 

So, the question for your company is:  Can you move past what you’ve heard about these younger generations and speak to their deeper needs?  If you can, you’ll attract the best of the best. 

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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.

Your Fortune is in the Follow-up

My name is Lee Gray, Senior Account Manager for Tidemark. Working side by side with our two blog masters, Ben Hess and Dave Mashburn, has inspired me to step into the blogging foray. Part of my job is to research relevant business related information and share with my partnering managers. In doing so, I came across a topic of special interest to me, given that I train and consult with managers on a regular basis regarding recruiting matters…the importance of “follow-up.”

Recruiting is fundamentally “selling.” As a hiring manager, it is your job to inspire/sell a career in real estate to your new-to-business candidates…or inspire/sell your company and/or office to experienced agents. You should be going about recruiting in much the same way you would expect your existing agents to prospect. Would you tell your agents to have one conversation with a potential customer and leave it at that? I think not.

Ali Brown, founder and CEO of Ali International LLC, an organization committed to empowering female entrepreneurs globally, validates my philosophy in her article, “Your Fortune is in the Follow-up.” Given that my primary focus is in the area of recruiting consulting, I read her article in that vein, however it clearly can be shared with existing agents or anyone in a similar industry.

“Most business owners are good at pitching clients or reaching out to new customers. It’s the follow-up where they fall down. Why? Because they figure, 'If they wanted my product, they’d finish the transaction,' or they worry that, 'If I bug them too much, I’ll come off as needy.'

Here’s the thing: while you’re worrying about bugging a prospective customer or telling yourself that maybe 'they’re just not that into me,' someone else is following up and sealing the deal!

'No' is just a little bump on the road to 'yes.' When someone expresses interest in your business, but they aren’t quite ready to sign on the dotted line, they can often be persuaded with a polite follow-up.”

After you go through all of the time and effort to sit down for an interview with a potential hire, why would you leave it at that? You wouldn’t. Here is my mantra: “If you interview someone and you want to hire them…treat them as though they are hired.” Many of you have heard me say this, and I don’t think I can say it enough. The more a candidate feels like they belong/fit in your company, the more likely they are to follow-through with the licensing requirements and join your office versus signing on with a competitor. In the case of experienced agents, the more they feel courted by you and welcome in your organization, the more likely they are to recognize your value-proposition…but they will never get the chance to realize that value if you are not staying connected.

So, how do you treat a potential hire as a hire? You can invite them to your training classes…yes, even before they have their license, or before on-boarding an experienced agent. It is a potential risk, but worth the investment. Invite them to sales meetings, events, open houses, tours etc. The more they are in front of you and inspired by your office and business, the more likely they will, not only convert to a hire, but be a quick-to-produce hire, especially with the early onset training. A couple of other ideas, discussed in Ali’s article are worthwhile to consider as well:

“Ask if they’d like to be added to your email newsletter.

Creating an email newsletter is a great way to keep in contact with prospects and update them on new promotions or offerings. Since nobody likes getting spam, ask their permission first and include useful content in your newsletter so it's not a pure sales message. Once people expect timely and insightful information from you, they'll become more likely to open your emails and conduct business with you.

Send useful links.

If you know the prospect pretty well, you could email her sporadically when you find articles that might be useful for her business or see networking events she might like to attend. That way you’re keeping the lines of communication open without pressuring her.”

It is this kind of diligent, meaningful, value-added and credible follow-up that will lead you to be a successful hiring manager. Yes, it is hard work, but nothing truly worth having comes easy...

 

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Editor's Note: Lee Gray is the Senior Account Manager at Tidemark Inc. Lee is a guest 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 great expectations lead to better results

Have you ever wondered how important positive expectations are in the workplace? Take a moment to think about when, and under what conditions, you best perform...

The Rosenthal Effect refers to a phenomenon that many of us might understand intuitively, but can't fathom the sheer amount of power and achievement it can harness. It emphatically shows that the greater the expectation placed upon people, the better they perform. The Rosenthal Effect is in essence, a self-fulfilling prophecy whereby people with poor expectations internalize their negative label, and perform poorly...while those with positive self-imposed labels, exceed their own apparent abilities.

In the late 1960's, Robert Rosenthal showed that if teachers were led to expect enhanced performance from a select group of children, these children were able to rise above previously predicted achievement levels. What he (and others who came after him) has proven, is that reality can be influenced by the expectations of others...And it goes both ways: Detrimental effects come from negative expectations just as strongly as achievement results from positive expectations.

What biases do you bring to the table with new agent candidates? Are you one of those who believe that everyone has a certain ceiling of performance that they will never exceed? Do you refrain from holding people to high expectations because it feels mean or unfair? "After all, this person couldn't pull it off, so it would be cruel to expect that they will?" This kind of thinking, Rosenthal and others have termed the "observer-expectancy effect," where a person forms unconscious, biased expectations, based on extremely limited, and usually irrelevant information...and creates a downward spiraling, self-fulfilling prophecy as a result.

The Rosenthal Effect is confirmed by Jane Elliot's blue-eyed versus brown-eyed discrimination exercise. In this experiment, a group of third graders were told that they were going to take turns looking down upon one half of the classroom, as if they were inferior people. They used something completely random to determine who would be inferior/superior - eye color. The first day of the experiment, one group was given preference and regarded as "superior" because of their eye color, while the other group was made to feel inferior in intelligence and learning ability. On the second day of the experiment, the groups were completely reversed; those who had been treated as lower-than, were regarded as superior, and those who were treated as superior were treated as dummies.

The teacher continued to hold classroom structure and assignments as if the "experiment" wasn't occurring. In keeping with the classroom routine, spelling tests were administered on both days. The results strongly confirm the Rosenthal effect: The students scored very low on the day they were "inferior," and very high on the day they were considered "superior."

It's time to recalibrate the way you approach everyone you are responsible for. Check your internal biases, reset your expectations, and watch people flourish.

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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.

Career Security: The Recruiting Card You Should Learn to Play

On occasion, I highlight an article written by Peter Weddle.  Peter is a nationally known author and consultant who specializes in dispensing career advice and explaining recruiting trends.  He has published a number of helpful books over the years and currently writes in his blog as well as other venues.

Recently, Peter published an article in his bi-weekly newsletter that opened my eyes to a trend that I believe could significantly aid those who have the responsibility of recruiting real estate agents.  The trend is a desire that many talented individuals have for some much needed “career security.”

Notice that I didn’t say job security.  Most people have come to the realization that job security is not something that a company can truly offer.  Why?  Because in an era of global competition, employer needs and circumstances change much more frequently and unpredictably than ever before.  Individual employers are not in a position to offer anyone security.

So, what’s “career security?”  According to Peter, career security is the ability of a person always to be employed, and always by an employer of their choice.  In essence, it is reinforcing a person’s ability and propensity to be gainfully employed in the future by helping him/her acquire the knowledge and skills needed to continuously succeed.

How can a real estate company do this? ...By teaching each and every employee how to practice effective career self-management.  This is not far removed from the mentality needed to start and manage a real estate career.  I know this may sound crazy, but the rest of the employment world may be coming around to using the language that the real estate industry has been using for years!

It used to be that people went to school and then found jobs.  Now, there is a need to start a career that must be notoriously self-directed.  Peter points out that traditional companies are not very good at providing this insight and assistance to talented individuals:

"[Higher education and university] faculties work in ivory towers that were erected long before the advent of global competition and talent.  They simply don't realize that employers can no longer afford to provide career-long guidance and development for their employees.  Those workers must now do it for themselves.

The tragedy, of course, is that almost none of them know how.  Talented people are defined by their quest to excel - to be the best they can be in their profession, craft or trade - so they are acutely aware of this shortcoming.  Indeed, they more than any others in the workforce recognize the importance of this knowledge.  They want to know what they must do and how they must do it in order to build up the strength, reach and endurance of their career.

Any employer which fills that vacuum will send a powerful and differentiating message to top talent.  They are saying:  We care about you and want you to succeed, in our organization and successively wherever else you might be.  Yes, of course, we want you to work for us, but we also want you to work where you can grow and excel.  That may cause you to leave us at some point, but if you succeed successively, there's a good probability that you'll also come back.

Admittedly, it takes a brave organization to embark on such a strategy.  Because it teaches employees to take care of their own careers, it is, in some respects, their emancipation proclamation.  However, it is also a unique show of respect for the ultimate goal of those individuals.  And for the best talent, there's simply no more powerful and compelling reason to hire on.”

Is your organization willing to develop programs to meet this need?  For many in the real estate industry, it would not be a significant jump from what is already offered in terms of training, mentoring, and coaching programs.

The tricky part is crafting a recruiting marketing message that “connects the dots” for those who are seeking career security, but would not naturally see a real estate career as a destination for meeting that need.

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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 Coach in Five Minutes

Among the many management topics out there, people tend to feel the most confusion about one in particular...coaching.  Despite the plethora of material available on the subject, there are some managers out there who continue to exercise coaching methods used by their childhood sports coaches.  Well, if you're like me, you'd be duplicating behavior that wasn't very pleasant in the first place.  I never really liked any of my coaches.  Why?  There are a multitude of reasons...  They never really knew me, for one.  They didn't ask me questions, and if they did ask, they weren't meant to be answered:  "Why didn't you block your man?"  Because I'm 20 pounds lighter and I don't like the feeling of getting my clocked cleaned!

At the heart of effective coaching lies something much simpler and so much more rewarding for everyone.  Coaching is first and foremost based on the formula that if I, the coach, ask the right questions, I can elicit information from the coachie that he/she hasn't even thought of before.  When this happens, people follow through, set better goals, and come to you again and again to help them achieve the same magic advice that came from their own mind.  It's a wonderful formula that we all forget too often.  I know I do.

If you've come to this article, hoping to figure out how to do all of your coaching in five minutes...I'm sorry, but it can't be done.  Nonetheless, for those occasions when you don't have more time, below is a good blueprint for coaching others...in five minutes.  Remember, with the following questions, your job is to ask, listen, and ask them to tell you more.

Here are the questions I found in an article by Scott Eblin (potential follow up questions are in parentheses):

1. What’s the most important meeting or event coming up on your calendar in the next week?
2. If that meeting or event is a complete success, what happens at the end?  (What do people know, think, do, feel or believe?)
3. How do you need to show up to make that outcome likely?  (What are you going to say and how are you going to say it?  What kind of energy, body language, tone of voice, and demeanor do you need to demonstrate?)
4. (What else?)  This is the all-purpose coaching question, because it draws out the extra ideas.

Pretty simple, huh?  Well, the hard part is keeping your direction, your agenda, your ego in check, and your mouth shut.  This is about them, not you.  This is a problem for most of us.  Let the process work and get back to me on how it went... 

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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. 

What's An Elevator Pitch and Why Do My Agents Need One?

In the WorkPuzzle post I wrote last week, I suggested you develop a short elevator pitch, explaining why agents have the highest chance of attaining "happiness at work" if they work on your team.

How did you do on this assignment?  Hopefully you've been able to quantify this illusive yet important set of qualities.

After suggesting this, it occurred to me that some of you may not have much experience with elevator pitches.  If you've never started a business from scratch or had to raise money to fund a new venture, it may be a new concept.

So why circle back on this topic?  In addition to helping you retain your best agents, an elevator pitch can also be a very powerful tool for those you coach.  Agents need to be able to quickly articulate "what they offer" to perspective clients. 

I'd like to reference an outstanding article written by Michael Hyatt a few months ago.  Here is an abbreviated and slightly modified version of what Michael wrote regarding elevator pitches:

"What's an elevator pitch?  The name comes from the idea that you should be able to deliver a succinct, compelling description of what you offer in the time it takes to ride an elevator up a few floors—approximately 30 seconds to two minutes.

The idea originated with entrepreneurs who needed to pitch their business proposals quickly to potential investors in order to secure funding.  This enabled those same investors to quickly eliminate ideas that were ill-conceived or simply didn’t fit their investment profile.  The elevator pitch has become so effective that it is used in other fields as well." 

Why do you need an elevator pitch as a real estate professional?  It forces you to achieve clarity yourself and understand your prospect's perspective.

"An elevator pitch should consist of four components:

Component 1:  Your product name and category.

Component 2:  The problem you are attempting to solve.

Component 3:  Your proposed solution.

Component 4:  The key benefit of your solution.

Here’s an example from a person who is writing a book:

'I am writing a new business book called Platform [Component 1].  It is designed for anyone who is trying to get attention for their product, service, or cause [Component 2].  I teach my readers how to build a tribe of loyal followers, using social media and other new technologies [Component 3].  I explain that it has never been easier, less expensive, or more possible than right now [Component 4].'

Obviously, pitches can vary widely, depending on your offering.  Regardless, you want to create an elevator pitch that is clear and compelling.  This is a prerequisite for attracting the partners and prospects you need to succeed.

Once you get your elevator pitch fine-tuned, don’t deliver it like a mechanical parrot.  Instead, use it as the foundation of a meaningful sales conversation."

Do you have any thoughts on constructing a good elevator pitch for a real estate agent in your office?  Start noodling on this and write down the thoughts that come to your mind.

Of course, an agent would need to conceptualize their own elevator pitch if it is going to come across as authentic, but being able to provide examples is a great place to initiate the conversation.

Here is an elevator pitch that I came up with, pretending I’m an agent in my hometown of Woodinville, WA (a suburb of Seattle).  It is partially based on a discussion I had with one of the top performing real estate owners in the Seattle market.

“I am a real estate financial advisor who focuses on real estate investments in the community of Woodinville [Component 1].  Because the process of making real estate investment decisions is so heavily influenced by emotion and personal preference [Component 2], I’m the neutral third party who understands the psychology of making an important financial decision [Component 3].  By personally coaching those involved in the decision, I help each individual gain clarity at a point when their emotions and feelings often point them in the wrong direction [Component 4].”

You’re welcome to use this as an example with your agents or make up one on your own.  If you make your own, you’ll have the added benefit of experiencing how it feels to put one of these pitches together.  It is not as easy as it looks.

Once you come up with a few of these (collected from multiple agents going through this process) send me one or two of your team's best elevator pitches.  We’ll publish a few examples in an upcoming WorkPuzzle.  

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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.

Psychology at the End of the World

I love true adventure stories.  I can't tell you exactly why, but at the very least, they help me resist becoming complacent with living a risk-free life.  Another reason is that these stories typically tell me something about how courageous people are wired...how they think, feel, interact..and most importantly, how they respond to inevitable setbacks, disappointments and fears.

These stories also attract the scientific eye of research psychologists, who are interested in what happens to the human mind and human relationships under such extreme conditions.  I've posted several articles based on real life stories of adventure, with all the trials and tribulations that go along with the experiences.  I believe these stories offer insight for us all into ourselves, our organizations, and most importantly, how we can successfully navigate difficult times.  In a post written by Christian Jerrett for BPS Digest, I found a fascinating story that illustrates some great principles we can all learn from.  I trust that you will thoroughly enjoy the research findings below...and in the next edition, I will follow up with my own insight regarding how all of this applies to you and your team.

"A new paper by Gloria Leon and her colleagues has gauged the psychological profile and experiences of two polar explorers - given the pseudonyms Bill (age 32) and Andrew (age 35) - who in 2009 became the first team from the USA to reach the North Pole without outside support.  Starting out from Ward Hut Island in Canada, they reached their target in 55 days.  Personality profiles of the men prior to the challenge were largely as you might expect - they were both high-scorers in leadership and extraversion and low scorers on harm-avoidance.  Andrew also scored low in conscientiousness, which may be unexpected given the preparation required for an expedition, and had a tendency to become highly engrossed in his own thoughts and surroundings.

The challenge itself was grueling, with each man hauling a 300 pound sled.  Temperatures ranged from minus 60 degrees Fahrenheit at the start to zero degrees Fahrenheit at the end.  Both men lost significant amounts of weight.  At one point, Bill fell through ice and was submerged up to his neck, only narrowly escaping hypothermia.  The final leg of the trip was the most arduous as the duo fought to reach their destination before their helicopter arrived on Day 56 (it was to pick them up whether they'd reached their target or not).  For the last 66 hours, the pair had just one hour of sleep for every 16 hours on the move.  Throughout, the men filled out weekly questionnaires about their coping methods, their relationship, and their mood.  They were also interviewed a few weeks after their return, and again six months later.

For the duration of the expedition, both men scored high on positive mood and low on negative mood.  They survived and succeeded by supporting each other and communicating effectively, and by adopting flexible coping strategies, including positive re-interpretation of challenges and use of relaxation and meditation.  Their relationship hit a low point around day 40 when Andrew aired his grievances about planning for the trip, but they worked through this constructively.  These observations contradict some earlier research suggesting that all-male groups suffer from excess competitiveness.

'We were basically one persona when it came to goal orientation,' Bill said.  'We had a high degree of self-care for each other and ourselves,' he explained.  Andrew said: 'Anytime we expressed ourselves it brought us closer... We talked more about recognizing differences and embracing our similarities and we celebrated that it was really fun.'  Based on this, the researchers said it was important not to overgeneralize the effects of gender on group processes.  'By focusing their interactions on supporting each other, competition between them was minimized or essentially eliminated,' they said."

So what was the long term impact?  Both men "experienced a greater sense of unity with nature and a reduction in their need for conventional achievement, in terms of social status and prestige."

Reflect on this for a few moments... and please add your comments or email me personally with your thoughts...

Source:  Leon, G., Sandal, G., Fink, B., and Ciofani, P. (2011).  Positive Experiences and Personal Growth in a Two-Man North Pole Expedition Team.  Environment and Behavior, 43 (5), 710-731 DOI:10.1177/0013916510375039

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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. 

Retaining Your Agents: Make Sure You Understand Happiness

Yesterday, I was waiting for a printing job to be quoted at Kinkos and started to browse the paperback books in the display near the counter.  I expected to see the usual self-help books regarding how to construct a resume, handle interviews, and ask intelligent questions at your next interview.  What I didn't expect to see was a nearly equal number of books about how to attain happiness.

Over the last few years, it seems the "happiness industry" has exploded.  It is tough for me to go even a couple of days without reading something about how to attain happiness--particularly in the realm of business and work.  Maybe this is a sign that we're all miserable and having a hard time coping! 

Whatever the reason, you can bet that those whom you manage are reading some (or a lot) of this material as well.  If you're responsible for retaining and coaching a team, you may want to spend some time becoming proficient on this topic.  

If someone on your team asks you the question..."How do you find happiness and fulfillment in your work?"  How would you answer that question?

I know that if I was one of your competitors and I was "having coffee" with one of your agents, it would be one of the first questions I would ask.  Why?  Because I would try to tap into the negative emotion the person is potentially feeling.  Giving someone hope they will be happier somewhere else is a powerful motivator and can help open an individual's mind to considering change.    

So, do you have an answer to this question that you can proactively offer to your agents?  If not, I'd like to share some commentary that I recently read in the Wall Street Journal on the topic.  The article highlights research conducted by the iOpener Institute for People and Performance on how people find happiness and engagement at work. 

Jessica Pryce-Jones oversaw the research that began in 2006 and had more than 9,000 participants from around the world.  The data suggests that most people feel less confidence, motivation, loyalty, resilience, commitment and engagement in their jobs in recent years.

But, there is a smaller group of people who counteract this trend and report feeling a sense of well-being and "happiness."  If an individual happens to be in this group, he/she will display behaviors that employers find very beneficial, such as:

• Staying twice as long in their jobs as their least happy colleagues
• Spending double the time at work focused on what they are paid to do
• Taking ten times less sick leave
• Believing, at twice the rate of their peers, that they are achieving their potential

Jones also notes that the science of happiness at work has big benefits for individuals too.  If you’re really happy at work, you’ll solve problems faster, be more creative, adapt fastest to change, receive better feedback, get promoted quicker, and earn more over the long-term.

The research goes on to suggest that there is a strong correlation between a person's happiness at work and the characteristics of the work environment.

This is where things get interesting... The research unveils clear characteristics (what Jones calls the underlying drivers) that need to be present in your organization if those on your team are going to feel engaged and happy at work.  So, according to Jones, here are the "underlying drivers" that you should strive towards in your organization: (Editorial Note: These are written in the first person, as if Jones is giving advice on what type of organization to pursue as an individual, in order to find happiness at work.)

1. A Sense of Contribution.  This is about what you do, so it’s made up of some of the core activities which happen at work...like having clear goals, moving positively towards them, talking about issues that might prevent you from meeting your objectives and feeling heard when you do so.  You’ll do all this best when you feel appreciated and valued by your boss and your colleagues.  So it’s not just about delivering; it’s about doing so within collaborative working relationships too.
2. A Sense of Culture.  Performance and happiness at work are really high when employees feel they fit within their organizational culture.  Not fitting in a job is like wearing the wrong clothes to a party—all the time.  It’s hugely draining and de-energizing.  If you’re in the wrong job, you’ll find that the values mean little to you, the ethos feels unfair or political, and you don’t have much in common with your colleagues. 
3. A Sense of Commitment.  Commitment matters because it taps into the macro reasons of why you do the work you do.  Some of the underlying elements of commitment are perceiving you’re doing something worthwhile, having strong intrinsic interest in your job, and feeling that the vision of your organization resonates with your purpose.  We’ve seen commitment decline for the majority of employees, post-recession, as leaders and organizations think that tuning into this soft stuff is a waste of time.  It isn’t.  It’s how you enable your employees to understand why they should make a greater discretionary effort for you. 
4. A Sense of Confidence.  Confidence is the gateway to the other three drivers.  Too little confidence and nothing happens; too much leads to arrogance and particularly poor decisions.  Without greater levels of self-belief, the backbone of confidence, there will be few people who’ll take a risk or try anything new.  And you can’t have confident organizations without confident individuals inside them.

Here's your homework:  Develop an elevator speech on why agents would have the highest chance of being happy and finding engagement in your organization.  Your speech should contain all the components listed above.

Next, work the thoughts from this speech into both your coaching sessions and your interviews.  By doing so, you'll tap the emotion that not only has the power to retain, but also has the power to attract competitive agents to your team.

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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.

Failure Leads To Success

Over lunch today, Ben and I discussed the fairly well know eternal truth:  "Suffering produces endurance, endurance builds character, and character gives one hope."

Wow, what a concept...character produces hope.  This flies in the face of most myths we are fed through the media, movies and modern day parenting practices, doesn’t it?  It certainly makes us reconsider serving up the gravy train for our kids.

But it got me thinking...What value do most organizations truly place on character?  Do you fall into the fallacy of style over substance?

Riverdale Country School is one of New York City’s most prestigious private schools, earning itself a place among the city’s most elite private-schools.  Tuition starts at $38,500 a year...and that’s for prekindergarten.  The headmaster, Dominic Randolf, is drastically changing the way high potential kids are assessed and screened.

Paul Tough of the New York Times writes:

“Randolph is surprisingly skeptical about many of the basic elements of a contemporary high-stakes American education.  He did away with Advanced Placement classes in the high school soon after he arrived at Riverdale and he says that the standardized tests that Riverdale and other private schools require for admission to kindergarten and to middle school are 'a patently unfair system' because they evaluate students almost entirely by I.Q.  'This push on tests,' he told me, 'is missing out on some serious parts of what it means to be a successful human.'

The most critical missing piece, Randolph explained as we sat in his office last fall, is character — those essential traits of mind and habit that were drilled into him at boarding school in England and that also have deep roots in American history. 'Whether it’s the pioneer in the Conestoga wagon or someone coming here in the 1920s from southern Italy, there was this idea in America that if you worked hard and you showed real grit, that you could be successful,' he said.  'Strangely, we’ve now forgotten that.  People who have an easy time of things, who get 800s on their SAT’s...I worry that those people get feedback that everything they’re doing is great.  And I think as a result, we are actually setting them up for long-term failure.  When that person suddenly has to face up to a difficult moment, then I think they’re screwed, to be honest.  I don’t think they’ve grown the capacities to be able to handle that.'

Instead, he is determined to figure out how to instill character traits and virtues in these privileged kids he is entrusted to educate.

'The idea of building grit and building self-control is that you get that through failure,' Randolph explained.  'And in most highly academic environments in the United States, no one fails anything.' "

My guess is that most of you who continue to “experience hope” in the real estate industry, have developed character through failure at some point in your life...long before conditions in the real estate market worsened.  Those who were riding the success on the coat tails of everyone else’s hard work over the last couple of decades, couldn’t handle the recent adversity, and hit the road.  It may not be wise to hire through that same lens again...

So, how can you identify character in interviews?  How can you alter your discussions with those you coach and mentor to help build character, and therefore build hope for the future of real estate?

In the next edition, I’ll share with you some interesting research findings and an assessment that might help get to the heart of the matter.

But for the next few days your homework is very simple:  Simply memorize or recite 100 times...“And Character Produces Hope.”

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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.