In the last ten days I have had a great time speaking to various groups across the country. Two weeks ago I presented at the Sperry Van Ness National Conference in Chicago, where approximately 170 members of his team came together for a 2-day event. I reviewed the results of a national program we implemented at Sperry Van Ness, and at the end, I asked all attendees to commit to an income generation goal that they will achieve before the end of the year. Earlier this week I was copied on several emails from individual “SVN” office owners distributed to their respective teams asking them to do the same.
Last week I returned to Chicago to introduce over 150 NAI Global owners who also attended their Leadership Summit. During this presentation I focused on what specific initiatives are needed to maximize the profitability of your individual offices. Like their Sperry Van Ness counterparts a week earlier, the energy level was fantastic. After Chicago, he went to Tulsa, Oklahoma to present some 60 brokers with ideas on positioning strategies to give them a competitive advantage in their respective markets.
So over the past two weeks I’ve met with approximately 400 commercial brokers to share ideas on how to improve their business. So, will you implement these ideas and take your personal brokerage business or office to the next level? Time will tell. But if brokers want to increase the likelihood of maximizing their income, they had better create a system of accountability.
As Tate Chalk, founder of Nfinity, was recently quoted in AOL Business: “Just remember, an idea never made anyone money, just the perfect execution of that idea.” Let me be more direct and unfortunately less eloquent than Mr. Chalk. Winners have a backbone. Chickens have wish bones. Use your backbone and implement an accountability platform. Don’t just want things to work out for the best. Hope never paid the bills.
Accountability, by definition, means “respond, report, justify.” Have you ever heard “you need to inspect what you expect?” My old college lacrosse coach told us that it didn’t matter how much we wanted to win. It was a matter of setting a goal, implementing a plan, and holding each other accountable. Positive attitudes certainly help, but it was the logged suicide wind sprints, tracking reps and sets in the weight room, and seemingly endless practices that had more to do with the wins.
While it was great and gratifying that most of the 400 commercial real estate professionals I met with took notes during my presentations and even committed to implementing many of the ideas shared; it will be your creation of a platform of accountability that will ultimately determine your level of success.
Not make mistakes; being accountable is a behavior. It’s not a skill. To change behaviors, you need regular and frequent intervals of support and feedback. It is essential that you hire someone to hold you accountable. It doesn’t matter if you hire a coach, a partner, a team, or even your office manager. Make ANYONE hold you accountable. Most professionals can’t do it alone, and all winners carry some level of responsibility.
When it comes to commercial real estate managers who falsely hold to the notion that brokers are independent contractors and you cannot legally manage them; “management” and “accountability” are not the same. You can and should hold your team accountable. Companies across the country that do so are far more productive than those that don’t.
Out of the 400 or so professionals I’ve submitted over the past two weeks, I haven’t identified many chickens. Think about it. Anyone who invests the time and money to attend these events, specifically in a challenging market, is dedicated to their craft and recognizes that this is not a time to sit back and just wish. Winners have backbones, chickens have wish bones. Winners are responsible.