Being a phenomenal leader isn’t about the leader—it’s about the team. Being driven, capable and focused isn’t always enough. To create a successful and innovative real estate team, you need to be flexible and able to collaborate with team members who may be your complete opposite. It’s about finding their strengths and focusing on how to leverage their unique talents to improve the entire team.
Here are the seven keys to team development and success:
1. Thoughtful Recruitment and Hiring
The process of recruiting new team members cannot be rushed. To find the best agents, you need to determine your team’s unique needs and refuse to settle until you find the perfect fit. For example, develop specific competencies that a potential agent should have. Establishing these criteria and interviewing candidates several times for a position are essential to this process.
2. Initial Training
As a leader, you should make the development of individual team members your top priority. It’s more than teaching the mechanics of the role. You need to show your enthusiasm and teach them how to maintain a high-energy attitude. Real estate school teaches the rules, not how to be a top producer. Kelly Hager Group Real Estate Services has designed a proprietary training program that’s progressive and hands-on. The agents already have the professionalism and passion, they just need to learn the correct mentality and receive support while they build the business.
3. Promoting Collaboration
All of your team members have unique strengths and weaknesses. Use them to your advantage. By placing each team member in a position that harnesses strengths and downplays weaknesses, you ensure that everyone is successful and able to reach their full potential within the team. Leverage your talent pool to its peak productivity and encourage collaboration. This is the key to innovation.
4. Having a Passion for People
Have fun. Get out of the office! Celebrate work and personal successes. Once you understand your team members and what they enjoy, you’ll value your people more than your policies and start to feel like a family.
5. Consistent Coaching
Coaching your team goes beyond training. It’s an ongoing conversation that will continuously increase productivity and team engagement. Meet weekly or monthly to ensure you are identifying obstacles or opportunities as they arise and addressing them directly. Dangle the carrot in front of your team—keep energy high by creating goals of achievement for additional possibilities.
6. Maintaining Accountability
Once you create goals for your team, clearly communicate your expectations. For example, ask your team members to work to their strengths while focusing on the top 20 percent of their most impactful and income-generating activities. Holding yourself and your team accountable to these standards will keep you on track while making you more relatable.
7. Leading by Example
Strive to intentionally make a difference in your team members’ careers. Be deliberate. If business is slow and calls need to be made, don’t be afraid to do the hard things to encourage others. It takes cognitive control and discipline to bring positive energy to the table every day, but it will pay off, and your reputation will thank you. Focus on productivity and profitability, and remember: high-impact priorities lead to critical advantages.
If your goal as a leader is to develop a successful real estate team, you should amp up your energy now and watch the impact it has on your team. Getting your team excited about your mission will encourage them to find their passions and strengths and, when supplemented by your training and discipline, will lead your team in the direction of success.
Kelly Hager is a licensed REALTOR® serving both St. Louis and St. Charles counties in Missouri. For more information, visit www.kellyhager.com.
