The speed of the leader (you) determines the rate of the pack (your team members). Culture is the key to successful teamwork, and the culture you create will result in thriving and productive agents and support members.
It is vitally important to be the very best leader when developing your team’s culture. Your energy, enthusiasm, pro-active attitude, positive spirit and, most importantly, leadership of the team’s direction, will be key to creating your team’s successful culture and ending in amazing results for each team member and the team overall.
Here are some proven strategies for developing or increasing the strength of your team’s culture:
Deliver excellence. The entire value-added customer service experience is reflected by each person on the team. Everyone is representing everyone out in the world and our team’s reputation for delivering world-class customer service is the cornerstone of the mission of the team. Do your team members know your mission and expectations for delivering excellence with every buyer and seller? Create a vision and/or mission statement that you can all 100% believe in as the team motto or purpose. Everyone should be completely committed to delivering world-class real estate service every day.
Focus on solutions, not problems. It is often easy to complain about situations or challenges and harder to pro-actively find ways to solve them. Encourage your team members, both agents and staff, to focus on solutions to challenges and ways to improve systems, procedures and processes. As the leader, you should allow feedback, but also lead the team toward creating solutions that improve everyone’s experiences and establish their roles.
This positive approach will create a team that trusts each other, knows they can be honest and can proactively solve bottlenecks or issues when they arise. Operate in a trusting environment and you will always get the truth about everything. It will allow your team members to feel valued, appreciated and respected, and they will feel like they can contribute to the entire organization’s success.
Commit to a mindset of accountability. Most teams suffer when there is a lack of direction by the team leader or there are constant changes about what is considered important. Consistency with a mindset of accountability will re-focus your team on results. When the team and its members are held accountable, ownership takes place and results follow. Agents and support staff can be empowered to create their success and contribute at the same time.
Each team member makes the weekly, monthly and annual success of the team happen. Everyone contributes toward team goals; this way they know they are an important part of the team’s success. When everyone is hitting their personal goals, the team wins, and success is contagious.
If you have team members not pulling their weight, they must level-up their work, get coached and get on a plan for success—or consider removing them. Your sales agents and support staff all must be committed and be held accountable for their efforts and results. Not measuring their performance leads to mediocrity and a stagnate environment where only a few top salespeople are bringing in all the sales, or the team leader is still brining in all the sales.
A growing and thriving team has a results-oriented mindset centered on accountability. A strong team leader uses accountability effectively to motivate, recognize and build greatness among a team. Build your team’s success with an effective strategy for holding all team members accountable and great things will happen.
Offer mutual respect and collaboration. Team leadership requires setting the tone for successful and positive communication, mutual respect, and an environment of collaboration. Allowing teams to work together creates even more buy-in and ownership. Encourage your team members to work collaboratively so that everyone is involved in the successful outcome, and all have a responsibility for their own part.
Collaborative teams are most successful as the power of multiple ideas, combined brain power and collective energy and enthusiasm literally drive successful outcomes. Leading a team of real estate agents and support staff requires great leadership from the leader and/or broker. Check your communication style and see where you can create a more collaborative approach to creating even greater team success and performance.
Highly functioning teams that work together in a collaborative environment have loyal and committed team members that create unbelievably successful results. Do a culture check with your team to see how comfortable they are in sharing issues and solutions with you, how committed to the team they are and if they have suggestions for improving the team’s overall performance. You will create a trust with your team members that will transcend into the thriving and successful culture you want to achieve for greatness.
To grow your team’s success and build a $10-, $20- or $50-plus million pipeline of business, as well as receive other winning strategies for agents’ sales success and a free, 30-day trial of Johnson’s Playbook™️, click here.
Sherri Johnson is CEO and founder of Sherri Johnson Coaching & Consulting. With 25 years of experience in real estate as an agent, broker and executive, Johnson now offers her proven methods through coaching, consulting and keynote speaking services nationwide. She is a national speaker for the Homes.com Secrets of Top Selling Agents tour and is the Official Real Estate Coach for McKissock Learning and Real Estate Express. Johnson has also been named an RISMedia Real Estate Newsmaker in 2020 and 2021 as an Industry Influencer and Thought Leader. Schedule a free 30-minute coaching strategy session or visit www.sherrijohnson.com for more information.
