Leadership: The Importance of Selection

If you are discerning about nothing and you hire everyone to fill the chairs, that is what you get…everyone.

I am in the process of interviewing real estate agents, lot of agents. It reminds me of when we opened the company. I remember then being very picky about our selection, because I wanted the agents we selected to be able to mirror my business model in the field. Everyone can join…is a bad business model for excellence. Looking at just a skill set instead of attitude and behavior is just as bad. Selecting the people you hang with both personally and professionally  defines who you are as a person and as a company. Like minded values pointing in the same direction is how a culture is defined and it clearly sets Powers apart from all the rest.

My agents and staff are relentlessly recruited by BIG franchises that want their quotas of 100 agent offices. The “butts in the chairs” guys … for their profit sharing model that pays dividends back to those agents who recruit new agents. There is no discernment in who they hire. They hire everyone! Everyone can join! They just sign them up. There is no “special” in this model, and my vision for Powers Realty Group is special. Everyone here is an important part of our mission and what we bring to the public and to each other.

I have been criticized for growing the company too slowly, but I am sure the pace for my vision is just right. The foundation we have established is rock solid. It is the best in the business, and that makes everything come together for the agents, staff and customers in a perfect synergy that is hard to define. Our management meetings have become more of a party atmosphere as our communication and systems have been perfected like the smooth hum of a sports car engine. I can clearly see where we need to put resources and my decision making process is the best it has ever been. It is critically important to me that everyone who joins our organization is successful.  If I cannot do that for you, I won’t move forward; customer and agents alike.

Perhaps it is the influence of my amazing customer base as they mentor me in my leadership. Through them, I have matured greatly and truly understand my limitations and my abilities, and I won’t over promise something I cannot deliver. If I cannot groom you for success in the sale of your home or in your real estate career I will be forthright. I won’t put your butt in my chair if I cannot offer you success. That is the best it gets. Do you want to be with just anyone or do you want to hang with someone who is selective and has standards?