Direction and Action

Real estate leadership can be tough. Things don’t always go as planned. At times like this, it’s easy to complain: salespeople aren’t doing the right actions; salespeople aren’t performing; the market is tough; listings are tight; we’re not getting called in; you can’t find good people; etc.

But where does this get you?

Complaining fixes nothing. As leaders, we must be decisive. We must decide on the direction in which we want to take our company, and then follow up with purposeful action. Direction (goals and planning), and then action will take you further than complaining ever will.

My friend, the late Bede Donovan, used to ask this great question, “Are you leading the life you want to lead?” He would then follow up with a second question, “If not, why not?” This question forced you to look at the reasons why life wasn’t as you would like it to be. Once you had the list of reasons (and let’s hope it was short!) you could begin to consider solutions – this is the direction. Next comes action.

Bede’s question can be equally applied to business: “Are you leading the kind of BUSINESS LIFE you want to lead? If not, why not?”

In business, we can determine what our problems and challenges are. We can write them down. Once we’ve done that, we can resolve to solve these challenges once and for all, to eliminate them as a challenge (or threat) to our business.

Writing the list tells us what needs to be done. Planning how to solve those challenges gives us direction. Then, through action, we can work at solving those challenges.

• We might have to learn how to overcome certain challenges.
• We might have to seek advice from those who can help us.
• We might have to research, learn and then implement systems to run the business and to prevent these problems from arising. Some immediate action may be required.

Nobody said it would be easy, and many challenges require more than a quick fix if they are to be eliminated entirely. But all must be subjected to direction and action.

Of course, making the decision to quit complaining and to resolve challenges once and for all is easier than deciding on the direction, planning and then action. You need character to follow through until the job is done, and sometimes this can take months – even longer, depending on the challenge.

Determination and drive are also required, but it sure beats complaining.

At least, with direction and action, you are working toward improvement. Complaining never got us anywhere.

Gary Pittard