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5 Characteristics That Make You A Leader Instead Of A Boss

— Michele Watson


As an experienced real estate broker, you already understand that the agents that make up your team are not truly your employees. However, they do look to you as their broker and many will look to you the captain of the ship. After all, you are the one in charge of recruiting new members, guiding your brand, keeping everyone in compliance with the law and basically make the rules for the brokerage. Still, if you want to empower your team to achieve optimal success, you need to influence their performance more as a leader than a boss. The experts at Weichert recognize that these five characteristics are what make the type of leader that achieves the most success.

  1. Leaders Motivate, Not Intimidate

One of the most distinguishing differences between and leader and boss is how they achieve performance results from their team. While a boss may resort to scare tactics and confrontation to compel a team to meet benchmarks, a leader will take the time to discover what motivates each person and deploy appropriate methods to keep them motivated. If you are determined to build a positive culture within your brokerage and continuously elevate performance, you would be better off behaving like a leader that motivates your agents on multiple levels. For example, you can establish financial, emotional, and professional motivators like bonuses, awards for performance, and promotions within your team.

  1. Leaders Focus On Sustainable Solutions

Anyone can throw together a lackluster short-term solution for problems that arise within their brokerage. However, a true leader takes the long-term future of their agents and their brokerage seriously and avoids applying the proverbial band-aids on bullet holes. If you plan to lead your agents rather than boss them around, you should include contingency plans within your annual business plans. The more that you plan ahead for things that could go wrong, the better you will be at leading your team to success with ease throughout those challenges.

  1. Leaders Listen, Support and Share the “Why”

Nobody enjoys working with or for someone that runs their business like a dictatorship. In fact, brokers that don’t listen to their agents will experience a higher rate of costly agent turnover and  issues. If you are the type of broker that strives for the best for their entire team, it would be in your best interest to keep your eyes, ears, and mind as open as possible. Not only could you open the floor to your agents during team meetings to allow for free expression of ideas, but  make one-on-one appointments to check in with agents on their progress, guide them through challenges, and allow them to share their opinions or ideas with you. These are the perfect opportunities to show every agent in your brokerage that you care about them and are happy to support them in their career as their leader rather than their boss. And if there are specific practices you need agents to engage in, make sure you are not just “ordering” it to happen. Make sure you are giving them the context of “why” it is vital for them to engage in it.

  1. Leaders Strive For The Successes Of Others

Another noticeable difference between brokers that behave like a leader vs. a boss is their desire to see each and every member of their team succeed for more than their own personal gain. They put the goals of their agents above their own. Obviously, when your agents make money, you do too, but the more you invest in helping each agent achieve their personal and professional goals, the more success you will all achieve. It’s a feel-good way to approach your business and a win-win for you and your agent. Agents that know that their broker truly cares and helps them, are far more driven to produce results.

  1. Leaders Build Confidence

As you probably remember, starting a career as a real estate agent can seem a bit overwhelming at times. It can be difficult to build up the necessary confidence to run a profitable real estate business in the face of all the rejection that inevitably confronts agents. You can define yourself as a leader by instilling your team with the confidence they need to approach leads, negotiate contracts, and navigate unexpected issues that arise. You can remind them that failure is ok; it happens to everyone, and the key is to let it go and move forward. The more you invest in training, educating, and supporting your agents through every stage of their growth, the better they will be able to perform with confidence.

Be The Leader you Always Imagined

Ironically, it can be challenging to build up your own confidence as a real estate broker and leader, especially if you are trying to navigate these waters on your own. One of the main reasons that many brokers choose to join a franchise like Weichert, is that they can get their own support as a broker and a leader, as well as the educational tools they need to empower their agents.

For more information about how joining Weichert can help you grow as a leader, please visit www.weichertfranchise.com.

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