Challenge Mediocrity

With each new year, I think a lot about accountability. I never had anyone hold me accountable for much when I was growing up. I could have easily made better grades if I had parents or teachers that encouraged me, but average seemed to be fine, so that’s what I delivered. There wasn’t even an expectation of me to go to college, but when I realized all of my friends and boyfriend were going and that I wanted more for myself, I made it happen. There’s a big difference between helicopter parenting and just hoping for the best.

I didn’t really understand accountability and having big goals until I started managing various business lines for a large corporation. When I had to do an annual budget and make projections and then actually deliver results, I realized the company and my employees were counting on me to ensure we achieved as promised. The bottom line and their bonuses depended on me accurately projecting and then doing everything I could to hold myself and my employees accountable. Shareholders don’t like failure or even average. The pressure was real, but I knew my employee’s capabilities and our potential, so if we stuck to our plan and created habits that led to excellent performance, we would achieve our goals. And we did. Year after year we achieved our growth goals.

Share your goals

It’s easy to think about what we would like to achieve each year in a very loose and general way. There is no pressure if we don’t declare anything. It’s another thing to write it down and share it with others so they hold us accountable or share the same goals. I do that a lot with my clients. I ask them the five high-level things they want to focus on in the new year. Sometimes they immediately know what they are. Other times they really have to think about it. But whatever those five things are, there are many details, habits, and small steps that fall under those five things that will inch them towards achieving those overarching goals. Think about why the goal matters? What’s at stake? Create a timeline with deadlines attached. Change your habits and you will achieve your goals.

Fear status quo

I have seen many relocation departments that are run by people who are fine with the status quo. Their leaders don’t know the department’s potential and they only have to work as hard as they need to so everyone is satisfied. Playing it safe, avoiding commitment, and holding low standards feed mediocrity.

But the fear of failure is the biggest reason people get stuck. They find it comfortable and there is no risk. But where is the challenge in that? What happens if their leaders find out that with a little effort they could be making so much more money and have more satisfied agents and clients and have many new sources of business? If I were a Director operating like that, I would be fearful every day that someone is going to expose my satisfaction with mediocrity. And I would be incredibly bored.

Every time I hear from a Director who says “I need your help”, I know it is someone who is not satisfied with mediocrity. They aren’t fearful of growth and improvement and want to explore options for change. When I hear a Broker Owner say the same thing to me without their Director’s buy-in, it tells me they have realized that there is room for improvement and they can’t depend on their own person in charge to do it.

Sometimes we need to hit the reset button

I often hear clients say they feel a bit lost on how to move their careers and their areas of responsibility forward. They know it’s time to hit the reset button. That is a very healthy feeling. Relocation departments aren’t just for relocation anymore. There is a wide world of new sources of business awaiting these talented employees to tackle. If a department is still doing things like they were five years ago, it’s time to step back and reimagine the possibilities.

Having someone to validate our plan and the direction we want to head in can really go a long way to boosting our confidence. In a real estate company, there is usually only one person in charge of relocation, referrals, and business development. Sometimes having an outsider to strategize with allows us to confidently deliver a plan to our leadership and get the buy-in and budget we might need to achieve it.  Whether it be an accountability partner or an actual goal partner who will be a part of achieving your goals, get someone who has the same buy-in as you do.

You got this

My 22-year-old daughter was talking about what I do the other day with me. She said she didn’t really understand it, but she said she hears me say a lot on my client calls, “you’ve got this!” and “you can do it”. I laughed out loud but realized that I instinctively say it when listening to people who may be exhibiting some self-doubt. Self-doubt can be a silent dream killer.

So here is my personal declaration. I doubled my earnings in 2021 and I plan on doubling it again in 2022. I also plan on doubling my number of clients. There, I said it out loud. It’s up to me to take the necessary steps to get there.

Instead of waiting for someone else to force the change, be the agent of change and raise your hand and ask for help and declare your goals. A world of growth and opportunity awaits. You got this!

“It's a disease. Nobody thinks or feels or cares anymore; nobody gets excited or believes in anything except their own comfortable little damn mediocrity.” ― Richard Yates, American Novelist