PROPERTY MANAGER EDITION
Managers and Team Builders: FOUR PRINCIPLES TO DEVELOP A GREAT TEAM I'll Take 2 Pounds of Confidence and 3 POUNDS OF SELF-ESTEEM! SUCCESS— These 7 Habits Are the Real Secret to Success
5 Morning Habits to MAKE YOUR DAY SUPER PRODUCTIVE
COVER STORY
SEAN WARD
PROPERTY MANAGER EDITION
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SEAN WARD
CONTENTS 4) SUCCESS—THESE 7 HABITS ARE THE REAL SECRET TO SUCCESS 13) I'LL TAKE 2 POUNDS OF CONFIDENCE AND 3 POUNDS OF SELFESTEEM!
18) MANAGERS AND TEAM BUILDERS: FOUR PRINCIPLES TO DEVELOP A GREAT TEAM 22) 5 MORNING HABITS TO MAKE YOUR DAY SUPER PRODUCTIVE
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Success– These 7 Habits Are the Real Secret to Success What is it that makes some people so successful and others not? Is there a secret recipe one can follow, as easy as baking a cake, which will give them the strength to achieve their ultimate goals and have it all? The answer is that, in a manner, there is. The trick is in how you think about success and what it means for you. Many people define success as achieving their personal goals, but could this be leading them to look at the world a little too narrowly? The people that are truly successful in every aspect of 4
their lives don’t stop at simply achieving their personal goals. They succeed in many avenues of their life, including their job, relationships, health, and family just to name a few. It turns out that ultra-successful people tend to have quite a number of things in common. One main skill many seem to possess is high emotional intelligence, or the ability to manage your emotions so that you can stay calm and focused even in high
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stress situations. Luckily, it seems not all of them are simply born with this ability, but have many strategies they use to help them achieve higher emotional intelligence. Here are seven strategies and habits that will help you achieve success in every area of your life.
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BE COMPOSED The first thing successful people always seem to have under control is their composure. Successful people stay calm and composed when the going gets tough and fingers start pointing. They don’t panic. The secret? They understand that in life things are always changing. It doesn’t matter if something is bad at the moment because that will change soon enough. In this topsy turvy life all you can really do is adapt in order to stay happy and remain in control of how you react.
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BE KNOWLEDGEABLE Have you ever noticed how successful people always seem to have such a wide range of knowledge and interests? Successful people do know more because they are always working to grow and learn. They strive to constantly increase their self-awareness. If a spare moment exists, then they will fill it with some kind of self-education. They do this because they are passionate about learning new things and ways to improve their life. Ignore the fear of being judged and ask questions, because that is the only way you can learn. Successful people don’t
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fear asking questions. They fear not asking those questions and growing stagnant.
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BE DELIBERATE It is important to think and reason before you come to a decision. Successful people don’t rush. They seek out advice from other, they think of all the aspects, and sleep on their thoughts before finally making their decision. Your gut instinct can be misleading, and lead you to make a rash decision that you will come to regret later.
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BE CERTAIN, AND SPEAK WITH CONVICTION Successful people speak with certainty. Unless you communicate your ideas with conviction and certainty, then you will have a hard time getting people to listen to them.
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BE POSITIVE Successful people use positive body language when they are talking to other people. Their tone is enthusiastic, they maintain eye contact, leaning in towards the person speaking to show interest. Successful people use it to draw those other people in. How you say something can be just as if not more important that what you say to people. Positive body language can completely alter how your speech is perceived by others, and helps to keep attention on you and what you are saying.
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BE MEMORABLE BY LEAVING A STRONG FIRST IMPRESSION You only have once to make a first impression, and they are incredibly important, as they are closely ties to positive body language. You have around 7 seconds to convince a person to like you after you initially meet them. That is how long it takes them to decide when they meet you. After that a person is simply spending the rest of the conversation justifying that initial reaction they had. You can make sure you make a good first impression by having strong posture, a firm handshake, a warm smile, and open shoulders.
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BE FEARLESS Successful people know that to give in to fear is a choice. They don’t let the fear take over, instead focusing on the rush of euphoria that comes with conquering fears. All of this adds up to having a high emotional intelligence. What helps you to succeed is the ability to control those whirlwind emotions so you can stay calm and focused on actually succeeding. These habits can help you gain a higher emotional intelligence, but as you probably already know, anything involving dealing with your emotions in a healthy manner takes serious work. So, don’t give up if you fail the first time. You must always try and try again.
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SEAN WARD 7
SEAN WARD Owner of the property management company LuxeVaca.com, an international company with a 24/7 concierge service that knows no limits; it’s all up to the client. Need a private chef? Ferrari? You got it. Sean Ward is what some might call a Renaissance Man. Owner of the property management company LuxeVaca.com (luxury vacation rentals), Sean has been a buyer and seller of real estate, a dabbler in loans, a firefighter, a programmer—and someone who cares deeply about people. “It’s rewarding to see people having family time together, reconnecting with each other,” he says. “This is a great product for the value. The difference between renting a hotel room and a home is that people can spend time with their family or their coworkers in a relaxed setting. They can go to the kitchen, make a meal together, share a bottle of wine, go out to the pool. They get to spend time together.” 8 Copyright Top Agent Magazine
Sean started buying and selling real estate 26 years ago, at the age of 24, when he bought his grandfather’s house in Lake Tahoe and rented out the rooms. It was such a good experience that he purchased other rental properties, including a six-bedroom, fourbath home in the Tahoe Keys resort area. He worked as a firefighter in South Lake Tahoe and paid a property management group 40 percent to run his house in the Keys. He was about to leave the area for a new job in Sacramento, but didn’t want to lose the house, which was bringing in about $50,000 a year. Top Agent Magazine
He thought, “I’ve been in the real estate market for so long, I can do this.” He began marketing the house on his own, and within a few years turned that $50,000 into $100,000. At that point, he realized he should get into the industry. Sean’s next step was to invent an automated management system that created an easy interface between homeowner and renter. “You put in any value per day, or nightly minimums for a period, and it autopopulates,” he says. “It gives the price, books Top Agent Magazine
the calendar and sends emails to the appropriate people.” Sean already had a site called My Home Vacation Online (myhvo.com). Then he opened the luxury site, luxevaca.com, an international company managing about 34 properties (up to 1,000 others are marketed on his website but manage themselves). His company’s 24/7 concierge service knows no limits; it’s all up to the client. Need a private chef? Ferrari? You got it. “The basis for what we do is that no one likes to call a company and get a computer,” Sean Copyright Top Agent Magazine 9
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explains. “We treat guests like family. We’re concerned. We care about their needs.”
that target photos. His Guest Services department contacts homeowners on a weekly basis.
Sean has never had a homeowner leave the company, and 30–40 percent of his renters come back for more. “We form relationships,” Sean says. “Communication is very important to us.”
Sean loves hearing the stories of people who come through the doors, including some from Air BnB, Google, Lexus and the McLaren Formula 1 team. “I love being in the realm of people who excel,” he says.
He markets the properties on all the major channels, has a huge social media presence, and uses Google Adwords and Google maps
Sean is one of them. His future plans include expanding the company, but doing it at a reasonable pace to maintain the caring,
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family-oriented objective. A family man himself, he’d love to spend more time with his wife and new baby, which means hiring more
people while ensuring that everything is still done well. Given his history, there’s no doubt Sean will do it.
For more information about Sean Ward of LuxeVaca.com, Pacific Grove, CA, visit luxevaca.com or MyVho.com, call 530.314.9202 or email sean@luxevaca.com www.
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I’ll Take 2 Pounds of Confidence and 3 Pounds of Self-Esteem! By Barry Eisen
At least a few times per month I get emails and/or calls asking me to help develop confidence and a positive self-esteem. When you’re hot you’re hot and when you’re not, you’re not. Life has its ups and downs and occasionally everyone feels like they’ve run out of gas and nothing they seem to do works. When you’re in a slump the world can look overwhelming and against you. The more you think about you’re victimhood, the more out of control you feel.What you focus upon becomes larger. Confidence, positive self-esteem...these are just words and something experienced many moons ago. Talk it out with your spouse? Sure. See a therapist? Maybe. Get a coach? Good idea. Call a hypnotist...that’s where I come in, but maybe not in an obvious way. Top Agent Magazine
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Hypnosis can be of help in so many areas such as controlling weight, memory improvement, reading faster, stopping smoking, becoming a great public speaker, prospecting and growing a business, eliminating fears, becoming a better golfer/tennis player/baseball player etc., sleeping and energy, controlling pain control in dentistry and child birthing, improving wellness, passing tests and so much more. This is not an over statement. Hypnosis is a performance enhancer because it taps into the best parts of who we are to make the changes necessary to make the changes to evolve ourselves. But “programming” ones mind for confidence and positive self-esteem is not something I’ve seen done effectively. The subconscious says, “What does that mean?” “Give me a picture, what do you want?” Read any neuroscience to know (or simply use common sense) that the subconscious needs specific direction (words, pictures and supportive feelings) for these clear messages to be acted upon. A general business plan is usually a recipe for disaster. A poor teaching plan will confuse students. Mixed general messages given to a 3 year old will produce erratic behavior. A loose navigation plan will have ships traveling in circles. Just like many people. Instead of working on confidence and positive self-esteem, does it make sense to instead, work on a solid business target of success and develop a business plan that will get you there? If you’re planning for the future, is it not a better idea to set an end result and develop strategies that will make it happen? If you’re looking for better health, doesn’t it make sense to set a target for excellence and back it up with a realistic exercise and eating approach that will insure success? The confidence and self-esteem will come along automatically. Create the goal, take action, do the work, be consistent. Your business will never grow more than you do. Your health will never get better without you stretching out beyond who you now are. Your relationships will never be more secure and supportive than you are of yourself. Your confidence and self-esteem will never grow without a reason. 14
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Before Before you you therapy therapy or or drug drug yourself yourself into into confidence confidence and andself-esteem, self-esteem,atat least least try try (Oh! (Oh! II hate hate that that word) word)the the10 10organic organicfollowing followingideas ideasfor for2-3 2-3weeks. weeks.
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Set Set goals goals that thatstretch stretchyou youout outand andforce forceyou youtotogrow. grow.You Youcan’t can’tbe bedepressed depressed when you’re learning something. Learning takes you out of your egocentric when you’re learning something. Learning takes you out of your egocentric predicament. predicament.
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Create timelines/target dates for goal accomplishments. This establishes Create timelines/target dates for goal accomplishments. This establishes a sense of urgency. It puts a little “gitty up” in your step and mind. a sense of urgency. It puts a little “gitty up” in your step and mind.
List your actions of the day on your To-Do list and prioritize all items. List your actions of the day on your To-Do list and prioritize all items. Doing the A’s and crossing each off as done, will put a smile on your Doing the A’s and crossing each off as done, will put a smile on your face and a jolt of small energy in your life. (Accomplishment feels good. face and a jolt of small energy in your life. (Accomplishment feels good. Could you use some “feel good”/self-esteem?) You’ll start looking forward Could you use some “feel good”/self-esteem?) You’ll start looking forward
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to these little positive jolts and do what is necessary to have them. If I was talking cocaine...that would be a bad thing, but since I’m talking non drug human motivation...that would be a good thing.
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If you’re just feeling flat for no obvious reason, take on an interest/ hobby/project that’s been on your mind in the past. Learning stimulates blood flow to different parts of the brain and increases endorphin flow. (E.g. Calligraphy, sailing, martial arts, reading sci-fi, etc.)
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Follow through like your hair’s on fire. Show yourself what you CAN DO! Create some appropriate reward for the accomplishment. Balance your life with goals in physical, financial, emotional, educational, family, social and spiritual areas. Sometimes more is better. Purposely smile more, laugh easier, hold eye contact a little more (obviously, not in a creepy way) and present a stronger posture.
Learn to relax to slow down, put things in perspective, ask yourself how you feel and how you’re doing 2 or 3 times during your day. Don’t let the day rule you. Be present. Pay attention.
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Act “AS IF” you were already doing things with confidence, making decisions with authority and living the life you want to live. You become what you think about. Barry Eisen teaches personal development seminars and coaches Southern California top producing REALTORS®. “Your business will never grow more than you do” is the theme; self hypnosis and behavior modification are the tools for playing a bigger game. barryeisen.com, barryeisen@LA.twcbc.com 818-769-4300
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Managers and Team Builders: Four Principles to Develop a Great Team By Carla Cross “I work alone.” “I don’t need to be a member of a ‘team’”. We’re heard that for years in the real estate industry. Yet, the strongest, fastestgrowing real estate companies have team building as part of their cultures. Agents who want to expand their businesses create teams. So, TEAM is no longer a four-letter word. The importance and implementation of leadership through teamwork and synergy is back in style in the real estate industry. 18
Why Building a Strong Team is Important to Agents AND Management
As with all industries, the real estate industry is evolving. We’ve gone through the ‘go it alone’ phase. Because we’ve gotten more sophisticated in business. We realize that no one succeeds alone. We understand now that people working together create something more substantial than the sum of the parts. In addition, Top Agent Magazine
with the challenges in the business, we finally get that many minds focused on the same task can accomplish much more than each person working as his own little island. Supporting this trend, strong company cultures have emerged which encourage and reward teamwork instead of solely independent achievement.
Do you have a job description for each of your team positions? Do you provide it prior to hiring?
Talking About Team-Building is a Slam-Dunk
It’s much easier to talk about teamwork than to create a team. One of the reasons is that most of us have never worked as a team before. As an agent, I didn’t create a team. But, in my management career, I worked to create teams with common focus. How did I learn how to create great teams? An Unlikely Place to Learn Teamwork
My first experiences in great teams, and then leading teams--comes from the world of music. I’ve created and Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “People led teams as a jazz musician. I’ve acting together as a group can accom- played in exceptional orchestras plish things which no individual (I’m a flutist). I’ve seen conductors acting alone could ever hope to bring pull together one hundred disparate, temperamental, independent musicabout.” ians as an inspiring team. (It’s a lot If you’ve ever played on a sports like managing a real estate office!). team, you know the chaos that en- So, the four truisms here come from sues when every player tries to be the my experience in both worlds—the star—to go her own way. That’s not musical performance world and the a team. That’s a group. You may also world of real estate team-building. know the joy of playing on a team that shares a common focus and It’s Not Just About Developing commitment to excellence. What a YOU as a Leader difference! What if you could bring that into your real estate office or You may think that, as a leader, your your agent team? job is to find team members that Top Agent Magazine
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Just because people accept a position doesn’t mean they know how to proceed with the job. They need to have clear direction, a job description and a firm understanding of the responsibilities--prioritized. Do you have a job description for each of your team positions? Do you provide it prior to hiring? Do you coach to One of the differences between lead- it? Do you help your team members ing a group and leading a team is that, get so good at it that they can start in a successful team, team members training new team members (move also become leaders, and think like into leadership)? leaders, looking out for the good of the team, not just for themselves, In “Teamwork is the primary other words, will work well together. That’s true, as far as it goes. But, your ultimate job is to train and coach those team members to start doing some of the leadership jobs you’ve done. That way, you can keep moving to higher levels of leadership. You can expand and sell your business.
ingredient of success.”
Leaders develop leadership on their team.
Otherwise, leaders are not really leading. They’re managing—or micromanaging. From developing leadership over a couple of decades, I’ve found four major truisms for developing your team with strong internal leadership. These principles apply whether you’re in management or in sales interested in building a team.
Principle #2: People don’t know WHAT to do to get the job done. Even if you hire someone who has real estate experience, it doesn’t work to leave it to them to figure what exactly needs to be done—from your point of view. They don’t know your priorities. They don’t know how you work. Do you have processes and systems in place to teach them exactly what needs to be done?
The Principles to Developing Team Leadership
Principle #3: It’s your job to teach them HOW.
Principle #1: People don’t know what’s expected of them.
Some people think “leaders” are the “idea people” and aren’t supposed to
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get into implementation. But if you want your team to excel, you must show them how. Having worked with assistants for over 15 years, I have found that assistants and team members need help in systemizing any process that you want done. They need help in developing dialogues to deal with affiliates and consumers in the way you expect. They are good at systemizing their own processes-but not good at all at systemizing ours! Help them.
regularly”. Hold your team members accountable for each step along the way to completion of a task as well as the end result. Do you have solid, measurable benchmarks from which to measure? How do you know you and they are succeeding?
All systems in place? Do you have foundational systems in place from which to improvise? Do you have a solid training program to bring a new team member on board? Do you a method to ‘clone’ yourself to develop someone who can take over your job?
Vince Lombardi, one of the greatest football coaches of all time, said of teamwork, “Teamwork is the primary ingredient of success.”
The pay-off for developing competency and leadership skills in all of your team members is a business that is ‘owned’ by all those involved, with empowerment assured.
Your goal is to develop processes, systems, and training for your team members—all which reflect your philosophy of how you do business. Principle #4: When accountability They reflect your values and your factors aren’t built in, things don’t culture. Bring them into a leadership get done. mentality with you, so you can delegate more responsibilities and There’s a great difference between finally replace yourself! “do it the way you want” and expecting results and “do it the way you Copyright©, 2015 Carla Cross. All want and let’s check how it’s going rights reserved. Carla Cross, CRB, MA, is an international speaker, writer, and coach, specializing in real estate management. Her Leadership Mastery Coaching program is unique in the industry. A National Realtor Educator of the Year, Carla was recently named one of the 50 most influential women in real estate. Join Carla’s Community and receive special offers and free resources. Contact Carla at 425-392-6914 or www.carlacross.com. Top Agent Magazine
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5 Morning Habits to Make Your Day Super Productive For many, most mornings begin with a rush—a rush to get dressed, a rush to find something edible for breakfast, a rush out the door and into rush hour. Likely you have heard articles advising you to set your
alarm early to give yourself some flexibility —which is sound advice, of course—but consider a few of these additional tweaks to your morning routine that can set a productive tone for your day at large.
1. Keep Screens Away Until Breakfast Oftentimes, our first instinct upon waking is to check-in on our phones, tablets, or computers, to scope out the latest social media updates and e-mail correspondence. While diving into the action might seem productive, studies show that waylaying screen time until you’re up and dressed, and have had a good breakfast, will actually make your first pass 22
at all things digital more focused, clear, and efficient. Instead of answering a few e-mails, checking out a friend’s photos, and then hurrying to shower and dress, instead make a resolution to keep the online world at bay for the first half-hour to an hour after you rise, then you’ll approach the digital world with fresh eyes, energy, and adeptness.
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2. Meal Prep Sometimes hitting the snooze button is inevitable, but if you make prepping breakfast the night before a part of your routine, then grabbing something healthy on the go will be a snap—and your stomach will thank you for it. Load up your coffee machine ahead of time, so all you have to do
is hit brew. Or, chop up a fruit salad, mix a smoothie, or simply put a granola bar and a grapefruit in your lunch bag, ready to be grabbed on your way out the door. Even if it’s small or basic, keeping yourself fueled will keep distractions, inefficiency, and mood swings at bay.
3. Queue Up a Podcast on Your Commute Whether you’re driving, biking, or taking public transportation into the office, a podcast is a perfect way to brush up on industry knowledge. Try sourcing a podcast relative to your field and narrated by experts. Not only will it get you thinking about the topics of your industry—while expanding
your professional vocabulary—it will also wake up your brain and get your head in the game as you prepare to launch your day. Use your commute time to bump up your knowledge and conversation points, and you’ll be ahead of the curve before you reach the office.
4. Begin with a To-Do List When work gets busy, sometimes just getting started is an overwhelming prospect. Before you dive in to your e-mails and projects, take twenty minutes and be thoughtful as you assess your daily and weekly to-do
list items, then map them. By giving yourself a bullet point system of what you need to accomplish and by when, you can undo some of the anxiety that a busy schedule promotes.
5. Walk It Out, Even If You Missed the Gym While we often rely on coffee for our morning buzz, exercise provides a potent burst of energy that can supercharge your day. But, let’s say you’re running behind and skip the gym—all is not lost! Take fifteen minutes in
the early morning to take a walk around the block a few times. The fresh air and aerobic exercise will wake you up, get your blood moving, and provide your morning with a natural injection of motivation.
Everyone’s morning routine varies, but perhaps the first step is identifying aspects of your routine that could be improved, and tackling them from there. From waylaying
screen time distractions to getting in a little blood-pumping exercise, keep these tips in mind as you launch your most productive morning routine ever.
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