I recently decided to drink the kool-aid that Keller Williams has been offering. I am relatively new to the business at 3 years, four months, but still feel as though I am learning each day. From what I read here on Active Rain this process can continue throughout my career and this pleases me. The view from outside the Keller Williams family in is that these agents are on to something, but you have to drink their kool-aid to be one of them. I think that perspective is wrong now that I have joined in. Before I left RE/MAX this month to join in on the focus and progressive actions of a KW office I did a whole lot of work to fully understand the brand. I studied RE/MAX, Sotheby, Castles Unlimited, Weichert and Coldwell Banker deeply. I wanted to know what it is that makes a truly successful agent, because that is my single minded goal. I studied their systems, their educational opportunities, the way in which their agents conducted themselves and how the individual offices I was interviewing operated. This took me 4 months. I did not and do not want to be one of those agents who jumps from one office to another always thinking the grass is greener in some other's pasture. I have written about this before in this space.
What I want is to land in one spot, to work one system and to do the One Thing that makes me unique and able to serve my clients and community at the highest level. I studied the videos of each Brand. I spoke to agents who were thrilled with their Brand, and agents who left that Brand to go to another. What I found is it is not so much the Brand that drives happiness and success, but the Broker's who implement the Brand outline within their offices. How your Broker/Owner takes the Brand message and delivers it down through their agents. As agents we know that we pay the bills and that we deserve to have the focus and attention of our Broker/Owners. We deserve to have systems in place and support that delivers. Without that we are left drifting in the sea of mediocrity.
I have read the books of all the Brand owners and have found the books of Gary Keller and his supporting writers to be spot on and consistent in their goal to develop the best possible agents, one agent at a time. Now that I am coming to the end of my first month at KW I realize that this kool-aid that is being offered, these classes that are being supplied and the culture that is being touted is all about One Thing. That One Thing is to develop the individual and not the Brand. The One Thing the individual must focus on is developing and demanding the best of themselves each and everyday. The framework is set up to check your actions and balance that against all the myriad of change in our daily lives as an agent. What The One Thing has given me is a deep understanding that it is not about the Brand as Agency, but the Brand as Self. I need to be responsible for my actions each and every day. I need to take stock and grow or not. I need to share with my colleagues what it is to be successful and truly help them find their own way. That is the Kool-Aid! That is the message. The caring, true care of our industry lies in the individual and builds through the Brand. I realize I am still in the honeymoon phase with a new agency, but I have been married two other times and my eyes are no longer clouded by the puffery that is a National Brand. I wanted to drill down and find a partner I could be with for the long run. One that I can grow within and share completely. It is never me against you in this world, it is me doing the best and you doing your best and we sharing in the fact that we are doing better for our clients, prospects and community. The One Thing is what can drive us to the successes we want. It is no surprise it hit the New York Times Best Seller list this weekend. It is worth the read for anyone and everyone in this industry.
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