The first strategic thinking critical goal in Leadership and Management is Communication. From my experience this is the greatest obstacle next to human capital development facing small business owners who wish to increase sales.
How often have we as professional real estate agents heard a sales lead state he or she called this or that agent and never heard back from him or her? I am often reminded of the line from the movie "Cool Hand Luke" when I hear sales leads tell me of their frustration by calls or emails not being returned.
"What we have here is a failure to communicate."
Communication is the Foundation for Leadership!
The Foundation from which Trust is Built!
“The art of communication is the language of leadership.”
The above quote is attributed to James Humes, a speech writer for several US presidents. If leadership is about securing the desired results, those desired results are secured through efficient and effective communication.
Here are two additional quotes to illustrate the important of communication.
“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”
George Bernard Shaw
“The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said.”
Peter Drucker
Communication is counterbalanced by Team Building. Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for this goal category may be the number of mistakes due to failed communication to tracking feedback from clients or strategic partners.
Employee/Strategic Partner Retention is the second area which in this critical goal category is countered balance with Employe/Strategic Partner Productivity. Finding good employees to strategic partners is essential for small business growth (think increase sales). One of the goals I have for this area is to drop off custom made cupcakes to title firms to show my appreciation for their continue excellence customer service.
A KPI for this would be to identify those long term employees or strategic partners. Another KPI might be the number of compliments received or better yet referrals given to you by employees or strategic partners.
Department Initiatives is the third goal category. This category is countered balanced by Succession Plan. Also, goals in this category may be connected to marketing and sales critical goal categories. Within this category KPIs might include monitoring the number new products which would be connected to Innovation the last critical goal category.
Today in real estate there is a tremendous emphasis on teams and therefore Team Building. I am a sole practitioner and I have no “team” no transaction coordinator. However, I do think of Dirt Road Work Family as a “team” along with my strategic partners. A KPI for team building could be number of communications I have with these individuals.
Next is Employee/Strategic Partner Productivity area. A goal in this area for me is how quickly do I receive from title the necessary documents such as preliminary title reports, earnest funds receipts, to closing statements. Another goal, again for me, is how often transactions close on time. Failed or successful close of escrow transactions might be a valid KPI.
Finally there is a Succession Plan. Often, I have observed real estate brokerages being handed down to a family member or being bought from a current real estate agent. Then for other semi-active professional real estate agents the succession plan is about sharing referrals for additional income. As to a KPI for this area, might be a timeline if the brokerage is to be sold.
For me, leadership is about results using clearly defined positive core values. I believe if an individual cannot lead himself or herself, then he or she cannot lead others from clients to strategic partners.
Strategic Thinking Countdown: Innovation is often not considered by small business. Again, that may be a hidden obstacle to growth. Day 11 will look at the Critical Goal Categories of Innovation.
Extra Strategic Thinking Activity: Much of effective leadership and management communication lies within emotional intelligence. In the book, Working with Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, one may learn how to improve one’s communication so that Shaw’s observation does not happen.
Leanne M Smith, The Grit and Gratitude Agent Who Goes the Extra Mile Because Life Begins Where the Pavement Ends.
Feature Photo Courtesy of Pixabay.com
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