My professional purpose is to help brokers win in business and in life. I do that by helping you solve problems that you face every day.
Today, the problem I want to help you solve is how to define your competition, how to re-frame the idea of competition, and how to use competition responsibly to meet all of your goals.
To start, to be a 100% commission-based sales broker you've got to be a tad nuts. We all have an underlying level of confidence and motivation that you just don't see in other fields. So what motivates you to get up every day and take on a business that, at times, can be unrelenting?
Having come from your ranks and having had a front row seat managing 100's of brokers, there are 4 major areas that, I feel, truly motivate most of you. They're called "drivers" in the world of business. I see the drivers for real estate brokers to be:
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Recognition
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Compensation
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Lifestyle
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Legacy/Reputation
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Do any these resonate with you? Are you massively motivated by 1 of these or are you maybe motivated by 2, 3 or maybe all 4?
So knowing this, we must also note that the most prevalent "scoreboard" in the brokerage industry is "production rankings." We've just come off the awards season and, for many brokers, these production rankings are the ultimate motivator. They can be incredibly powerful - both positively and negatively.
Used positively, they can help a broker:
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Set levels of production to be used in their annual goal setting process.
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Feel recognized for a year of hard work.
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Create a benchmark for progress.
Viewed negatively, they can:
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Distract a broker from what is important: their clients.
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Cause harmful competition amongst colleagues.
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Create external motivating factors out of alignment with personal goals.
Again, having a competitive personality can be powerful and super productive if harnessed the right way.
I want to help you today to re-frame competition. Competing with others should NOT be your primary motivational driver. The person you are looking at in the mirror every day... you should be the person you are competing against every day. ELPs (Elite Level Producers) use personal goals as their main motivation knowing that if they win those daily personal benchmarks, they'll show up much more consistently and competitively on any brokerage or industry "leaderboard."
Just imagine where your production would rank if you did what you know you needed to do every day?
Top athletes like Tom Brady, Michael Jordan, Kobe, and Serena Williams, were/are completely driven by recognition, money and their lifestyle but they all have one thing in common. They realized that to get the recognition, compensation and the lifestyle they desired, they had to be their personal best. They could not rely on anyone else for their success. Their "competition" was how they personally executed their daily habits, routines, rituals. They built their reputation on being super competitive but that elite level of competition started with themselves and the results showed up on the court, field or clay. (For a book recommendation, I would read "Relentless" by Tim Grover.)
You've probably noticed that in my recent MMPTs, they have been overwhelmingly on the topics of productivity and execution. There is a reason for this because I know, without a shadow of doubt, that if you execute, you will win and you will not have to worry about the production rankings because you will rank extremely well.
When you focus on external motivators, you will most likely find the results unfulfilling. If you focus on self improvement and being your personal best, the rewards will be vast and will include your standing within the brokerage and the industry.
Bonus Tip: Congratulate those that are doing things that impress you = good energy.
