Simple acts can make this world a better place.
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A great mentor will guide you over the toughest terrain.
If you’ve ever had a great mentor you’ll know they’re worth their weight in gold. In equal parts they can be your accountant, financial adviser, life coach and best friend. Here, then, are six characteristics that define a truly great mentor.
Great mentors expect people to deliver. They demand the highest standards and won’t accept compromise. They expect both short term and long term success. At times they can be tough but sometimes that’s exactly what’s needed to get you performing at your peak.
A great mentor will demand that you reveal your motives. They’ll expect you to explain and be clear about what’s driving you, your goals and your morals. They’ll keep asking questions and prodding for answers until you’re crystal clear about your what and your why.
Mentors won’t let you take the easy path. They want you to step onto the edge, to take a risk, to attempt something daring. And they do that because they know that you’ve got more in you than you’re delivering right now.
Great mentors never stop learning. They love it themselves and they instil that love in others. With a mentor’s guidance you’ll read more, attend more courses and seminars and listen to others more closely.
A good mentor will show you the way, after all the risks you’re about to undertake are untrodden ground. They’ll talk you through the terrain that requires technical skill, they’ll tell you when you need to make an extra special effort and they’ll inspire you to do more when all you want to do is stop.
Let’s face it, running a business can get tough and sometimes you need someone who can lift you up and cheer you on. A true mentor will do that, especially in those dark moments when you need to hear a voice of encouragement.
Have you had a great mentor? What characteristic stood out for you?
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Wanted: Personal Assistant
In 25 years as a business owner I’ve employed a lot of people but never a personal assistant. It’s time that changed.
Here’s what the role of PA will involve.
The person I work with will need:
Hours of work
The position is full-time although consideration will also be given to applicants who require flexible working hours.
If that sounds like you please send me an email or call 0419 538 838.
Image credit: Brenda Gottsabend on Flickr.
The real estate industry creates its heroes by numbers. Those who list the most, sell the most and who make the most get the accolades.
That’s not to say that those who sell less aren’t recognised, it’s just that they’re not recognised as much. Perhaps that’s OK. Maybe all those who’s performance puts them in the middle of the bell curve are perfectly happy but I think we’re less well off by not hearing their stories.
We’re less well off when we ignore the stories of mums who struggle to juggle a career and family, of single parents who stretch themselves thin to put food on the table and go to their kids’ sports carnivals, of grand parents who choose both a career and to baby sit their grand kids to help their own children get a start.
These are the stories we miss out on when we anoint as the best those who’s lives allow them to spend crazy hours at work and who’s support network allows them to follow their career dreams.
And it’s not as if those who earn the big bucks don’t have a story to tell – they do. Often they’ve overcome diversity and beaten the challenges that life has thrown at them. For that I say a big well done. But let’s not be blinded by the big money and the big numbers. Instead, let’s open ourselves up to listening to the wonderful, rich stories of the little people, of the battlers and of those who have lived a good, simple life.
There’s a time for words and a time for silence
Words can be powerful. They can influence and they can persuade. But in the same way the space between notes create rhythm, silence between words and sentences give people a place to pause, reflect and respond.
So, when are the best moments to be silent.
The mark of a great sales person is how comfortable they are with the silence that inevitably occurs during a sales call. The tension is particularly evident immediately after the sales person has asked for the order. New sales people often mistake that silence for disagreement but the best option is always more silence. Avoid the temptation to fill in the silence with more words. It rarely works. Instead, sit still and quietly and listen. More often than not the answer will be yes.
Nervous speakers hit the podium and start talking right away. The best option, though, is to pause. Look out over the audience. Make eye contact – then start speaking. That deliberate pause is the most powerful ways of getting attention at your disposal.
Nothing says you care more than active listening. That means eye contact and it means nodding. But it also means attentive silence. Your friends, your family and your customers will thank you for your willingness to be silent.
Purchase decisions – especially for those who aren’t experienced negotiators – can be stressful. That stress can cause couples and buying groups to argue amongst themselves. When that happens it’s almost always unwise to say anything. Instead, stand back, listen and let them talk. Don’t interrupt. Often arguments are a way for people to slow the decision making process down. And the reason they want to slow things down is they love what you’re selling. But the more they debate the closer they are to a decision. Right now silence is your best friend.
When emotions are running high words are rarely helpful. On the other hand silence soaks up anger like a sponge and it gives sadness the space it needs to transform into joy.
What moments have I missed?
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When I first started out as a real estate agent I had no time for my competitors. I distrusted them and wanted to beat them at almost any cost. But a lot has changed since then.
Over the years I’ve learned that my competitors aren’t the threat I once thought they were. Rather, many of my current competitors have become close friends and mentors.
Here, then, are my top reasons to develop strong ties with the competition.
OK, that’s an old (possibly Chinese) proverb but it’s one that I’ve found to be true over the years. For me it means that ideas I hang onto will be lost for everyone. When I share ideas I enrich the lives of the people I share them with. But when I hold on to them I become diminished.
The flip-side to the previous point is that sharing helps everyone grow faster. I’ve seen how this works during REBarCamp where a bunch of real estate agents get together to share marketing ideas. One idea helps to spark another and then another and then another. Soon one idea that seemed run-of-the-mill to the person that shared it has created something that’s changed another person’s business forever.
When I started my business I kind of thought that I had to do it all. I had this sense that I was a one man army fighting a war that was never going to end. But the time I’ve spent with my competitors has taught me that we all face similar problems and issues. It might be staff recruitment and retention, team building or lead generation – whatever the problem we each have ways of dealing with the issue that can be helpful to someone else.
Over the years I’ve been my own worst critic. I’ve gone to conferences and listened to the sales gurus and come away thinking I can and should be doing so much better. But once I started sharing ideas and results with my competitors I soon realised I was doing OK. Sure, there were areas I could lift my game but in most areas I could hold my head up high and feel proud of what I’d achieved.
Sometimes running a business can be lonely and hard. Sometimes you don’t know all the answers. And when that happens today I pick up the phone and ask. In an instant I’ll have the answer I need. Today, I couldn’t do without my support network of super-generous competitors.
I’m always coming up with new ideas. It’s almost a disease. If I have any doubt I’ll have a coffee with one of my competitors and ask them for their feedback. They can be brutal. Sometimes they’ll give me the green light. At other times they’ll tell me why it’s such a bad idea. Either way their feedback is essential – and valuable.
Sometimes I think I’m doing ok, then I have a chat to one of my friends and they tell me what they’re doing. Suddenly I realise how far I have to go and how much work is still ahead. It spurs me on to do more.
Those are a few of my reasons to stay connected with my competitors. What about you?
Listening is a key strategy for being effective. So is being your own dog.
If you want to be more effective try these simple strategies.
What are your tips for living a more effective life?
Image: Zach Dischner on Flickr.