I spent two days last week outside of Omaha teaching two days worth of Rookie Training at the Nebraska Realtors Association Conference. It was my third year in a row doing this session and this year’s group was just as fun and engaging as the last few.
The class wasn’t all “rookies” just starting in the business, but most had five or less years of experience. The longest tenured attendee has been licensed for 14 years and our newest was just over 14 days since she received her license.
The great thing about the class was they all listened, took notes, and asked questions like they were Rookies. We started with the concept of “The Evolution of Success” and it’s a great reminder for everyone from Rookies to multi-year professionals.
It starts by HEARING.
Then you start LISTENING to the things you are hearing.
Once you start listening, you begin to start UNDERSTANDING the words, ideas, concepts, and systems.
Understanding leads to competence, and when you couple that with confidence, you will find the ability to start DOING what is required to achieve success.
After doing things for a long period of time (a.k.a. consistency), that leads to MASTERING the tasks, tactics, and strategies that lead to success again and again.
But those who make it to the mastering step in the path quickly realize that this isn’t where it ends. This is where they realize it wasn’t a “path” at all; It was a cycle.
True masters of any profession know that once they feel they have reached the peak performance, they must start hearing things anew, so they can listen and learn, which will lead them to understanding things on an entirely new level. That leads to doing newer, better, and different things which they seek to master through repetition and a systematic approach.
During the continuing education class I taught on the last day of the conference in Nebraska, I asked my audience how many of the people had been in the industry for less than 5 years. About 20% raised their hands.
What about 6-10 years? Another 15-20%.
11-20 years? Maybe 15% at best.
Yet, when I asked how many of the attendees had been licensed for more than 20 years, close to half of the room raised their hands.
Here they were hearing things again. Listening with hopes of understanding enough so they could start doing, so that someday, some way, they might master the new skills needed to succeed in tomorrow’s business.
I know you hear what I am saying.
Are you listening?
