When it comes to real estate, there are a lot of things that go into making a successful business. You need to be able to market yourself and your properties effectively, you need to have a good understanding of the industry, and you need to be able to manage your time and resources well. But one of the most important things you can do for your real estate business is making sure that it is aligned with your core values.
The same is true when growing your real estate team.
Trying to grow your team with agents who aren’t aligned with the same values can lead to disaster, but finding your core values isn’t always easy.
Over the past century, as a society, we’ve moved away from a foundation of absolute values and shared morality. Now, we find ourselves living in a world with no absolute truth, only the truths that a particular individual or culture happens to believe.
By failing to understand your core values, you may find yourself unable to build a profitable real estate team. Get started finding your team’s core values by following the steps below.
Choosing Your Core Values
The first step in understanding your team’s core values is to actually choose them. This can be a difficult task, as there are so many different things that you could value. Here’s how to get started finding your core values.
Brainstorm Ideas
It’s critical to approach the discovery of core values without any preconceived notions or beliefs about your company or culture. As you begin to brainstorm ideas, make sure you have a clear mind and ask yourself the following questions.
- What do you stand for?
- What are your beliefs?
- What are your goals?
- What motivates you?
- What do your clients say about you?
- What values does our company consistently adhere to in the face of obstacles?
- What are our company’s greatest strengths?
- What are the top three to five most important behaviors we should expect from every team member?
The goal of answering these questions is to discover pre-existing values within you and your team.
Create Subgroups by Related Themes
After you have a good list of values, it’s important to group them by related themes. This will help you see which values are more important to you and your team. Some possible themes could be family, community, service, excellence, growth, or innovation.
Rank the Values
Once you have grouped your values together, it’s time to rank them in order of importance. This is an extremely personal process, but you have to remember that you can’t be all things to all people. Your real estate team’s culture has to be unique, and your values should emphasize what matters most. Aim to have between 4 and 6 core values that you build your real estate team around.
Write Out Your Real Estate Team Values
Now that you have chosen your core values and ranked them in order of importance, it’s time to write out your team’s real estate values.
While a one-word value may be simpler to recall, it is impossible for a single word to encapsulate your cultural identity or create an emotional connection.
When you’re writing out your values, use inspiring words that evoke emotion. Focus on your team’s strengths, and make it meaningful.
By highlighting your team’s core values in memorable phrases or sentences, your agents are more likely to remember and live by them.
Create Your Real Estate Team Values
When you and your team understand and live by your core values, they provide a compass to help navigate the difficult decisions that come with running a real estate business.
Make sure to write out your core values, post them in visible places, and refer back to them often!
