Setting A Course For Success: Apply A CEO’s Mindset To Your Real Estate Business

When you picture a CEO what comes to mind? A man in a three-piece suit with shiny cufflinks speaking before a large audience or a woman in a bright red power suit standing tall in front of a room full of eager employees? The image that comes to your mind may be what you see on the surface of a CEO, but what is going on inside a CEO’s mind? What are they thinking and what do they know that got them to where they are today?

Believe it or not, they aren’t considering anything that the average person can’t learn. The CEO’s mindset is something that everyone can adopt as their own. With a few resources and a willingness to learn, you can adopt and apply a CEO mindset to your real estate business or any business for that matter.

CEOs Are Always Learning

Just because you are the CEO does not mean you know everything. A truly great CEO knows there is always something more to learn. Learning new tricks of the trade means finding valuable teaching resources. These can be people in the real estate business, workshops, and/or media resources that will expand your knowledge. Don’t dismiss using a coach as something just new or struggling agents need. Many top-producing real estate agents have a coach. You may start with a mentor, or with a small group of real estate-minded individuals who guide you at the start. If you are serious about becoming a successful real estate agent and growing your business, you should invest in a reputable coach. Remember, when your learning stops, so does your growth as a CEO. Keep learning and searching for knowledge from a variety of resources and the people around you. 

CEOs Are Always Expanding

When you are just beginning as a real estate agent, you may be inclined to micro-manage every aspect of your business. As your client list continues to grow, so will your responsibilities. CEOs are visionaries who have a clear image of how to grow and build their business. However, day-to-day paperwork and process-driven tasks are not their strong suit and quite often are their downfall. If you are a leadership-driven real estate agent who is strongly pursuing the dream of leading a successful team of real estate agents, you will need a group of dedicated individuals who can remove the stress of daily tasks from your life.  Remember, you can only expand your business when you have the time to do so.

CEOs Can Delegate Responsibilities

You’ve hired an assistant and there are a few real estate agents on your team. Yet, you can’t seem to fully let go of the need to micromanage their every move. In fact, you can hardly bring yourself to hand off a client or two to the very capable real estate agents you have brought on to your team. This is a common occurrence for individuals who are shifting from solo real estate agent to CEO. You however need to consider where your time is best used. Does it need to be you sending out the escrow letter or can an assistant handle that task?  Hopefully, if you have hired competent colleagues, you can rely on them to handle minute details. With the small tasks out of your way, you will have more time to work on tasks that will grow your business. 

CEOs Are In Tune With The Real Estate Industry

You cannot lead your business in the most successful direction if you are unaware of the industry you are part of. Leaders in the real estate industry should not only be aware of the industry ebbs and flows, they should also be prepared for severe and sudden shifts in the real estate market. Changes in the economy as well as sudden and abrupt shifts in people’s lives can wreak havoc on the housing market. Having a firm understanding of historic real estate data as well as current real estate tools, national real estate trends, and local real estate trends will ensure you are prepared to pivot your business practice when it is needed. 

CEOs Are Solution-Based

As the leader of a real estate company, the CEO should react to change in a way that will move them forward rather than collapse the business. The most successful CEOs are always adapting to new situations. Most recently, the global COVID-19 pandemic quickly overturned the real estate market. Suddenly agencies were closed, home showings were not permitted in some states, and buyers and sellers across the country were rethinking their place in the real estate market. 

Many real estate agents were unsure how to move forward.  Should their business close until the pandemic passes? Should they try to continue on with business as usual? Not many real estate agents knew what direction to go but for successful real estate agents with a CEO mindset, the shift in life didn’t mean the end of their business. Instead, it presented a situation for a solution-based fix to keep their clients happy, their transactions processing, and most importantly, their real estate business afloat. 

Developing a successful real estate business is not easy. It is extremely difficult to develop a business while adapting to the ever-changing terrain of the real estate industry. With a positive vision, an inspired team, a willingness to learn, and a CEO mindset however, your real estate business can thrive.