As a brokerage owner or team leader, one thing we often do—and we see agents do this a lot—is run into what’s called “The Einstein Problem.”

The Einstein Problem is this: we’re introduced to a new idea or concept, and we say, “You know what? I’ve heard that before. I’ve tried that before. It didn’t work for me, so I’m not going to do it again.” We stop listening to that idea, concept, tool, technique, or strategy. We say it doesn’t work in our market.

We’ve all heard agents do this, and we’ve done it ourselves. Let’s be honest.

One of the areas we commonly say this about is recruiting.

We’ll say, “I’ve tried recruiting. It doesn’t work in my market. I’ve tried going after top agents. They never come.”

Or, “I’ve tried experienced agent recruiting. I’ve emailed, texted, called, taken them to lunch, and it just doesn’t go anywhere, so I’m going to stop.”

But here’s The Einstein Problem behind that attitude—and this is true for your agents with lead generation as well.

I want you to...

Are you running sales contests with your teams and brokerages?

If not, you're missing a big opportunity. Sales contests can generate energy and excitement, which drives performance. But there’s a right way and a wrong way to do a sales contest.

Here’s the wrong way: focusing the contest on results.

You might wonder, what else would you focus on?

Well, if you're tracking things like how many escrows were created or how many listings were taken, the same people will win every time. The problem with focusing on results is that you can’t control them.

What you can control is the work. So, instead of focusing on results, shift the focus to what actually creates results—the work itself.

For example, you might say, "We’re doing a contest this month on who adds the most people to their sphere of influence." Or, "Who can do five posts a week for the next four weeks?"

You could track how many unsolicited CMAs agents push out in three weeks, who does the most open houses, sends the most ha...

The Art of Leadership: How to Effectively Manage a Real Estate Brokerage and Thrive in a Competitive Market

 Introduction to leadership in the real estate industry

As someone who has built successful real estate companies, I have learned that effective leadership is the key to building an amazing company culture. The role of a brokerage manager is not only to oversee daily operations (that’s the easy part) but also to inspire and guide a team of real estate agents towards success. In this article, I will share my insights into the art of leadership and how it can help you manage your brokerage effectively and thrive in a competitive market.

The role of a real estate brokerage manager

The role of a real estate brokerage manager goes beyond just managing transactions and paperwork – that’s what we call in the industry a ‘deal doctor’. Deal doctors are a dime a dozen.  A successful manager is someone who can provide guidance and support to their team, motivate them to ach...