Hey guys, as a brokerage owner or team leader, with the holiday season coming up, I want to encourage you to think about what your company is doing to give back to the community.

Giving back has so many benefits. It’s a powerful team-building and retention tool. It also shows potential recruits that your company isn’t just about profits—you genuinely care about people and the community. And for buyers and sellers in the market, it demonstrates that you’re hyper-local focused and committed to giving back regularly.

Here’s what I encourage you to do: pick a charity the whole team can get behind. It doesn’t have to be housing-related.

One year, we did a project giving kids shoes during the winter. Many kids were going to school with holes in their shoes, and their feet were getting wet. Another year, we focused on coats for kids.

Every year, we put together a charitable event during Christmas. We’ll do Thanksgiving-style turkeys and then a big Christmas dinner, along with toys for kid...