Kaizen, Be a Constant Learner

This week Inc. Magazine ran a blog post by Michael Simmons entitled “Why Constant Learners All Embrace the 5-Hour Rule,” and it’s worth sharing!

At the age of 10, Benjamin Franklin left formal schooling to become an apprentice to his father. As a teenager, he showed no particular talent or aptitude aside from his love of books. When he died a little over half a century later, he was America's most respected statesman, its most famous inventor, a prolific author, and a successful entrepreneur. What happened between these two points to cause such a meteoric rise?

Underlying the answer to this question is a success strategy for life that we can all use, and increasingly must use.

The five-hour rule:

Throughout Ben Franklin's adult life, he consistently invested roughly an hour a day in deliberate learning. I call this Franklin's five-hour rule: one hour a day on every weekday. Franklin's learning time consisted of:

·       Waking up early to read and write

·       Setting personal-growth goals (i.e., virtues list) and tracking the results

·       Creating a club for "like-minded aspiring artisans and tradesmen who hoped to improve themselves while they improved their community"

·       Turning his ideas into experiments

·       Having morning and evening reflection questions

Every time that Franklin took time out of his busy day to follow his five-hour rule and spend at least an hour learning, he accomplished less on that day. However, in the long run, it was arguably the best investment of his time he could have made. Franklin's five-hour rule reflects the very simple idea that, over time, the smartest and most successful people are the ones who are constant and deliberate learners.  

Warren Buffett spends five to six hours per day reading five newspapers and 500 pages of corporate reports. Bill Gates reads 50 books per year. Mark Zuckerberg reads at least one book every two weeks. Elon Musk grew up reading two books a day,according to his brother. Oprah Winfrey credits books with much of her success: "Books were my pass to personal freedom." Arthur Blank, co-founder of Home Depot, reads two hours day. Dan Gilbert, self-made billionaire and owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, reads one to two hours a day.

So what would it look like to make the five-hour rule part of our lifestyle? 

The core concept of the five-hour rule: "Empty Space"

Stay tuned for more on “Empty Space” in our next Coach’s Playbook!

David M. Hassler

VP, Professional Development

Be a HAS, Not a HAS BEEN!

We often talk about our Peak Producer approach of Habits, Attitudes, and Skills, and how all three of those have to work together for us to be our best—at our Peak! Those concepts seem pretty straightforward but let’s dig a little deeper and look at the details of what they mean. Of course, our training programs focus on skills and tools, to improve our grasp and effectiveness with all our new systems as well as to enhance our business development activities.

Our coaching and leadership team focuses on motivation and encouragement to help maintain Attitudes at an optimal level, and a positive Attitude helps us integrate more Skills and improve our Habits. Those Habits of optimizing our time and energy need to be disciplines at first, but the goal is for us develop those into ingrained Habits that maximize our productivity and minimize our stress.

With commitment and hard work, we can all become a HAS instead of a Has Been!

So, what are some of the symptoms of Has-been-itis?

·      Drift: A lack of focus, no goals, being passive instead of proactive.

·      Negativity: Pessimism, glass half empty, missing opportunities

·      Erosion of Skills: use it or lose it!

·      Decisions based on feelings not facts: gut feelings are uninformed, entrepreneurs make informed decisions based on facts

·      No accountability: no tracking of stats, no commitment to continuous improvement (Kaizen)

When we look in the mirror, do we see any of those traits? Time to think about how to HAS! So, what does a Professional Business Owner HAS?

·      Systems and Routines: in other words, good disciplines and habits that optimize our time, energy, and effectiveness.

·      A way to stay Motivated: you can’t do it alone! A proactive recognition and action to maintain a peak state through positive affirmations, reading, and hanging out with those with a positive vibe

·      Kaizen: Continuous Improvement: Gino Blefari talks about it, Peak Producers talks about it, and continuous improvement in all areas of our life is central to our long term success and wellbeing. Don’t forget your MEDS: Meditation, Exercise, Diet, and Sleep.

·      A commitment to accountability: As Professional Business Owners, we are our own boss, we can make our own plans, work our own hours, do what we choose. But we’re also our own employee, so we have to make sure we do indeed live up to our expectations! Tracking our stats and adjusting our activities is hard work, but the heart of accountability.

Remember, the key is not to prioritize your schedule but to schedule your priorities.

David M. Hassler

VP, Professional Development

Leaders are Readers!

Tom Ferry’s latest message carried that title and I couldn’t agree more! Brian Buffini recommends books in nearly Peak Producers session and Gino Blefari, CEO of HSF Affiliates, is an avid reader and consistently urges folks to read to better themselves.

Here’s what Tom Ferry has to say:

The old saying goes “leaders are readers!” One of the best ways you can improve yourself is through the books that you read (or listen to). Here are five books that I know you will enjoy:

5. Managing Oneself

If Peter Drucker wrote it, you know it is good! This is a short read and will teach you how to be effective and productive in your business. Managing Oneself puts a different perspective on success, because it is up to you to earn it and maintain it!

4. Miracle Morning

How you spend your mornings sets the tone for your whole day. Hal has done an amazing job showing how you can own your mornings. Miracle Morning will help you be more intentional, get more done, and be more grateful.

3. Overcoming The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

I’ve talked about how important teams are, and this book taught me a lot. It shows some of the major hurdles teams face and how you can be more effective and productive with your team. If you work with a team, or plan on building one, Overcoming The Five Dysfunctions is a must read!

2. The Power of Habit

The Power of Habit  looks at the science of habits of individuals and organizations. You’ll learn how to build good habits and fix the bad ones too. The bottom line is that when you change your habits, you can change your life.

1.  Less Doing, More Living

I first heard about this book through the author’s TED Talk, which was amazing. Less Doing, More Living is a quick read that will teach you about how to maximize your time and spend time on the important things. There are some great strategies and tools in the book for increased productivity and how to maximize time.

Thanks for the great book tips, Tom!

Two of my own favorite books (meaning I’ve read them multiple times) are David Allen’s Getting Things Done and Steven Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Who wouldn’t want to be highly effective and get things done?!

So, grab a book, pick up your favorite beverage, and improve yourself while you sit by the pool this weekend!

Remember, Kaizen, or continuous improvement, is the key to success.

David M. Hassler

VP, Professional Development

The Blueprint for Getting a Home Sold . . . and For Winning Listings!!

This week in a coaching session I was chatting with a newer agent who was excited about some upcoming opportunities to list homes in great areas. He said the folks had asked about his marketing plan so he wanted to focus on that.

I suggested that he implement some strategies from our Buffini Peak Producers training that address not only a solid marketing plan for the house, but also touch on some issues that 99% of Realtors probably would never think of mentioning! Buffini, in his training session on “Working with Sellers,” recommends establishing our professionalism by sharing with the seller our “Blueprint for Getting a Home Sold.” This seven-step process will immediately differentiate us from the competition! Here’s the Blueprint:

1.     In-depth MARKET ANALYSIS. Okay, nothing too surprising there. So, be sure you know the neighborhood inside and out! BUT, be sure to do this LAST! We all know that 100% of sellers, no matter what they say, have an idea of what they think their house should be worth and it’s usually based on something far removed from fact. So if we cover the pricing discussion first, chances are they will be disappointed in what the market will tell us the price should be and of course they won’t hear another word you say after that! (I recommend telling them up front you’ll cover this last since it is so important and you want to set the context for that discussion.)

2.     Property ENHANCEMENT checklist. I love the way we can use words and their connotations and that word, enhancement, covers issues we often discuss but rarely position so positively! This list will of course include many basics like cleanups and fix-ups, maybe some additions or repainting, and, depending on the price point, bringing in a professional stager at our own cost! I like to say these things enhance the value!

3.     Comprehensive PROMOTION and MARKETING plan. Most sellers tend to fixate on this aspect so we need to have a great plan and do a good job of positioning its strength. But frankly most agents stop here, thus opening the door for us to show our real value with the next items.

4.     CRYSTAL clear COMMUNICATION. Wow, we all know that our business overall suffers from a poor reputation in this area, and maybe your potential new client has experienced it in past transactions. I encourage setting expectations and letting the seller know your plan for proactive updates—and of course finding out how they prefer we communicate with them.

5.     NEGOTIATING and STRUCTURING the sale. Wow, how many sellers ever consider this as one the professional services we provide? And very few agents ever think to address it in their presentation either. So, here’s a huge opportunity to differentiate ourselves by addressing this and our experience and expertise in handling this often tricky element of our services. I like to tell folks this is how I put money in their pocket!

6.     COMPREHENSIVE Transaction MANAGEMENT. I love this one as we all know that even though we may have an accepted contract, there are many potholes and hurdles between that and the closing table. Again, most sellers have little knowledge about these pitfalls, so by simply mentioning them and our expertise as part of our services, we immediately differentiate ourselves from 99% of the competition!

7.     Client APPRECIATION Program. Yes, we’ll be available to assist the seller with any ongoing real estate or property needs—like recommending a painter or plumber—even if they move out of town or state—or country! Remember, we all know the best way to grow our business is by referrals from clients, so why wouldn’t we stay in touch and offer appreciation to the sellers? Even if they move to Topeka or Tuscany, they probably still have friends or family in our market, or maybe they still work for the same firm they were with here . . . and maybe one day they might be transferred back! Bottom line, in our long term, relationship approach to our business, doing the right thing will help our business grow steadily!

Okay, there is still a shortage of listings so the competition will be fierce. Don’t forget to roll up your blueprint and take it with you for your next listing presentation to improve your winning percentage!

David M. Hassler

VP, Professional Development