Which version of the story are they living?

Picture one of your salespeople leaving home for the office. They might be apprehensive, but they are still excited. All in all, they have confidence to take on the day.

Of course, the day delivers its usual share of curve balls.

In one version of this story, your salesperson arrives home to their family nine hours later, feeling deflated and unappreciated. Consider the impact of their lowered self-confidence. Watch how it affects the way they interact with their partner and children.

In the second version, your salesperson arrives home with confidence, a sense of empowerment, feeling appreciated for their efforts and work within your team. The day might not have been perfect, but you can see how much their reinforced sense of self-esteem leads them to stride through the front door smiling, greeting their family with love.

The consideration from this story is the impact that you can have as a leader of people. To quote Professor Clayton Christensen; "Management is the most noble of professions if it's practiced well. No other occupation offers as many ways to help others learn and grow, take responsibility, be recognised for achievement, and contribute to the success of a team."

The strength of a leader in our industry is not only dictated by what he or she knows about real estate. You could actually argue that it is more about how the leader can bring the best out of their people. This brings us to the point of gauging our own Emotional Intelligence (EI) and how much of an impact this has on the performance of a real estate business.

Too often I hear leaders comment about how their people are not doing what they tell them to do. Let’s consider for a moment that the challenge might actually rest with the leader, not the people they are leading.

In reality, developing your own EI will help you gain an understanding of how each individual in your team prefers to be communicated with and ultimately motivated and led. For this to occur, there are a number of considerations, however there are two elements to work with initially.

Are you self-aware? And do you wear both shoes? Or more precisely, are you aware of how your words and actions are impacting others? And when interacting with others, are you able to consider their perspective?

To do so is to develop empathy whilst being mindful of your own feelings.

As written in an article by Muriel Maignan Wilkins; “Here are some of the telltale signs that you need to work on your emotional intelligence:

• You often feel like others don’t get the point and it makes you impatient and frustrated.
• You’re surprised when others are sensitive to your comments or jokes and you think they’re overreacting.
• You think being liked at work is overrated.
• You weigh in early with your assertions and defend them with rigor.
• You hold others to the same high expectations you hold for yourself.
• You find others are to blame for most of the issues on your team.
• You find it annoying when others expect you to know how they feel.

Even more telling is the experience of your team. Which version of the story are they living?