Thursday, November 4, 2010

Team Leaders: Your Perfect Day Makes a Difference

Provided By KW Blog

Mega Leadership 2010 was the best yet! Each panel and presentation provided superb practical tools leaders could immediately employ in their businesses. I especially loved the power panel of Mary Tennant, President and COO, KWRI, Gene Frederick, Team Leader at Austin Northwest, and Melanie Kennemann, Team Leader at Reno North. This exceptional group ran through the impact and construction of a Team Leader’s perfect day.

Gene Frederick began by pointing out the Team Leader job description is essentially to make a difference in people’s lives. He said that when Team Leaders spend 80 percent of their day focused on their 20 percent, they’re consulting their great agents, interviewing new talent, training both to build bigger businesses, and investing in their own education. With this high-minded focus, he ends his work day energized and excited to take on the next day.

Melanie Kennemann said she focuses on mindset on Monday mornings to get herself and her Market Center ready for a week of results. She’ll send a short message to everybody like, “Do you have an indomitable spirit?” Their mindset in check, the remarkable agents in this Market Center then do what needs to be done with determination and zeal. Melanie also makes a point of starting every day the night before. Before she leaves the office, she writes down her 20 percent for the following day. When she gets in the next morning, she has a quick, focusing meeting with her staff, and then they’re off, taking the actions that lead to positive impact.

Mary Tennant said that when she was a Team Leader an extraordinary staff enabled her to grow the Southwest Market Center from 142 to 800 agents. Surrounded by A+ talent, Mary empowered her staff to deliver superior service to each associate in the Market Center, while she focused on taking the Market Center to new heights through training, coaching, recruiting, and community building. Though her Market Center was large, the associates in it felt connected through smaller groups, like investment and cooking clubs. Mary added that they also bonded through shared joy. She said practical jokes in this office were abundant! Whether the furniture was upside down, Mary’s relaxation fountain had bubbles in it, an office was filled with balloons, or an ALC member was presenting a ballet in full costume during a team meeting, associates in this Market Center were smiling while they were achieving.

If you’re planning your perfect day as a Team Leader, look to what matters most. First help those around you succeed at the highest levels—and then plan your retaliatory practical jokes!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Home is Where the Heart is

Provided By KW Blog
Published by Mo Anderson

This past spring my husband Richard and I moved into our newly built “dream” home. We bought our first home in 1966, and at the time, I thought no other homeowner experience could ever match the thrill of that very first one.

However, through the years I have learned that one’s home is indeed even more than their castle – it is the spirit of their heritage, the expression of their principles, the warmth of their hearts and their hope and vision for the future. It provides an avenue for sharing their hospitality. It becomes their shelter from outside storms and further, it often offers a safe haven for family and friends. When embraced, being a homeowner is a blessing beyond compare and an opportunity to make a difference in our neighborhoods, our communities and our world

Unfortunately, home ownership worldwide is not as attainable as it is for those of us living in the United States and Canada. As so often happens with such amazing opportunities, we often find ourselves taking this gift for granted. Now, more than at any other point in our history, home ownership is within reach and can become a reality.

In fact, the U.S. national average on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 4.36% in August…which is lower than it’s been in the past half century!

Taking advantage of the existing remarkable home ownership opportunity creates a positive, far-reaching ripple effect within our society and nation. On a personal level, the joy of owning and creating a home that reflects our character and provides a backdrop for sharing our hospitality helps build a sense of stability and a desire to enrich our lives through reaching out to those around us. Nationally, home ownership allows us to be part of the solution to our country’s current economical situation as we help re-build confidence within our own communities.

Often as I am drinking in all that I love about our home – how it warms us from the outside cold or cools us from the heat; provides peacefulness from outside hostilities; offers comfort and rest when we are weary; contributes to precious memories; and always welcomes our presence, I am reminded of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz when she decidedly declares, “There’s no place like home.” That is so true because most definitely, “Home is where the heart is!”