Crap at admin? Sobbing in frustration? Great, you could be the next big thing.
“I loved the hunt,” CEO Peter Mumford told a room full of ambitious agents at Stone’s March Momentum Forum. He was talking about his experiences as a working real estate agent, adding that he was crap at admin and “got a bit bored” once the listing had been secured.
There were 42 agents in the room in Sydney and another 30 who had tuned in online from around NSW. The theme was ‘Getting Better’ and Peter reminded the room just how important it is to work to your natural strengths and to connect with others that are doing the same.
What do you love?
Peter’s words echo the journey of another very recognisable entrepreneur; super successful today, but who started out less promisingly – sobbing in the back of a classroom as a frustrated schoolboy.
He had just copped an absolute flogging for failing another spelling test. His grades were the lowest in the class and the teacher, mistaking dyslexia for laziness, had been brutal: “Unless you change your ways you’re going to end up in prison.”
The young fellow’s academic performance was poor. But, in the Peter Mumford tradition, he knew his strengths and also how to work to them. He had inherited a sharp entrepreneurial gene and even at that tender age he knew he would use it. Through the tears, he could see the future and in it he lived free and wealthy on a tropical island, not as a battler in a jail cell.
Armed with this vision and little else, he ditched school that same day to start a business – a magazine, selling advertising from a payphone on the street corner. He was just 16 years old. The magazine took off and he added a mail order record business to it, and then a chain of music stores and then an airline and now a spaceflight corporation.
He is, of course, Richard Branson.
“I was seen as the dumbest person at school,” the founder and CEO of Virgin Group said recently in an interview. He added: “What’s interesting about people who are dyslexic is that they can often excel at things that they love and have a passion for.”
Go Pro
Richard Branson’s story fits nicely with the theme of this quarter’s forum. Earlier in the session, head of training and auctions, Peter Malouf, challenged the agents to ask themselves what is that they are passionate about – and how far they would be prepared to go to realise their own visions for the future.
He had kicked things off with a video showing the Ferrari F1 pit crew working together to get the pit stop done in just 1.9 seconds. No need to do everything yourself, Peter said. Concentrate on what you are passionate about, build a team around you and take your business to the next level. “The decision to Go Pro is yours to make. When will you make it? Think about the Ferrari crew as the perfect metaphor!”
He said that when you are doing three to four deals a month for at least three months in a row, it’s time to grow your team: “Every team member should have a clear job description with three or four key metrics on how their performance will be measured.”
Peter ended the forum with this great piece of advice: “Get a mentor and attend regular training, it will shortcut your own journey no question about it. Remember, learners are earners.”
But wait…there’s more
Other speakers on the day were some of Stone’s leading performers: Frederico Fraga-Matos from Newtown, Sans Souci’s Ray Fadel, Beecroft’s James Ramsay and (Facebook gun!) Tristan Rowland from Stone Aspley in Queensland – who showed his commitment to the cause by getting up at 3am just to make it to Sydney in time!
Stay tuned for more blogs on the lessons and insights from their sessions soon.
And, also keep a lookout for Stone’s new podcast initiative – soon to be launched and which will feature all of these speakers as guests!
