Dave Robison

By Dave Robison

Creating a successful real estate team is a lot like cooking. You have to add certain ingredients to the pot – a little of this, a little of that, more of another thing to make it sweet. The temperature and how long you cook it has to be watched, otherwise you risk it coming out cold or burning it. Some people are naturals at cooking, others not so much. Some can’t cook for the life of them.

So, is there a secret recipe to building a team? Absolutely not. There are too many different ingredients (some limited in quantity). Often, you end up having to work with what you have. But you do have to pay close attention and make sure your ingredients (team members) work well together.

First, to successfully “cook up” a team, you are going to have to get good at different things. Here’s a quick list:

1. Know yourself. How well do you know yourself? I’ve taken a lot of different personality tests over the years. I’ve also spent countless hours  reflecting on what it is that I do well, what I do fast, and what I don’t do well at all.

©Prawny, 2014. Morguefile

2. Know other people’s strengths. This is sometimes very hard  – I have messed up a few times giving the wrong tasks to the wrong people because I didn’t know their strengths. So I have implemented a few different tests and indexes to get to know people around me, including DiSC and Kolbe. I want to know what they do well and how that aligns with my strengths and weaknesses.

3. Develop a resilience. I love what Barbara Corcoran says: The main trait of successful people is they don’t waste time feeling sorry for themselves when something bad happens. You have to learn to deal with set backs, failures, disappointments, etc.

4. Learn how to work through conflict. Looking back, I see there where times that I failed by not taking action when other members of my team had a disagreement. It may sometimes seem easier to get rid of someone or ignore a problem than to work it out. This is where many teams lose their members. There will be times when members of your team will be highly emotional. This is a critical phase: if you get your team members through it, they will often become highly commitment to you. Individuals shouldn’t quit at first disagreement, and sometimes you will have to help them work through it.

​5. Love them, help them, love them. Everyone makes mistakes. You have to allow people to make mistakes. Help them through it and then be sure to show the love again. People won’t stick their neck out on the line for you if they know you will cut it off. They will stay safe. And if you want to grow your business, have to allow them to make decisions even if it’s not the one you would make.

Stay focused on these things and the team you cook up will be one of success.

Dave Robison, known as “Utah Dave,” is broker/owner of UtahDave.com Neighborhood Experts.