Coaching and mentoring is the growth industry of the century. More
and more people are recognising the value of having someone to guide them
through both the tough times and the good times – to maximise the advantages
each situation offers.
There are a number of benefits in having a coach or mentor to
guide you through the various stages of your career development. Average
performance should not be acceptable. Assistance may be required to achieve
above average performance.
It’s important to be able to have someone to bounce ideas off –
especially in a business environment. It is not always possible to be open and
honest with a colleague about what you are thinking – the things that you would
like to try, but aren’t sure whether they’d work; your reasoning for whether
they might be successful or not. To have an ‘independent’ sounding board whom
you trust and who will be honest with you, can be the difference between a good
idea and an amazing business activity/strategy.
If it’s good enough for athletes to have coaches (even “specialist
high performance coaches”), then it should be good enough for people in a real
estate business to have a coach or mentor to ensure performance levels are
high.
Business coaching is an effective way to surpass current levels of
performance and productivity.
The challenges faced by real estate businesses in terms of operating
effectively in an increasingly competitive environment means there is an
opportunity for some agents to step “up to the next level” and achieve much
better results than their competitors.
For the proper growth and development of any organisation, it is
necessary to have a management team that is up-to-date with recent trends and who
have beliefs, values, attitudes, motivation and thoughts that drive them to
excel and, more importantly, enables them to inspire their teams to excel.
Business coaching & mentoring provides the perfect platform
for developing personal skills and behaviors that are necessary for
implementing organisational changes and initiating the learning process.
If you always do, what you’ve always done – your results should be
easy to predict.
Business coaching or mentoring should be available at all levels of any
organisation. Sometimes it is an informal process, but it is most effective if
it is managed and controlled, monitored and supported by management.
The purpose is to improve the performance of those being
coached/mentored. The challenge is achieving this outcome with minimal disruption
to the business operations. However, if the result is an increase in the business
profitability (through more listings, sales & managements) then it should
be seen as a worthwhile use of time to develop the team members to achieve
these goals.
Grand finals and championships are not won without time devoted to
the training & development of all members of the team.
Real estate agents are not the best at sharing their “secrets of
success” with their colleagues. They operate in a competitive marketplace. They
have set targets, and sometimes these targets over-ride all other purpose in
their lives. The need to achieve those targets is often at the expense of
quality time with family & friends, or involvement in sport or leisure
activities. Their life balance is “out of whack”, in pursuit of their work
related targets and goals.
What is required at all levels of any business operation is an
understanding of the organisation’s current position and its future growth
patterns. Apart from effecting educational development and experience, coaching
also provides objective feedback and acts as a critical tool for successfully
engineering organisational change.
In adapting to the rapidly shifting marketplace, businesses often
need to modify or change their approach to capture a larger slice of the market
in which they operate. However, this is often difficult to implement as people
and organisations are naturally resistant to change. Business coaching has
become a very effective tool for initiating productive changes in individuals,
teams, and systems by enabling leaders, managers, and employees to uncover
potential that might otherwise go untapped.
To be able to do this is not an easy thing to do in the beginning.
The value of the changes need to be recognised first, and then “buy-in” will
occur. This shift in attitude and approach can be quite infectious and
profitable for all concerned.
“Steady as she goes” is not a good approach in today’s rapidly
moving and technologically advancing business environment.
There is a growing recognition that profits, productivity, and customer
satisfaction are the outcomes of performance rather than the cause. Coaching programs
can focus on leadership issues, cultural factors and the learning and
development practices that drive performance. Performance will drive
productivity and customer satisfaction, which then permits repeat business and
profitability levels to increase.
Everyone’s a winner!
The goal of coaching is not to be an alternative vehicle of
managerial control. It should concentrate on empowering and delegating to
create a culture of responsibility and self-generated, commitment-based
actions.
Coaching is certainly more than just a technique. It involves
viewing the business from a different perspective, working through
relationships, dialogue and feedback to harness future potential and growth. It
provides businesses with the ability to modify current work practices and communications.
Coaching has become an important differentiation mechanism for modifying or
creating an effective work environment that is more adaptable to change and
growth.
Coaching allows managers to more effectively confront challenges and motivate
others to achieve the business and personal goals. It creates awareness among
managers that they can transform or create a culture that is more receptive to
change and open to new possibilities.
Managers (as coaches/mentors) learn to increase their own self-awareness
to
Managers who are involved in the coaching process get a clear idea
about their own commitments, as well as those of the organisation. They learn
how to generate and maintain effective relationships, which in turn increases
the levels of trust and accountability in the organisation.
A coached manager’s understanding of organisational and
interpersonal dynamics is increased considerably, which in turn empowers them (and
others) to achieve the identified business objectives. They learn how to take
calculated risks for producing results aligned with the business vision. They
learn to develop the right kind of unity and team spirit that will allow powerful
work relationships to develop and that, in turn, will help achieve
extraordinary results.
There
can be no real justification for a business not wanting to improve the
performance of the team members – from receptionist to accounts/admin staff to
property & sales teams to principals. The level of training and development
that occurs is a reflection of the commitment of that business to being the
best they can be – and better than their competition.
Go
for Gold in an Olympic year!
Tony Rowe is General Manager of Corum Training, a
specialist provider of training to the property sector in NSW. Corum Training
has fully qualified trainers with extensive knowledge, expertise &
experience in the delivery of assessment & training services in real estate
across Australia and New Zealand.
Tony can be contacted on 1300 793 723 or
www.corumtraining.com.au
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