Weekly Wealth Tactic 9

by Ed Barriskill (co-founder, 37th Parallel Properties)

Managing your team begins with you – the leader. Your team’s overall success depends on how effective you are as a leader and it is your most important responsibility.  As a leader you can take all the credit for your success and take all the blame for any failures – the buck stops with you.

How well you meet your objectives and financial goals will be directly related to your actions as the leader of your team. Good communication and doing what you say you are going to do are the two largest factors that will influence your business. When you provide good communication – not some of the time, but all of the time – and follow through with all those little details that you said you would do, it will hold a lot of integrity in the eyes of your team partners.

Years ago when the market was sluggish and houses weren’t selling (much like today’s times), I would make a point to call my clients once per week  to give them a status report on what was occurring in the market. This proactive task of providing them good communication kept my relationship with my clients strong and stable during those hard times and paid dividends throughout my career.

Dolf de Roos – a well known teacher and investor, notes that communication and credibility (i.e. doing all those things that you said you would do) were the two key factors that wealthy people have in common. After talking about these concepts at great length in one of his books, Dolf asks, “So why not make communication and credibility a big part of your life, both in your personal and business life and mimic the wealthy?”

In addition to your leadership skills, choosing your team members is essential to the overall success of your company. Build your team of experts on solid rock versus sand. Choose the best possible individual for each aspect of your business, even though it may cost you a little more money. The experts you appoint to be a member of your team are very crucial to your overall success, so choose wisely.

Here’s a list of essential team members that 37th Parallel Properties recommends:

1. Your Property Manager
2. Your Mortgage Broker
3. Your Insurance Broker
4. Your Attorney
5. Your CPA
6. Your Tax Strategist
7. Your Bookkeeper/Personal Assistant
8. 37th Parallel Properties
9. Your Tenant or Resident

You’ll find out that building and managing your team is an ongoing process. Keep in mind that this process won’t happen all at once, but over time. There are many pieces to the puzzle that will take time to incorporate into your business plan and position into your working system.

If you are interested in learning more about building and leading your own team of experts, the 37th Parallel Properties Real Estate Academy class, “How to Manage Your Team Members” covers it in much more detail.