Shaun’s Corner | Atlanta - Keller Williams Realty - Keller Williams Realtor - Shaun Rawls' Offices

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Shaun's Corner

Win, lose or draw…I can’t thank you enough.‏

Superstars…

Tomorrow morning the Atlanta Business Chronicle will host their Atlanta’s Best Places to Work awards breakfast at the Marriott Marquis in downtown Atlanta. Needless to say, I am anxious to know how we will fare after “bringing home the gold” last year. “What if we win…AGAIN?” and “What if we don’t?” are the two questions that keep ping-ponging through my mind. The suspense is killing me.

Rather than send something to you after the awards, I want to send you this now, BEFORE we know whether we’ve won this most prestigious award again. You see, the fact that we are even a finalist for The Best Place to Work in Atlanta means that we’ve won. Regardless of our position in the rankings, I want each and every associate with our Rawls Group market centers to know that I am thankful for every ounce of effort that you weave into the fabric of our great company.

You can’t have “the best” company without having “the best” people. And when you have the best people, it brings out the best in all of our people. You inspire me to want to be my very best, and in turn, I hope I do the same for you. Our environment is special and it’s intended to be that way. I hope that you are as proud as I am of what an amazing group we are. While the Keller Williams models are brilliant, it’s our collective commitment to making the most of Keller Williams for everyone that makes The Rawls Group such a special place to work. For me, it’s an honor and a privilege to work for you as your Operating Partner. Your happiness and your success in selling real estate are the most important things to me as your broker, and I pray for your business every day.

Win, lose or draw, I can’t thank you enough for your efforts to even put The Rawls Group in an elite class of businesses recognized as “Atlanta’s Best Places to Work.” You have put our organization within Keller Williams among some of the world’s most respected companies, and we should all be shouting this achievement from the rooftops. Whether we are officially recognized as THE best place to work or ONE OF THE best places to work tomorrow morning, I know that there’s no place I’d rather work than here, with you, at The Rawls Group of Keller Williams Market Centers.

Your #1 Fan…

Shaun

Are you fighting with emotion?‏

Superstars…

“The best fighters fight without emotion.” That’s a quote that I read earlier this year. I’m not sure where I read it, but I am sure about the impact it had on me. In fact, I’ve recalled this quote numerous times since reading it, mostly to hold myself accountable to suppressing a tendency to react to things emotionally, rather than responding to things logically. I also think about it when consulting our agents because I want to make sure that they are logically formulating offensive game plans designed to maximize their income.

When I first read, “The best fighters fight without emotion,” I had this instant visual of two boxers fighting in the ring. One, skillfully executing a game plan that had been thought about and rehearsed for months before the fight; the other, tired and frustrated, throwing sloppy, ineffective punches as a result of abandoning a game plan. One has the discipline to keep his commitment and follow through with what was planned; the other has let fear be the ruler of his fate. One is victorious, while the other is beaten.

Logic and emotion are two of the most powerful things in our lives. Logic and Emotion can be the foundational keys to all of our success, as well as our failures, depending on how and when they are used. Used appropriately, they result in success. Used inappropriately, the results can be disastrous. While emotion and passion is at the core of all businesses, the determination to execute a logic-based, offensive plan is a key determiner of how consistent and successful the business will be.

The best agents lead generate without exception. They block time for their lead generation. They make their calls. They send their emails. They write their newsletters. They write their blogs. They skillfully use social media to stay in relationship with their people. They execute a 33 Touch program, a 12 Touch Direct program, an 8×8 program, regardless of what their business is doing. They keep throwing the punches that they have studied and practiced over and over and over and over, confident that victory is inevitable. They find a way to win while everyone else finds excuses why they can’t.

The truth of the matter is that many real estate agents are tired. They’re tired and frustrated. And many have become tired and frustrated boxers who have abandoned all of the logic of their game plans and retreated to an emotional flurry of exhausting and ineffective punches. Many agents are working harder than ever for less money than ever. As a result they are taking less time for renewal and re-energizing. They are losing a sense of balance that’s so important for their success. This creates impatience, a lack of confidence and more, and usually manifests itself by saying or doing something they regret. Or, they begin to assume that their income will never improve, so they begin to question their leader, their environment, their company and everything else but themselves. All of this is an emotionally driven reaction that has to be avoided.

Recently, one of our agent wrote an email to another real estate professional that was ridiculous, horrible and embarrassing. It was an emotional outburst that defied all logic. As a real estate professional, you can’t afford to lose your cool – period. All of your communication, all of your actions, all of your efforts to build your business must be considered extremely important to your career and your reputation. If you let your emotional reactions to life determine the quality and quantity of your words and your actions, then you’ve already lost because you’ve let something or someone else steer your ship. We’ve all heard that “life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond.” When life gets tough, we have to pick ourselves up emotionally, but we have to move ourselves forward logically.

If you fear that you are an emotional fighter right now, take time to regroup. Consult your leaders. Take a class. Hone your skills and scripts. We have everything you need to build the business you want, the business you are capable of and the business you deserve. Commit to a logical game plan that holds you accountable to fighting without emotion. Fight the good fight, but fight it offensively, without emotion, and victory will be yours!

Your #1 Fan…

SHAUN

There are 2 seconds on the clock. Do you want the ball?

Superstars…

In sports, the time clock creates urgency. The clock also creates winners and losers when it ticks its way to “zero.” At the end of every game, the people and teams who were playing go home with a “W” or an “L” associated with their name. And when the score is close and there are only seconds remaining on the clock, the energy and intensity of the situation rise to a level that only talent can respond to. In times like this, talent wants the ball. Talent lives for the opportunity to win when losing seems just as likely an outcome. While talent doesn’t win every game, talent always wins over time. Most importantly, talent always takes the shot and enjoys the feeling of victory or learns from the frustration of defeat.

I recently read that the single most important attribute that is shared by the most successful entrepreneurs is “a tolerance for ambiguity.” Bryon Ellington with Keller Williams Realty International shared this educational piece with me. It went on to say that it’s possible for a tolerance for ambiguity to be learned, but most often it is not. Regardless of whether a tolerance for ambiguity is a natural or a learned behavior, it is rare, despite how important it seems to be.

“A tolerance for ambiguity.” What does that mean? It means that that you must move forward and take action without knowing the final outcome. It means that you hope for the best and plan for the worst. It means that you value the process more than the destination. It means that one’s quest for the thrill of victory will never be held hostage by the fear of the thought that he might lose. It means that putting everything you’ve got on the line is the only way to know what you are capable of, and is therefore, the only way to learn and grow. Stretching, finding our discomfort zone, and facing, fighting and learning from adversity are key components to discovering the power of our potential. A tolerance for ambiguity implies that we actually have to watch the movie in order to know and appreciate how it ends.

Whether it’s watching the Superbowl, the Final Four, the Stanley Cup series, the Indy 500, or the Masters, it’s the unexpected thrills and shifts in momentum that draws us to the drama of competition and success. Not knowing the outcome is the most exciting part. And without the journey, without the fight, without the experience of chasing victory that is achieved or not, any outcome would be meaningless.

All of us know people who worked their way from nothing to achieve great success and wealth. We also know people who were born into it. Those who had to work for every dollar they ever earned have a different respect for their capital, what it takes to make it and what it takes to keep it, as compared to those who have always had it in their life. Most people agree that the self made men and women of life have learned lessons and developed the confidence in themselves that only their journeys can create.

Regardless of our journey towards success, significance or wealth, perhaps it is our own tolerance for ambiguity that will determine our level of effort towards our destination. The great Wayne Gretzky said, “I miss 100% of the shots I never take.” Few people realize that Babe Ruth, the legendary king of hitting home runs, was also the king of strike outs. All or nothing. It’s the only way to play and achieve the greatness we are capable of.

Trying our very best guarantees that anything is possible. Yet, the slightest withholding of effort will only insure regret. If developing, or re-discovering, our tolerance for ambiguity can help us become the very best version of ourselves, then might I suggest we do it? If looking at the games being played in stadiums, courts, tracks and on television excite us, then why not look at our own careers and lives with the same sense of excitement, knowing that winners are developed by giving their all, both physically and emotionally?

I’ve often described the professionals of the real estate industry as “financial daredevils” because we get up and go to work without any assurance that we are going to be paid. Our assurance comes from our confidence in ourselves; it comes from our passion for serving others; it comes from knowing that productive energy produces positive results; it comes from being a part of a team that gives us every chance of success by supporting us, educating us and holding us accountable to the all-star performances we are capable of. I’m convinced that it’s the uncertainty – the ambiguity – that creates greatness and brings out the greatness in all of us. We must not wish for certain outcomes. Rather, we must wish for the strength and the courage to play at the level that can only insure those outcomes.

I love Keller Williams Realty for many reasons. One of the many is that this company continues to find ways to help every associate enhance their tolerance for ambiguity by providing us with the best leadership, training, tools and technology to help us build careers worth having, businesses worth owning and lives worth living.

Want the ball. Take the shot, no matter the outcome. “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.”

Your #1 Fan…

SHAUN

Shaun Rawls
Operating Partner – Keller Williams Realty – The Rawls Group – Atlanta, Ga.
Regional Director – Keller Williams Realty – New York Tri-State Region

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RawlsGroup.org

Changing The Way You THINK About Real Estate

Shaun's Corner

Win, lose or draw…I can’t thank you enough.‏

Are you fighting with emotion?‏

There are 2 seconds on the clock. Do you want the ball?