If companies can measure their customer engagement through social media, can they also measure employee engagement? “Social media channels enable brands and companies to engage with consumers on their own terms, when they want, at work and play, through their chosen channels” (Stone, & Woodcock, 2013). It was 3:00 pm and I get a call from another department manager. “Nathan, I can't get my staff to do their job,” he said in frustration! “How vague,” I said. It is probably because you are trying to control your staff vs. influence them. Next, I asked a question, “How involved are you, with your staff, on social media?” Social media is the new relationship building. While I definitely believe managers should keep their professional distance, it is important to engage your team in the social conversation. Of course you should check with HR and your direct supervisor before you proceed, however today's teams communicate via social apps like facebook, slack, twitter, and ...

It was 5:00 am, we had just started our walk. My friend, who is in an MBA program, leans over the side of the treadmill and asks this question, “What is the hardest thing leaders do?” I thought about it for one minuet and then I said, ‘” The hardest thing about being a strong leader is that I want my team to improve sometimes more than they want it themselves. It is difficult to help your staff find the drive to improve themselves, I wish I could get them to read, listen to podcasts, take courses or invest in their own development.” Being driven myself to succeed is the only thing I can attribute the moderate success I have had in my life.   “Human resource development (HRD) means competence building, commitment building, and culture building” (Kundu & Vora, 2004) . Underdeveloped staff cost organization millions of dollars. “In order to keep on delivering high-quality performance, it is of vital importance to invest in the employees by enabling and encouraging them ...

“I can’t get them to report their numbers,” he said with some frustration. It wasn’t just the reporting of the numbers that was an issue for this sales manager, it was the productivity of the entire team that was down, as well. This manager was more than frustrated, he was border line discouraged. I often heard, during our one-on-one coaching sessions, there was not enough time to ensure the numbers were reported. He would say, “The staff was already overloaded.” He would express to me that his organization was, “Short staffed and it wasn’t the staffs fault” Delegation of his tasks were not an option because the current assignments that he delegated were not being completed. I told him that if he was going to be a great leader, then he must embrace evolution management. Does the case above seem all too familiar? In the book, Servant-leadership Across Cultures: Harnessing the Strength of the World's Most Powerful Management Philosophy , the authors express the following abo...

The concept of horizontal leadership was very obvious within a mentor of mine. He was the property manager of a 606 unit apartment community. He was responsible for leading 25 employees and over 900 tenants. Sean was a very effective leader. He had this ability to help people reach their full potential, and in turn the organization grew leaps and bounds. One day I ask Sean, “how are you such a great leader?” his answer was profound he said, “I ask others for advise.” What do most people think of when they hear the word “leader?” I have asked over 300 realtors, property managers, and investors this very question. Their answers include words like, “authority, strong, powerful, a person who has followers, the boss that makes decisions, servant, likable, and courageous.” People tend to associate a leader as a person who is “over” a group of people. Think organizational chart: Leader Follower Google’s dictionary defines leadership as one’s ability to influence peop...

In 2005, 10 years ago, I was on the Executive Board of a Lindenwood Student Organization. We thought it was time to implement a rewards system that would further ingrain these six values in all the students that went through the program. We thought of these six awards: Highest Scholar Award (highest grade point average) – Education Heat Award (person who did the most volunteer hours) – Charity Campus Citizenship Award (Person that demonstrated the best integrity) – Respect Valued Leader Award (high leadership skills) – Leadership Prompt and Prepared Award (On time and prepared)- Time Committee Award (Best Committee) – Teamwork Having specific “VALUE-GOALS” to achieve each semester created a different culture in that organization. The new culture was focused on these 6 values. This rewards system was also a perfect demonstration of how to set VALUE-GOALS. If a student wanted to win an award they automatically knew the value that was attached to their goal. This value go...

Last week a Realtor was down on her luck. In addition, this was affecting her performance. Every conversation was full of negative and depressing comments. All she seemed to find was negative in everything. She was looking and listening for reasons to be upset and she found them. The truth is that correcting a depressed person is like throwing feathers against the wind. All the feathers can do is blowback at you. Not much was changing, and I was beginning to wonder if I picked the right career. I could not get her out of her depression. Then I had a simple idea. Out of nowhere, this simple idea came to me. I said to her, “Why don’t you e-mail me one thing you accomplished today and every day for one week.” You would not believe the difference! Just seeing all the emails at the end of the week changed her entire perspective about life. The way to overcome a self-destructive attitude is to realize that YOU are a GREAT person. You are capable of accomplishment. You make a ...

Leaders are measured and paid on their ability to reduce resistance within an organization. Resistance in your organization is the most expensive expense and it is a silent killer of profits. “Resistance to change is a phenomenon that slows the change process by hindering its implementation and increasing costs” (Christensen, 2014). Leaders take a vision and fill it with energy. They put that energy out into the market place. This energy needs to flow freely through all staff to the customers. Do you remember from 7 th grade science class when the teacher lectured about electrical resistance? You learned how to measure the electrical resistance of an electrical conductor. Resistance is measured based on how difficult it is for electrical current to pass through the conductor. Resistance is like friction. Your employees become resistant, when you the boss, blame them for missing on goals. Your team will become more resistant to change the next time they do not receive a ra...

Big advances in my career have been happening. I am excited about a couple of projects I have been working on. I appreciate everyone’s attention. If you are like me then you would know that time is the most important commodity on the planet. Typically my posts are research based informative posts about leadership techniques or influence techniques that help to establish you as the authority. They are typically shortcuts to the 12 year journey I have been on. This post is just an update on some of the success I have had in just the last month in gaining in my though leadership platform. 1.        Realtor Magazine – I am really excited to announce that I have submitted my fist article to Realtor Magazine. I hope the editor likes the content. It is an article about ensuring contractors are protecting your brand. 2.        Twitter – On Friday I had 211 followers and as of right now I am at 279. I need one more to ma...

Thank you for reading this blog. If you like my blog the best things you can do is sign up for my email list, share my content on facebook, linked in, and twitter. My audience has grown so fast and for that I am very thankful. In feel compelled to share 10 things I learned this week. As random as they are they may answer leadership questions you are having as a realtor. 1. People learn more from failure than from success. Most media presents the exception to this rule. Try understanding why projects fail, you failed, and others are failing. You will learn much quicker. 2. Sometimes it takes 10 years to reach your goal. Persistence pays off. Stay committed to your goals. If you stop, quit, or give up you have a 100% chance of failure. 3. Not everyone is going to like you. I found out this week for the first time that it took 6 months for someone to understand why I require certain things and why I push more in certain areas.  It is okay if people do not like y...