So, When Will You know it ALL?

We are dealing with the best educated generation in history.  But they've got a brain dressed up with nowhere to go.--Timothy Leary

 

Norma and Stanley are two of my favorite Realtors of all time. They were pillars of integrity in my small real estate community. I will never forget that it was Norma, who asked me to chair a committee during her presidency of our local board. I was honored and somewhat intimidated she would ask someone who did not know the meaning of “Affirmative Action” to chair a committee by the same name. It was also Norma that answered my first 10001 questions, before she politely told me she was a little busy! I wondered, “how could anyone talk on the phone so much?” How dare I? That one came back to bite me!

Now Stanley operated a little differently, he had nothing but “time” until phone duty! For the younger set, phone duty was a time you volunteered to answer office phones in exchange for “hot calls.” Phone time was sorta like “on the job training.” In this instance, it was even more because Stanley would answer my questions throughout the phone shift. Norma and Stanley were always a pleasure and always a great resource. Our Realtor community lost some of its finest when they passed from the earth. In addition to Norma and Stanley's educational guidance, I was privileged to take a few company classes. The curriculum included:

• A heavy emphasis on license preparation and salesmanship skills! Business development was a real strength too; teaching us to mail (USPS not email) XXX postcards to get XXXX leads and XXXXXX leads translated into one sale. OK. Got it.
• The second part of the curriulum was to set goals; 3 minutes and I had it down. The average commission was around $1500 and agents received 60% of the $1500. I quickly figured out how many transactions I needed and I needed “more.” Two to four weeks of this in-depth academics and I was “ready!”
  

I tell you ALL this, just to tell you this—cause somebody's got to say it: Education and training, are important but not to the detriment of one's pocketbook and career. Your brain can only absorb so much at a time. Too often, brokers/managers require very structured training schedules, commanding a lot of time. Very often these trainees never have time to work “in” or “on” their businesses. This is where a promising career takes a turn. There comes a point in every educational program, to go out and “just do it!” This point in time will be different for everyone, astute managers should recognize and honor this desire/need. I certainly believe education and training are necessary. Education and training are best when it is immediately applied to the job. It is also important to recognize education is a life long process and you can never “know it all.”

So, there, I said it.