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My first career was not real estate, it was teaching — elementary school, to be precise. I loved the time I spent teaching second, third and fourth graders and being in charge of my own classroom.
However, I think it would have been very easy to feel forgotten if it weren’t for my principal. She always said that her job was to take care of all the teachers so we could take care of our students.
When I moved into an admin role as the school librarian, I had a taste of what managing people was all about. I had the opportunity to work with everyone in the school, from helping teachers deploy library resources in their classrooms to developing curricula around emerging technology, like iPads.
To me, it felt like managing the library was a little like running a small business. I could see the big picture, and I loved helping people achieve their goals to support the school’s overall mission.
Changing directions
After about 10 years of working in the school system, I made the decision to join my parents’ real estate brokerage. My mom has always tried to get me involved in the company she and my dad founded 40 years ago, but it wasn’t until my son started kindergarten and I needed a more flexible job that it made sense for me and my family.
I started out doing financials for the company, then I moved into marketing, and now I serve as the chief operating officer. It’s been almost nine years since I’ve worn a teacher’s hat, but a lot of things I learned while working in the school have stayed with me in this leadership role.
You might be surprised to learn that these things aren’t big, complicated concepts or complex learning methods. In fact, they aren’t big things at all. They are actually the little things.
Let me explain. As leaders, it’s very easy to get caught up in the big picture or the long-term strategy and forget about the day-to-day things that make a real estate brokerage run. Almost all of those things involve people: people who like to feel seen, heard, respected, and above all else, to feel worthy and appreciated.
This is a big part of how we take care of our agents — the way my school principal used to take care of her teachers.
My husband Mark, with whom I run the company, is on the same page when it comes to making sure our agents have the energy, the battery, the fuel to be successful and to feel joy. Our company’s legacy as a family business continues as Mark and I treat our agents like an extension of our own family.
It’s the little things
Here are some of the little, but thoughtful, things we do to create a culture of support, appreciation, respect and inclusiveness.
Picking favorites
Every year, I send out a Google form to all our staff asking them to share things like their favorite color, coffee drink and sweet treat. When I want to show appreciation to one of them, I consult the list and am able to deliver a personal gift that not only says, I appreciate you, but also reflects the fact that I took the time to know them better.
Getting social
At our company when people ask for help, people give help. The critical piece of this is that people feel safe in asking and feel safe in giving. It sets the tone for what we are all about as a company.
Agents and staff model the behavior and standards for new people, who in turn adopt that behavior. It’s very clear that in our company, no one is elbowing someone else out of the way to get ahead. We are all cheerleaders for each other.
Burning questions
When we get together for recognition dinners, we always pose a question that each person gets to answer. From “What was your craziest transaction?” to “When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?” These questions allow us to get to know each other in deeper ways, to appreciate each other’s different experiences and come together more closely as a company.
Gathering counsel
About seven years ago, we established an agent council consisting of about eight to 10 agents. We meet with this group regularly to not only get a pulse of the company — how people are doing, what’s happening on the ground with clients — but also to gather their feedback on new programs or initiatives.
It’s our very own test kitchen. For instance, we brought our new buyer’s guide to the agent council first before rolling it out to our 200+ agents. Agents serve in this capacity for about 18-24 months before rolling off to make room for someone new. We find that agents who serve on this council feel a bigger sense of belonging and ownership in the company’s success.
Tapping into influencers
We have several agents who have been with us for more than a decade. We have a husband and wife team who have been with us for 25 years. Not only are they beloved in our company, they are also highly respected. They are the first ones to champion a new idea or program, and their excitement and enthusiasm are contagious. In this way, they serve as important peer influencers and leaders.
One last little thing
In thinking about all these “little things,” I have come to appreciate that culture creates culture. At Winans, we don’t hire just anyone; we seek individuals who align with our culture and contribute to its growth for the future. Mark and I have planted the seeds, but every one of us nurtures those seeds.
We don’t run our company this way because it delivers specific metrics; we have built a company that we want to work in. Because, at the end of the day, what really matters is feeling appreciated and valued.
Leah McDonough is the Chief Operating Officer at BHGRE Winans. Connect with her on Linkedin and Facebook.
