Goal Setting & Expectation.

Goal Setting & Expectation.

Every business person should know by now the received wisdom of setting  S.M.A.R.T goals.

Specific - Measurable - Attainable - Relevant - Time Bound.

It has become a standard offering, along with accountability, for coaches and mentors.

And, I believe, a curse for those that assume it will help them achieve success.

This, courtesy of mindtools.com

Specific is apparently necessary in order to "show you the way. Vague, or generalised goals are unhelpful because they don't provide sufficient direction."

As though Forward wasn't enough!

Measurable because "without a way to measure success, you miss out on the celebration that comes from knowing you have actually achieved something."

Celebrating success is for kids! Break out the shiny 'awards'.

Attainable. The most flimsy of the five, without doubt. "A goal that is too high will demoralise you, but resist the urge to set goals that are too easy."

a.k.a  The Goldilocks Conundrum - not too high, not too low, just right.

Relevant. "Avoid widely scattered and inconsistent goals because they fritter your time away."

You don't say!

Time-Bound.  "When you are working on a deadline, your sense of urgency increases and achievement will come that much quicker."

With that urgency may also come stress, disappointment and bad habits.

Goal setting and planning is rife in estate agency/real estate. From the giant corporates to the self-employed one-man/woman band, everyone apparently needs to plan and to set goals.

Except that business practice needs to be flexible and, at times, spontaneous.

"I've never been an expectations guy"  - said reigning US Masters Champion and recent World #1 golfer, Scottie Scheffler in the Netflix documentary, Full Swing.

Asked how he could be so calm when pursuing his first major win, he responded:

"For me, my identity isn't a golf score. Like Meredith (his wife) told me this morning, "If you win this golf tournament today, if you lose this tournament by 10 shots, if you never win another golf tournament again, I'm still going to love you, you're still going to be the same person, Jesus loves you and nothing changes."

Don't you just love Meredith?

Contrast that to Brooks Koepka, four-time major winner during 2016-2019 and past world #1 who laments to his wife that he "can no longer compete against the best players."

Outcomes are usually better if you're not expecting a result.

In cricket, England have finally adopted the philosophy, as have the Ireland RFU management under Andy Farrell. Both now at the top of their games. The Wales RFU team, under the experienced, boring and hugely predictable Warren Gatland have yet to win a game.

Enjoy the environment in which you work and chances are you will perform better.

Stressing over goals, targets and performance isn't helpful. Instead, try improvisation.

It builds confidence, creativity, courage and teaches one to trust instincts.

Gary Vaynerchuk has a similar mindset when discussing the pros and cons of the manipulative gated content, so beloved of many estate agency trainers such as Tom Panos.

"When you actually don't care whether anyone buys your stuff, you just wanna be in a position for it to potentially happen. When you're actually giving, versus manipulating.

I don't produce content as a top-of-funnel machine to get you to buy anything.  I would love for that to happen, it would be nice for that to happen, I'm not even scared to ask for that to happen, but I'm not doing my giving behaviour with the manipulation to make you do that.  There's no video that stops on social but then says if you want to see the rest, go here and sign-up for my 7 day trial. There's no monetisation of my audience from an intent to manipulate. It's build the brand, bring value and basically karma and guilt people into doing business with you."

It's this lack of attachment to specific results that most realtors and their bosses find hard to grasp.

"The way I look at any opportunity is that if it's for me, it will resolve itself. If not, then I bless someone else to be able to do it."   - Oprah Winfrey.

A far cry from the hunter "eat what you kill" mindset of most estate agents who see anyone with a warm pulse as 'prey'.

All of this doesn't mean that you're not trying your best - just that you're not attached to the result.

For estate agents and realtors, the bottom-line is that estate agency is an infinite game

No set rules, no boundaries, no endpoint.

But they mistakenly try to compete, with expectations of winning.

"If we listen to the language of so many of our leaders today, it's as if they don't know the game they are playing.  They talk constantly about "winning". They obsess constantly about "beating their competition." They announce to the world that they are "the best".  They state that their vision is to be "number one." Except that in games without finish lines, all of these things are impossible. When we lead with a finite mindset in an infinite game, it leads to all kinds of problems - the most common of which include decline of trust, co-operation and innovation."  - Simon Sinek.

The decline of trust, co-operation and innovation - doesn't that just about sum up the public perception of the real estate industry of today?

Goal setting & expectation is demanded by bosses that know no other way than carrot/stick.

Goal setting and expectation is encouraged by estate agency trainers that are blinkered to the possibility of any other way being successful.

Goal setting & expectation is a curse.

Do yourself and your agency a favour. At least, ditch the expectation.

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Chris.

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