We are all part of something bigger than ourselves, something great.  Constant awareness of this fact helps one to effectively move forward in life.

One of the ways we keep things moving in our business is to empower each and every one of our stakeholders – our agents – to be an integral part in not only planning our company’s goals but charting the path to reach them. This clearly communicates to them that they are part of something bigger, something we all think is great – our business.

How do we do this? Baby steps.  

Last year, we created a solid business plan, complete with what we call Wildly Important Goals, and deemed it a working document.  Meaning, it grew with our business and the environment we operate in.  As a family, we collectively set quarterly goals and evaluate them every few weeks.  Together, we discuss plans to move ahead and the always-advancing tools to make it happen – social media, the Internet, new technologies, etc.  If we identify a specific challenge, our business plan evolves to meet it head on. 

In addition, I personally meet with each agent to understand how they are moving the plan forward. One-on-one meetings allow agents to feel comfortable asking questions and also underscore how serious I am about individual accountability. Everyone knows straight from the horse’s mouth how important they are in making our company great.

While our plan is clearly defined, how we execute on that plan changes from person to person thanks to our belief in situational leadership.  Once agents understand that they can apply their own methods toward reaching our goals, the concept of executing the plan spreads like wildfire.  And they know, as long as they are moving in the desired direction, I will support them and let them move ahead in their own way.  It all boils down to mutual respect. 

In turn, our agents keep the management team accountable.  The result?  We won the ERA system’s highest honor in 2011 and then, we won it again in 2012.  The validation that we were part of something big, something great was icing on the cake: because of our shared commitment to business planning, our company performance over the last year and a half has increased significantly, catapulting our company to new levels of energy and excitement.  The momentum is certainly keeping our company moving forward.

Gus Grizzard

Gus Grizzard is an U.S. Army veteran of the 82nd Airborne Division and joined the Real Estate industry in 2007. He is the broker / owner of ERA Tom Grizzard, Inc. in Leesburg, Florida. Gus and ERA Tom Grizzard are two-time consecutive recipients of the ERA Gene Francis Memorial Award which is the highest honor given to an ERA company. It reflects the qualities most respected throughout the global ERA system and is metrics driven.