It is rare when you get an opportunity to listen and speak with an entrepreneur at the level of Gary Keller. Gary is the founder and owner of Keller Williams Realty International. KWRI has grown into the largest Real Estate company in the world. Beyond the growth in real estate KWRI has also made it’s mark on the educational arena. They have been awarded the best educational company and have now set their vision on the tech industry. It has been fun participating in this evolution since 2013, when The Nellis Group transitioned over to join KW. I have been continually impressed with the insight gained when going to the National Conventions and in the smaller formats similar to what I experienced in Austin this week.
See it is easy to be the “big fish” in Washington Metro DC and know that we are serving the community, our clients and making an impact. Then, I sit in a room with Real Estate being done in ways throughout the world I have not tested nor experienced and many times on larger scales than my own operation.
Gary Keller sharing insights on the real estate industry
As I sat there and listened to Gary share about “failing my way to success”, I began to think through my failures both big and small. He continued that if you are not consistently failing then your goals are not big enough- you are capping your potential. “Failure is absolute with a BIG enough goal. You should consistently fail to know that you are going to your maximum.”
I began to think about the sports team that I participated and even with running marathons and stretching beyond what I thought possible at that time. Only by going further than I mentally thought I could travel did I pass through the barriers and allow the goal to become reality. See either the goals you set are immoveable or the people are immoveable. Gary went on to share, “too many companies allow their current employees to dictate the standards and adjust the goals to the people. The companies that are thriving today are ruthless with their goals and focus on hiring. Their goals are immoveable and if their current people can not hit them they become moveable and they acquire people that can perform at the higher level.” Gary went on to share about how turnover in a company is healthy. He labeled it as “healthy turnover”. “Think about the College Coach that has 100% turnover EVERY 4 years. Or even the San Antonio Spurs and how their all-stars today are the role players tomorrow as they always bring in new and top talent.”
I used to take pride in having zero turnover; then in early 2014 I learned that you should never change your standards to meet the longevity of an employee. The standards should be high and continue to be raised higher to provide excellence to the consumer. The term I was taught in that early mastermind with Gary Keller was for someone to self-select out. In an ideal environment you do not fire someone, you allow them to self-select out when they can not meet the new standards. When I learned about this it took the stress away from people no longer being a fit for The Nellis Group Vision & Mission.
My goal for 2017 is to pursue with passion the idea of failing forward for a higher level of success and to keep our goals for business and for impacting the community as immoveable. Especially as we push forward with our vision to impact the local community through our NG100 (100th Home Sale).