Blog / Leadership
Leading By Example
The recipe for a great leader is a popular topic of discussion, but getting people to follow you all boils down to a handful of traits and inherent qualities.
Three successful real estate agents from around Australia share their views on what makes an exceptional leader.
Greg Clyde-Smith, Elite Cairns, Director
What makes a great leader?
The normal sorts of things that make good salespeople in many ways - if you’ve got the confidence of the people who are following you, that makes a big difference. If you can display that you’re very confident in what you’re doing. You need to have a very clear vision that you convey to those who you want to follow you. I also think it helps if you’ve got charisma and good public speaking skills; you need to stand out from the crowd.
Number one trait a leader must possess?
People following you need to trust where you’re going and trust that you know how to get there. They need to be absolutely confident that what you are saying to them could be trusted to the nth extent.
Are leaders born or can they be developed?
I think there are many more born than there are developed. You can develop leadership, but it takes a long time and you need to skill yourself significantly and over time. In my experience it’s the people who tend to have the more natural attributes that come with birth.
What makes people follow leaders?
There is something there, whether it’s natural or a significant degree of self confidence I’m not sure, but I think self confidence can be developed over time with the way you are brought up, the people you surround yourself with and the environment you are in on a day-to-day basis.
There is a little something that many leaders have that just makes people want to follow them, and I think it’s probably charisma. They might be significantly good looking, or have something else that attracts people to them initially, but providing they’ve got the ability or the attributes that follow, others will keep following.
Alex Ouwens,
Harcourts Ouwens Casserly, Salesperson
What makes a great leader?
Trust. We believe leadership is about earning trust within the team and leading from the front when applicable. Good leaders prepare and assist the team before they go onto the ‘field’. Inspirational leaders give the team the tools they need to get the job done and don’t hand over responsibility unless they have given them the resources and systems first. We walk alongside the team a lot of the time, and walk ahead of them through the toughest times. By maintaining trust, the team will always follow. A good leader must always take a calculated approach to issues with a balanced mind, and then find that kick of emotional energy to inspire. “You know you are good leader when people will follow you, even if it is only out of curiosity”. Unknown Army Sergeant.
Number one trait a leader must possess?
Persistence. One of our first real estate mentors taught us that, “A winner never quits and a quitter never wins,” and told me the story of the gold seeking prospector, Schnitty.
Schnitty and his uncle mined gold in Ballarat. After a few weeks they found their treasure and paid off all their debts. However, they had not yet struck it rich, and couldn’t find any more gold so they quit. Another miner hired an engineer to inspect the area where Schnitty had been digging and he explained that gold ran in veins and Schnitty had possibly been digging on the wrong side of the vein. Following the engineer’s advice the local miner began to dig and found a huge multi-million dollar reserve of gold, only one metre from where Schnitty had searched. Schnitty was devastated but, determined to learn from his mistake, he pushed himself and became a wealthy businessman.
Are leaders born or can they be developed?
Everyone can develop their skills to become an inspirational leader. IQ never changes, but EQ (Emotional Intelligence) does. Most of us are shy as a child and have an immense fear of public speaking. We believe in surrounding ourselves with great leaders and coaches, and that inspirational learning resources will help us to achieve a high level of leadership. Abraham Lincoln’s 28-year path to becoming one of the USA’s most famous presidents was filled with setbacks including nervous breakdowns, the loss of a sweetheart and several candidate failures. He improved his EQ and persisted until he became America’s number 1.
What makes people follow leaders?
Confidence and humility are not always good bedfellows. Leaders who can marry the two together to earn the trust of the people around them tend to create the most powerful teams. Fun is a big element in leadership to attract the best people to join a team.
Brett Andreassen, Doug Disher Real Estate, Salesperson
What makes a great leader?
Someone who can communicate clearly what they want to achieve. A person I want to follow will have a clearly defined path and explain why we are taking it. I don’t want to follow someone with wishy-washy ideas because you won’t know where they are going.
Number one trait a leader must possess?
Clear goals and communication. Are leaders born or can they be developed? I think leaders happen through training and development, although there could be some people who fall naturally into that leadership role.
What makes people follow leaders?
I don’t know that people naturally want to follow someone; you’d have to be able to impress and have a goal for people to be able to follow you. No one would follow you blindly without a purpose or goal.
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