Coaching and Mastermind Groups: A Leadership Program Success Story

By Susan Ireland

One of the biggest drivers to profit in a real estate company is high-caliber leaders. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices is hyper-focused on the development and training of stellar agents but knows it’s important to foster great leadership, too.

For years, the business consultant team has used the Operations Review tool to help network members measure certain benchmarks tied to profitability. One key component of this review is the Sales Associate Survey, which includes expectations of leadership, associate satisfaction levels and associate engagement in company tools and resources. Other benchmarks include expense management, agent recruiting/retention and sales associate productivity. In nearly every Operations Review, there was a direct correlation between profitability and strong leadership. 

In addition to the Operations Review, in 2016 the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices consulting team conducted an extensive Office of the Future study, to identify physical and intangible characteristics that support agent growth and office profitability. Key variables were studied such as agent services, office layout, business model, leadership/culture, coaching/training, technology, brand engagement and recruiting. The study revealed that despite the initial sizzle an office may provide, the steak and common theme throughout turned out to be an intangible … exceptional leadership.

The Operations Reviews and Office of the Future studies were pivotal in discovering great agents weren’t possible without the support and development of great leaders. Extensive training was already online in the LearnCenter but there was a need for leadership-specific coaching to increase productivity and profitability. To answer this need, in April of 2017 the business consulting team created and launched a number of leadership mastermind groups and leadership coaching programs, each addressing specific leadership challenges and opportunities experienced by our network members. There are now over 75 network companies and 150+ leaders participating in one or more of these programs.

If you would like more information about any of these sought-after programs, contact your Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices business consultant today.

SUSAN IRELAND is a business consultant for Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices.