Back in the late 90’s I was lucky enough to meet Tom Peters and at the same time I happened to be reading his book The Circle of Innovation. I also had the audio of it from Nightingale Conant and was listening to it, as well- his ideas really got me thinking at the time! One of the most important thoughts I have ever had in my business life came from one of those, I can’t remember exactly which one as they were all happening at the same time, and this was it: the idea of putting Beauty and Grace into your work each day. I was so taken by the idea of Beauty and Grace being mixed up with business! This was back in the middle of my real estate career and it was a revival for me! I threw the thought at my assistant who shared my excitement, thank goodness for me! Everyday we used a checklist to make sure we were covering priorities, from that day forward we put on the top of the page- Put Beauty and Grace in Our Work Today, as a reminder of our intention to bring in that energy. Were we always 100% successful? No way- did it give us a completely different way to approach things? Yes! Did it allow us to bring something more to each other, the office, and the clients we served? You bet!
So, I am grateful that I happened to listen to an interview that Leadership Today did with Mark Willis and Diana Kokoszka of Keller Williams- by their reporting the 4th largest real estate franchise in North America- and growing FAST! I am grateful because they reminded me of what I once knew and focused on- with a twist. One of the first things they mention in the interview is that they employ three words in working with their agents- love, empathy and appreciation. Their focus is to use those words to understand and help their agents, they look for any opportunity to show their high level of appreciation for their people. They describe this as being about many things, but in a big way about education and what they offer in the way of learning and tools to help their agents be successful, even in the challenging market we currently face. This is one of the ways they show that they understand what the people are going through, showing them love by caring and then showing their appreciation by doing something about it. I think that Tom Peters would be proud!
I am putting Tom’s book Circle Of Innovation back out on my desk for a while. It was written in 1997, but I have a feeling that reading it again now I just might glean a few other crazy ideas that make alot of sense today. I know it will cause me to be thinking in new directions again.
My new daily checklist heading: Infuse today with Beauty, Grace, Wisdom and Love- bring each of these to everything I do and to every choice I make. What’s yours?
PS- thanks for the inspiration Tom, Mark and Diana.