Powered by MOMENTUM MEDIA
the adviser logo
Sales & Marketing

The key to good leadership

by Ewan Morton9 minute read
The key to good leadership

RESPECT is more than just a great song; I think it is fundamental to good leadership.

As I have said before, being the boss doesn’t automatically make you a good leader. In actual fact it often doesn’t even make you a good boss!

So what’s the difference? I think it’s summed up perfectly by management expert Kenneth Blanchard, who says "The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority."

As a boss, you have the authority to issue an order. As a leader, you have the power to motivate irrespective of authority - and influence is only possible if you have earned respect.

==
==

But let’s not get caught up in the management speak. How does one achieve respect in real estate, an industry notoriously low on the register of respected professions?

Again, it doesn’t come from power; it comes from humility.

So let me ask a question: Does anyone ever disagree with you?

If not, rather than sitting back and revelling in the supremacy of your knowledge, perhaps you should be wondering why?

In what way does your business encourage positive and negative feedback? Do staff feel empowered to challenge you or raise an issue of concern? If no platform for voicing dissent exists, it will go unheard.

Morton & Morton have round table discussions and regular one-on-one sessions with all staff. We formally ask for feedback from our clients regularly. Receiving negative feedback is not something I enjoy but it is important to acknowledge that we can always learn and improve.

Being prepared to hear the bad news as well as the good is fundamental to generating respect.

 

ewan morton small
magazine
Read the latest issue of The Adviser magazine!
The Adviser is the number one magazine for Australia's finance and mortgage brokers. The publications delivers news, analysis, business intelligence, sales and marketing strategies, research and key target reports to an audience of professional mortgage and finance brokers
Read more