If there’s one characteristic that you look for in an employee or team member, what is it? 

It’s a loaded question, right? There are plenty of characteristics we want in an employee. But let’s dial it back and consider your business’s reach. What is the impact that you’ve tried to make on your community? Maybe it’s as simple as a positive one. 

Here’s a characteristic to consider: optimism. What does positive thinking do for your business? In fact, an optimistic outlook does a lot. Positive thinking impacts everything from your inner team to the affect your business has on your community and output. The real estate industry isn’t a piece of cake — it can be very frustrating and stressful. But this is what makes the power of positive thinking in business, particularly real estate, so crucial, especially in a time where bidding wars are the norm. Below, our team breaks down the important part that optimism plays in your brokerage. And the main takeaway? Don’t let cynicism drag you or your employees down. 

An optimistic outlook begins with you, and it impacts every nook and cranny of your business

As a member of leadership, a broker, owner, or entrepreneur, everything that you do impacts the entire team. Generally, whatever frame of mind you operate within, your employees and team will follow suit.

1. Depending on your outlook, your work impacts people in a positive way. ‍

One of the great things about running a business is that you can impact the lives of tens and hundreds of people, if not more. Consider, how do you want to go about doing that? When you, yourself, work to think in an optimistic manner, your entire outlook changes. You can build a successful business with a goal to make your consumers, your employees and yourself genuinely fortunate and happy. And this has a trickle down effect on your company.

2. You and your employees are less stressed.

It’s likely that a leadership team that is tough as nails in the name of productivity creates an environment of stress and tension. In fact, leadership that focuses on the negative things will nit-pick at everything, creating an entire army of overthinkers that stress about small stuff that truly doesn’t matter. That’s not what we aim for in positive and optimistic leadership — consider your real estate agents. 

These important members of your team face failure constantly from a deal falling through to losing out on a bidding war. Rather than quitting or giving into frustration, we need these team members to be resilient. Less stress means they don’t have to sweat the small things (or waste their time) and can refocus on things that matter, like chasing new leads and closing the deal. 

3. It promotes problem solving and decision making.  

Leadership can do a lot of damage if they’re making decisions fueled by negative thinking. Just think, when has anyone made a good decision when irritated, bothered or flat out angry? The answer is never. In reality, positive thinking can make you a better problem solver, decision maker and and even even more resilient. These are the tools you want to use when making key decisions for your business. ‍

4. Your team has a different outlook on failure.

Just like a successful entrepreneur never called it quits at every issue they faced, your team can’t give up or feel defeated at every setback. Whether a prospect doesn’t pan out or a mistake is made, how does your team respond? Positive thinking doesn’t just mean you have a happy team all the time — it also dictates how they respond to adversity. You, especially you, should see mistakes and failures as an opportunity to learn and be better in order for your team to do the same. Perfection isn’t always achievable off the bat, but how will you get there with improvements? 

If you or your team aren’t naturally positive thinkers, here are a few tips to help adjust the way of thinking.

• Practice affirmations with yourself and your team.
• Remain open-minded to new ideas and suggestions. Negative thinking can narrow your frame of mind. 
• Don’t place blame when mistakes are made or failures happen. Look for the solution rather than fixate on the problem. 
• Stop what you’re doing, take a deep breath, and take a moment to retrain your thoughts when you feel yourself become overwhelmed or sink into negativity.
  

Zipi is the Real Estate Operating System (OS) that aims to make real estate simple from agents and deals to commissions and billings. Request a demo to get in contact with one of our expert team members.