What makes a good Company succeed? The truth? The people that drive the mission. The people who create, execute and deliver. What is a company’s worth without a good team behind it? I am currently CEO of a real estate company in Honduras and have done fairly well for myself. Why? I understood that my team is my success. I work part time in Real Estate, since my priority is my family, yet have managed to grow my company and see it succeed in the last 2 years. I understood fairly quickly how to keep my team motivated and make them feel appreciated. There are a lot of benefits when it comes to utilizing team leadership theory. I believe my leadership in this instance can be defined by results-driven structure, competent team members, and collaborative climate. If I had to acknowledge a weakness to team leadership theory, it would be employees getting a false sense of authority over the leader in instances where it cannot be applied. I had to deal with two particular cases, where I encouraged autonomy a little too much and affected the employee, instead of supporting her.
My real estate company was created out of necessity. I am happily married and have 2 beautiful daughters; whom I want to be the best example for. I started college, yet due to life circumstances, couldn’t graduate in my early twenties. I decided I needed to finish my degree and started to brainstorm how I could generate income where I wouldn’t have to invest a large sum of capital. And thus, KRE (K real estate) was born. I was a part time real estate agent, part-time student and a full-time wife and mom. It has been challenging, which has made my studies and work more rewarding. Yet, I needed a little support, and decided to hire my close friend and 3 other agents. Best business decision so far. KRE grew exponentially in a particular niche; exclusivity with big commercial projects. KRE currently employs 5 people and they are the engine behind my company.
“Team is a type of organizational group that is composed of members who are interdependent, who share common goals, and who must coordinate their activities to accomplish these goals” (Northouse, L. 6 pg.115, 2016). Team leadership theory is a summation of employees working together, with a lateral decision-making structure; allowing for a capability of a faster response rate (Northouse, L. 14 pg.363, 2016). Teams who are structured in such a way have proven to show an “increase in productivity, more effective use of resources, better decisions and problem solving, better quality products and services, and greater innovation and creativity” (Northouse, L. 14 pg.365, 2016). I have strived for every employee to be a leader and excel in their field. I have an agent who is a lawyer and is in charge of all legal documentation necessary. My marketing and social media campaigns is handled by Daniel, a marketing graduate. And the three other agents are excellent at selling and focus on reaching out and negotiation with clients. They all have a broad spectrum of liberty to handle clients and negotiations, because I decide to trust their judgement and reward their hard work. For example, once I was out of reach, and Andrea, an agent, was given a relatively decent offer for a house we were promoting, and even thought the owners were willing to accept the offer, she thought we could get a better one. She decided to convince the owners to turn the offer down and wait for a better one to present itself. When I was able to call her back, I wasn’t sure she had made the right move, but decided to encourage and motivate her on her decision. It ended up working for her in the end, since a few weeks later a better offer did come in! A team leader can be described as someone who allows for others to grow personally and professionally, while guiding the way to excel in common goals.
Part of team effectiveness in KRE has been employed through a results-driven structure. “Structural features that lead to effective teamwork include task design, team composition, and core norms of conduct” (Wageman, Fisher, & Hackman, 2009). The structure I have created in my company is that of goal orientation. All my agents have a minimum of deals to close a month and get a reward if they double them. Goals are clear and concise. The norm of conduct that guides my company is ethics and formality. In Honduras, most real estate agents don’t have a company, but rather act as independents and are very harsh in negotiations when it comes to other agents; since exclusivity is not something that is granted in 90% of the times. I have made it my prime goal to be ethical; and expect nothing less of my team. Competent team members are crucial for success. In addition, members need sufficient information, education, and training to become or remain competent team members (Hackman & Walton, 1986). I have a specific person for each department, and hire my weaknesses personified so they can advise me when taking important decisions. I am currently studying psychology because I know it will be of great use in my area of business. I encourage my team to never stop learning. Recently we all took an online Keller Williams course on real estate; where I told them if they learned one thing from the whole course-it was already a win. A collaborative climate, “one in which members can stay problem focused, listen to and understand one another, feel free to take risks, and be willing to compensate for one another” (Northouse, L. 14 pg.371, 2016), is a great way to grow and learn from your teammates. Respect is an important aspect of any relationship, and a work environment is no exception. Ethical integration and commitment are a necessity in every company who has a solid team and provides an excellent product or service. A successful company is like any great recipe; it needs to have authentic, fresh and real ingredients for it to evolve, grow and be satisfactory. When a rouge ingredient is added, the result varies significantly. I have had two cases of disrespect; due to the confidence and decision-making autonomy I provide for my team. I have had the same agent try to impose her idea of how to more adequately run my company twice, to which I let her know that it was not acceptable and gave her a final warning.
Overall, I have an outstanding team working, for what started as a necessity, and now is a corporate company focused on commercial projects. My team has certain autonomy and rules of ethics to follow. We all have similar, clear, concise goals to focus on; and aid each other on the way. We understand we are bigger than the self and excel and succeed as a whole. I have hired extremely competent team members, who advise me on important decisions. We are constantly evolving and have each other’s support in the process. I try, as a leader, to guide them through incentives, clear goals and ethical standards, and outmost respect for colleagues. KRE is still on the process of growing, and I feel confident my team and I will take it to where it needs to go to keep growing.
References
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. Chapters 1 & 2. Sage Publications.
jlj47 says
What an amazing company you have. While reading your post, I could not help but think of authentic leadership. The team leadership approach, as you stated, appears to be the overall philosophy by which you lead. However, I would argue you are an example of an authentic leader. The interpersonal definition of authentic leadership identifies relationships between leaders and followers creates a reciprocal process each effecting the other (Northouse, 2016). The teamwork approach seems expressly conducive to that definition of authentic leadership. You stated that you hired employees specifically to counter your own weaknesses. This represents the self-awareness aspect of leadership also described by Northouse (2016). Furthermore, your interactions with your employees is representative of a primary strength to authentic leadership, trust. You show the characteristics of a trustworthy leader and that trust your followers have in you is built from the trust you place in them. Your doubts about one of your agents decisions did not preclude you from trusting her judgement in your absence. This is another example of how you are an authentic leader. Thanks for sharing your story and perspectives on the good and bad of team leadership.