By Stan Albert
So, you want to be a manager eh? Maybe you should think it over twice before jumping into the water. Allow me to share a bit of my background with you.
I first thought about management and owning my own brokerage back in the ’70s and found it to be very rewarding and even financially beneficial. As the years rolled on, I decided to sell off my shares in the brokerage to my partners and pursue a career supervising and training with the now defunct Frank Real Estate. Travelling nearly every day to the far reaches of Eastern Ontario became very taxing and extremely difficult, especially in the winter months.
Still, I longed for the challenge of management and was enticed to come to Toronto, where I landed at a Century 21 office for a short period of time. I found that my “home spun” idealism and thinking didn’t fit in with the Toronto breed of brokerages.
I quickly realized that I had to change with the territory and make some inroads on how to recruit, other than with the multitude of career nights that we held. Although they were fun to organize and we made some decent presentations, the end results weren’t what we were looking for at all.
After a frustrating year of doing these events, I eventually found my way to the now-defunct Safeguard Real Estate, through the auspices of an agent who had worked with me in Belleville, Ont.
I was introduced to an enigmatic broker, the late Demetre Ellis, who had what I thought was a phenomenal vision of the future of real estate: large offices with 50 to 100 agents and several branches. During the 10 1/2 years we worked together, we hired more than 300 agents. My training skills became more polished and I adapted to a totally different mix of agents. We were a “United Nations” of agents, speaking more than 20 languages and running the deals totally off the white board that we kept in those long-past days. Challenges, yes, I had many to cope with, but with help from many of my colleagues, we were able to entice some great people to our non-franchised independent offices.
During that time, managers were paid a great deal more than what is the norm today, so I really enjoyed my lifestyle. That is until 1989 happened. Remember the book Boom, Bust and Echo, which foretold of the bubble that was about to burst? Most of us ignored it and went on our merry way. But the bubble did burst and in a most devastating way for the industry. Eventually, this once-successful brokerage failed.
So if you’re thinking that a manager’s position is secure, you’d better have another thought.
Going forward… after a few months with two different brokers, I was recruited by a large Re/Max office with two offices and remained there for four years until one of the owners decided to opt for managing as opposed to being a selling owner. Although the severance was fair, I became disconsolate and depressed because I thought that I had done a good job in the areas of recruiting and retention. Returning a year or two later as career development officer, we managed to recruit quite a few agents, but I found that management was still what I wanted to do.
As luck would have it, my best friend, Derek Levitt, of Re/Max Professionals called to see if I was still interested in management and from that time up to the present, I have been actively involved in management, recruitment and training. I have been fortunate to have been able to do what I love to do, but the road has not been as secure as you might imagine. It’s as secure as your last year of recruiting activity. Just as you are as good as your last sold listing.
Management is not a 9 to 5, Monday to Friday job. You may be required to come in on weekends as well as respond to calls from agents late at night and while you are on holidays (even though the front desk has been so advised). But it goes with the territory.
Managers need to know all the rules that govern our industry – backwards and forwards. We must be part fireman, part accountant, part psychiatrist and at times, part priest or rabbi. You must continue to strive every year for knowledge that will help guide your team through not only good times, but tough times as well.
We are now faced with yet another challenge, with changes brought on by the Competition Bureau. As brokers and managers, we strive to inform, educate and guide our teams to success after success, in spite of the roadblocks we currently face. And be prepared at all times to thwart difficult agents and members of the public.
These are difficult times we face, but those who manage with professionalism, integrity and care for others will indeed be around for a long time. Oh, and did I mention patience? It’s an attribute you will need in abundance.
Still want to manage? Better call me or email me first before you leave that $150,000 or more income. But hey, some broker/owners and broker/managers do sell and they are quite successful. If that’s what you really want to do, go for it!
As my window of opportunity to manage/consult/train draws to a close over the next couple of years, I will leave this industry with memories to last the rest of my life and with the hope that, in some small way, I have given the tools to succeed to many of those I have had the privilege to work with.
Ah, so much has changed over the years: teams; technology; Twitter; YouTube; Facebook. I only wish I had been born 30 years ago to see where it will take us and to see where you, my friends, will be.
For more of my ramblings, coaching or venting, see my blog on Active Rain.
Stan Albert, broker/manager, ABR, ASA at Re/Max Premier in Vaughan, Ont. can be reached for consultation at stanalb@rogers.com. Stan is now celebrating 40 years as an active real estate professional.
Stan Albert, ABR, ASA is a consultant with Re/Max Premier in Vaughan, Ont. He can be reached for consultation by email. Stan is now celebrating his 45th year as an active real estate professional.
