BY ARI LAHDEKORPI
Over the years in our area, many brokerages have come and gone. Some have been major forces for a short while, and then seemingly collapsed under their own weight. The number of failures over the years far outweighs the number of successes.
Our community of Thunder Bay sits on the top of the largest fresh water lake in the world.
We are surrounded by the beautiful Northwestern Ontario boreal forest. These beautiful vistas often give me pause to reflect on this business we call real estate. The other day while sitting on my deck viewing the forest, I was struck by the similarities between the natural eco-system around me and the dynamics of a real estate brokerage. Admittedly at first this seems like a stretch, but there are important fundamentals that exist in both environments.
The health of a forest is dependant on the conditions of the soil…just as a brokerage helps to nourish the efforts of its individual Realtors. If the soil conditions are bad, the trees will not grow, or at best they will be stunted in their growth and not reach their full potential. The parallel with a brokerage is that if the “culture” of the office is one of negativity, the agent will not grow and will not reach his potential. We all need an enriched foundation to meet our potential, and that is the role of the brokerage, and especially the broker.
This is particularly true in this age of independent contractors. An agent is faced with many negative forces through the course of his work week. If he doesn't receive the nurturing and support he needs from the broker, he will either give up or move on.
In observing the synergies within the boreal eco-system, one of the most obvious is the characteristics of the types of vegetation. It may seem as if the trees are all competing for the same nutrients and sunlight, but they actually coexist in a complimentary way. My neighbour discovered this last year as he was clearing out the trees on his property. He decided that the smaller, less attractive trees should be removed. This was done and the yard took on a much more refined look… that is, until the first wind storm! What he discovered was that the seemingly unimportant, less attractive trees were actually holding up and supporting the larger, more impressive trees. Eventually my neighbour had to take down all the trees in his cutting area because they could no longer exist without the smaller trees.
In the same way, in a brokerage a lot of attention is given to the top producers… this is fine. Achievement should be recognized. However, the problems arise when the other agents who are not top producers are not encouraged and supported in their roles. Eventually these agents get demotivated and leave. At that point, the top producers are vulnerable to the negative “winds” around them.
The synergies and dynamics of an office are the results of the diversity in the types of agents and the various cycles of activity that the agents go through. Each agent is important and adds to not only the distinct culture of the office, but also to the health of the “soil “. I have seen towering pines that grew to great heights with a top heavy foliage that was fine while it existed in the company of all the other trees….but the tree trunk was weak because of its top heavy profile. The point is that even the busiest agents must be aware of their surrounding environment, because it is part of their success. Our office has experienced many occasions when the “little guy” came through with the big deal when we needed it the most!
The strength of the forest is in its diversity, and so it is with a real estate brokerage. Imagine a forest with only one type of tree. That forest would fall victim to all types of infestation of disease or insects. In our area, the spruce bud worm destroyed large stands of spruce trees.
The areas where the spruce trees survived were in the spots where the spruce were intermingled with other types of trees. The diversity of the forest protected them. In the same way, if a brokerage does not have diversity in its agent roster, it will fail.
Just like a forest, a brokerage must maintain good soil conditions, support all the “trees” no matter how seemingly insignificant, and encourage diversity. With these factors in place, nature's lessons have been heeded, and the brokerage “eco-system” will grow and prosper….at least that's how it seems from where I sit!
Ari Lahdekorpi is Broker of Real TV Realty Inc. in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
