Have you heard
that much touted employee hiring practice of “getting the right people on the
right seats”? Whenever I hear that I always think of seating people on a bus…
and then I always think of the movie Speed. ....

.. ..

You remember
Speed right? Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock burning down the road jumping
broken bridges, looping cameras, staying above 50 miles per hour, flirting like
crazy and all so the bomb in the bus doesn’t detonate (ok, the flirting may
have been optional in terms of bomb safety but you get my point). ....

.. ..

How different
would this movie have been if Ellen Degeneres were cast instead of Sandra
Bullock? ....

.. ..

She almost was
you know! Now don’t get me wrong, I think Ellen’s a riot (and I dance with her
daily) – but I can not imagine that movie with her in that role!....

.. ..

In my early
days in real estate I almost put on a staff member who I’m sure would have been
good, but would not have fit in with my organisational culture. In short, they
wouldn’t have been the right fit for my bus. The short term loss of not putting
them on stung (but nowhere near as much as the long term pain of having that
cultural clash would have). ....

.. ..

Now the bus
analogy works equally well when you’re looking for work. Don’t do a Meg and
miss the fabulous bus.....

.. ..

Meg Ryan has
had some great hits, but Top Gun not withstanding, what about the movie lead’s
she turned down – Pretty Woman, Basic Instinct, The Silence of the Lambs and
Ghost. Some great busses for sure there. ....

.. ..

Whichever bus
you’re hopping on or loading people on today – I hope it’s the right one for
you! ....

“It” symbolised everything I’d ever wanted when I started my
first business at 15 and my first real estate agency at 21.

“It” represented “experience, knowledge, wisdom,
understanding”. Almost everyone else in real estate had “it” when I first
started.

If only…

… I’d had “it” at 21. Perhaps I wouldn’t have been mistaken
from the receptionist so often. 

… I’d had “it” at 18 perhaps I wouldn’t have felt the need
to sell my beloved first car to get something more appropriate to be seen with
the black BMWs.

But then…

… if I’d had it at 20, perhaps I wouldn’t have pushed myself
in the classroom to learn so much about my industry so that I could show in my own special way that while I didn’t have “it” I still knew enough to be an industry leader.

… if I’d had it at 24, perhaps I wouldn’t have taken so many
risks on my crazy ideas, many of which paid off so well and helped us earn our
reputation as true innovators.

.. ..

… if I’d had “it” at 27, perhaps I wouldn’t have made the
decision some said was crazy and sold out of my group of 6 real estate
agencies.

..January
15th, 2009.. was the day I saw my first grey hair. But, you know
what… I’m glad I didn’t have it before now and I hope it doesn’t change the way
I act in business now.

Despite “my age” being more traditional in the business
arena now (with my grey hair to prove it) I still hope…

… I continue to take risks.

… I continue to feel like I need to go above and beyond.

… I continue to mess things up.

… I continue to be different.

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Thanks to the chaps at Anthill magazine, I just found out about my new favourite website (well, for 5 seconds anyway) http://futureme.org/

FutureMe is a simple little site that lets you send a letter via email to yourself at some time in the future.

4 reasons you may want to use FutureMe:

1.           To make some predictions about your life in say 5 years..

2.           To remind yourself of something (a birthday, an amazing day, to take your garbage out)

3.            To kick start yourself (I like this one sent by Luke in the public section on the site: "man. stop being scared already, and just tell the girl you like her. it's not that hard, and she probably feels the same way about you. I hope.")

4.             Snapshot yourself right now, and write to remind your future self of what it's like to be you today. What do you love, what do you hope for, what are you scared of. This one's sort of like a quirky one day journal that you can read in the future (without the commitment of daily Dear Diary writing!)

Go on, give it a go 648,509 people have already talked to their future selves already… 648,510 now that I have too!

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So… I'll share something personal with you: I'm afraid of birds… there, I said it. And to try and wean me off my fear my husband and I got ourselves a baby budgie a few months ago.

After bursting into tears the first time he flew too close to my head (and then into a window) I can proudly say I've grown some, and am now slightly less afraid of birds in general.  In fact our new little blue-grey budgie Walt is a constant companion of mine these days so I thought I'd use him as inspiration for this (albeit light hearted) post on the business lessons a budgie can teach you:

Preening is important

You only get one chance to… that's right, make a first impression. Now don't get me wrong, I'm at my happiest in Peter Alexander PJ pants and ugg boots and while (much to Walt's disgust) I'll sometimes wear them to the supermarket each of us has to know when it's time to put on our fancy feathers. Whether it's the job interview you really want to rock, the client you're looking to impress or dinner with the future parents in law, there's a time and a place for some good old fashioned preening.

Walt suggests: that you should also remember not to go overboard on the preening (a full face of makeup at the gym is just kinda strange).

Sing a song

If you're happy and you know it… sing a song.  Walt's singing along to some very dodgy pop music at the moment and he's as happy as Julius*.  People love to interact, work with, promote and generally be around happy people. No, you can't be happy all the time, but when you are, project it and get it out there.

Walt suggests: limiting the actual physical act of singing to your car, cage or shower (singing in busses, busy office places and elevators is also kinda strange but not as strange as this.

Get what you want

Don Burke tells me that budgies have feathers on their cheeks and the crowns of their heads which reflect ultraviolet light and the little critters use these to find and attract mates. In the business world, what are your ultraviolet feathers? I think they're your skills and talents and the parts of your service that mean that you got that extra centimetre further than your competitors.

Walt suggests: that while budgies use these gorgeous feathers to court and flirt, humans may want to try finding out a girl's shoe size and buying her a pair of Manolos (Walt watches too much Sex and the City).

Sometimes someone who loves you may have to poo on you

It's true, my lovely little Walt leaves fabulous little deposits on me every now and then (which is why my head is no longer an approved landing post). In your life you'll encounter people who will leave their own deposits on you, some are doing it, because they're simply full of "deposits", but others do it for you own good. The boss who pushes you outside your comfort zone is one example. It may be tough right now, but eventually you'll be a bigger and better person for it.

Walt suggests: that if you can learn business lessons from a budgie – where can't you learn them!

* Julius is a friend's budgie and a happy little man indeed

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A few years back someone came up to me and asked if I was "Real Estate Kirsty".

Now to me, "Real Estate Kirsty" sounded like she should have her own action figure and superhero costume, it was quite a bizarre moment really.

But the more I thought about it, the more I liked it because:

• It was spot on for my branding at the time in my local area
• It meant that this person remembered not only my name but what I did
• It was soo much better than "real estate KRISTY"!

So what would your action figure be? Lawyer Simone, Jack of All Trades Jack, Hairdressing Harry?

But more so, are people associating you with what you do. If someone needed a real estate agent, I would have loved for them to have thought of "Real Estate Kirsty" first. What or who do your potential clients think of when they think of your industry?

Don’t hire people smarter than you....

As Ziz Ziglar eloquently recaps when you hire somebody smarter than yourself, you prove you are smarter than they are. One of the best lessons I’ve ever been taught in managing people is that A-grade manager’s hire A-grade people, B-grade managers hire C-grade people. If you need to be the smartest person in the room at all times, get used to your business growth stagnating and constantly hearing the words “If I want something done right… come out of your mouth. ....

Don’t share your knowledge within your industry....

I was always asked by other real estate agents why I’d get on a stage (or go to lunch) and share everything I knew about real estate and about my business. Wasn’t I afraid that people were going to copy me?

Number 1 – if you’re doing something exceptional, people will find out regardless, that’s the beauty and the downfall of word of mouth, nothing sensational stays a secret for long.

Number 2 – people don’t implement every great idea they hear, as much as speakers would love them to, it just doesn’t happen.

Number 3 – when you share a great idea, you don’t lose it, you just multiply it, and if you do it properly the person you’re sharing it with may have some great ideas on how you can improve your idea. ....

You don’t have time to learn....

It’s simple really: don’t learn, don’t grow. Don’t grow, go backwards. ....

"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young." - Henry Ford....

You have to be ruthless to get ahead....

I have my own theories on different success styles but the more I meet successful people, the more I meet amazing, kind, generous, sharing people. In speaking to two different groups of real estate agents in New Zealand last week, the overwhelming response when I asked who was the person in their industry who they’d most like to become more like, was an agent by the name of Alison Aitken (a gun, but also incredibly well respected because of her ethics, standards and values).....

....