By Helen Hull
Fostering career development is a two-way street, with the best outcomes achieved when real estate professionals and their leaders listen to each other and work together for ultimate success. Here, real estate industry leaders reveal how you can propel your career sky high.
There are an abundance of roles to be explored in real estate – but, to truly succeed, agents must fully utilise career development. Seeking mentors and leaders to guide and support you helps to give you the upper hand, resulting in greater accomplishments and overall satisfaction, both personally and professionally, no matter what stage you are in your career.
John Cunningham, Managing Director at Cunninghams, said career development is multi-layered and comes in the form of a four-pronged approach: formalised learning to achieve qualifications, structured training, individual instruction and on-the-job learning.
“There’s too much emphasis in most real estate training on the ‘what’, without providing the ‘why’ and then the ‘how’ of practical application. The ‘why’ is an essential part of the mix, so that together with the ‘what’ and ‘how’ knowledge can become applied learning.”
John Cunningham
Cunninghams
“The ideal ratio is 10:15:20:55 to achieve 100 per cent, with all four required for long-term career development to be most effective,” Mr Cunningham explained.
Amanda Browell-Hook, Head of Shared Services at Morton, agreed and added that on-the-job training is critical.
“You need to see every relationship, every meeting and every training session as a learning opportunity,” she said.
Ms Browell-Hook noted that you don’t need to take the “straight path” to achieve your career goal.
“You’ll get a better grounding and be a more rounded individual if you learn all areas of the business and work in a variety of roles,” she said. “For example, I believe that the best sales agents are those who have also worked in property management and sales admin roles, and have worked their way around the business.
“It’s also less risky for your mental health and financial wellbeing to join a super team, rather than just go into a sales role straight away with an ‘all or nothing’ attitude.”
Ms Browell-Hook said it’s important for real estate professionals to recognise that sales is not the only career path in real estate.
“For example, I’ve found my path in operational management and delivering shared services to support the business,” she said. “It’s important to understand that an agency is a multi-faceted organisation and you will need to find the facet that is the best fit for you.”
One size doesn’t fit all
Mr Cunningham said it’s important to acknowledge that everyone is different and goes through different phases and circumstances in their lives.
“Having a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all approach to career development and training your team is a recipe for failure,” he said.
“I recommend surveying your team at least twice a year to discover what their career development needs are, the time they’re prepared to invest and what style of training they prefer. This ensures a higher level of engagement and success.”
According to Ms Browell-Hook, agency leaders should seek feedback from their team members and, in doing so, should process that feedback unemotionally and in the spirit in which it is intended.
“Leaders don’t know what they don’t know,” she said. “You need to communicate your aspirations, so they can do what they can to help you on the path. They can’t guess where you want to go. You have to be open, so you can go on the journey together.
“A good leader will listen to you and help you map out the steps you need to take to get to where you want to go.”
“Leaders don’t know what they don’t know. You need to communicate your aspirations, so they can do what they can to help you on the path. They can’t guess where you want to go. You have to be open, so you can go on the journey together.”
Amanda Browell-Hook
Mortons
Applied learning
Mr Cunningham said that many people don’t know where to start when it comes to learning and career development.
“I believe that there needs to be a shift in mindset in our industry to understanding the benefits of personal career advancement – and from there the beauty and benefits of knowledge can unfold,” he said.
“There’s too much emphasis in most real estate training on the ‘what’, without providing the ‘why’ and then the ‘how’ of practical application. The ‘why’ is an essential part of the mix, so that together with the ‘what’ and ‘how’ knowledge can become applied learning.
“Once this is achieved true career development can take place.”
Feed your mind
Ms Browell-Hook encouraged agents to look beyond only that which is happening at their own agency and in the real estate industry.
“You have an opportunity to feed your own mind and it may be that something that’s happening at another agency or in another industry can give you insight,” she said.
“It is also important to always maintain your relationships, because real estate is about dealing and working with everyone in life.”
Importantly, Ms Browell-Hook said agents need to recognise that “this is your life”.
“You career pathway will have twists and turns,” she said. “Always look forward to the future, but don’t forget to enjoy the present moment.”
Even after almost 20 years in the real estate industry, Ms Browell-Hook is always looking for learning opportunities.
“For me, it’s about finding your people,” she said. "At Morton, I’ve found an organisation that speaks my language and it’s an agency that’s enabled me to grow as it has grown.
“You have to find that special connection with an agency. You have to put your hand on your heart and know you’re putting everything into your role. You have to recognise that all agencies are not created equal. Yes, every agency can be successful, but there’s also a cultural piece that you need to consider in a very personal way.
“Ultimately, you need to be true to yourself. If an agency does not sit true for you, then it’s not the right agency for you – but always give it a chance and don’t jump too soon.”
Ms Browell-Hook believes that the future is bright.
“What keeps me going is that I know Morton and this industry will continue to excite me for the next 20 years,” she said. “As a business, Morton continues to invest in growth and, after 18 years at the agency, I still have many opportunities to grow and learn.”
Similarly, Mr Cunningham has no doubt that Cunninghams has been able to thrive through anything that has been thrown at them because of the career development and training provided to their team.
“I look back at things like the GFC and the Banking Royal Commission,” he said. “We sailed through those times due to our approach and the environment that we have created for our team.
“We have a saying: ‘It’s not about what the market is doing; it’s about what you are doing in the market that counts’. And this has seen all the work we put into learning and development come to the fore with our capable people standing out in the crowded marketplace. Why? Because they are better equipped to deal with tough times, tricky situations and clients stresses than other agents.”