You’re Wearing Too Many Hats—and It’s Killing Your Team

by Steve Shull

When it comes to your real estate team... 

Who are you really?

Are you the leader?

Are you the manager?

Are you the rainmaker?

Are you the chief cook and bottle washer?

Most “team leaders” are wearing too many hats.

They’re trying to do all of the above, which means they’re not effective at any of it—ESPECIALLY the leadership piece.

Let’s be very clear: every team needs a leader. This is the person who sets the vision: Where is the team going? How will you get there? What needs to happen?

This is a FULL TIME JOB.

And let’s be honest…this is the LAST job most “team leaders” want. They don’t want to deal with setting strategy, building systems, training people, or any of that stuff.

They just want to list and sell property! That’s what they’re great at—being the rainmaker.

Unfortunately, the qualities that make you a great rainmaker don’t translate into being a great team leader or manager. These three roles are VERY different.

The leader’s job is focused on vision, culture, and decision-making.

True leaders know they can’t do everything, and just because they can do it better than others doesn’t mean they should do it. 

They know it’s not about them, and that nothing of significance can be achieved alone. 

They know that to grow, they must let go.

They embrace this way of thinking. They understand that their time, attention, and energy is limited, and their number one job is empowering other people to succeed.

That’s what they’re focused on every day: are we in the right boat, going in the right direction, with the right people, doing the right things?

The manager’s job is to oversee daily operations.

They make sure everything is running smoothly and effectively: the right process is in place, everyone is following it, and it’s always being refined.

They make sure the client is having a great experience—one that will make them want to come back and refer their friends.

They make sure the team members have quality of life and aren’t running a daily fire drill.

This is the work that makes the business scalable, and it’s ALSO a full-time job that requires a specific skill set. While the leader is thinking about the big picture, the manager is focused on the details of getting the work done.

The rainmaker’s job is to be out listing and selling property.

They are in the hunt—going on appointments, negotiating contracts, solving problems, doing deals.

They have a completely different focus from the leader or manager. It’s all about getting the client from the starting line to the finish line.

How do you do all three of these jobs? 

YOU DON’T.

This is why teams are set up to fail. 

Most “team leaders” will gravitate towards the rainmaker position because that’s what they know how to do and what they like to do. It’s their comfort zone, their strongest skill set, their default perspective.

But when your team is run by a rainmaker instead of a leader, every day is a fire drill. They practice “seagull management:” fly in, crap all over everything, and fly away…leaving everyone scrambling to react.

If you’re a rainmaker, you know exactly what I’m talking about…and you know what a mess it makes.

That’s why you need to understand what the roles are, which one you’re in now, and which one you need to be in to build a winning team. 

None of this has to happen overnight, but you need a clear picture of where you’re going.

You’re going to start as a rainmaker, of course.

Then you’ll need to hire someone to manage the business, and it can’t be you. That person might start as an assistant, then grow into an operations manager.

Eventually, you have to move out of the rainmaker role into team leader—OR hire a team leader. You can’t do both, much less all three.

You can’t boil the ocean. This isn’t going to happen instantly. 

Start with understanding what needs to happen, then put a plan in place to make it happen.