Jet talks about what he has discovered through the survey about how we handle stress. Hear about how you can get the report today with a link below.
Topic – Wellness and Wellbeing Study
Mentor – Jet Xavier
- What is your measure
- We need a new model
- Focus on thriving not just surviving
- Get the report here
Property Management Matters with Tara Bradbury – Why you need to be careful about what you say about your day. Negative vibes will come back!
Transcript:
Kevin: How do you measure success in real estate? I’m going to refer now to a report that was published by our mentor guest all this week, Jet Xavier, the Inaugural Study of Wellness and Wellbeing in the Real Estate Industry.
Kevin: We gave you an insight into that yesterday and said that there were seven distinct themes that came out of the report. Jet joins me again this morning. Good morning, Jet.
Jet: Hi, mate, how are you?
Kevin: Well, thank you.
Kevin: Jet, thanks for being with us once again. Let’s have a look at the first those themes and we’ll devote today to it, because I think it’s a pretty important point, sort of stamps what this report is all about, and that is that there probably needs to be a new model in real estate, and that is one that’s a model that focuses on thriving, not just surviving.
Jet: Yeah, one of the key things that came out of the round tables … We did four round tables last year as part of the Revive project. Over 55 influencers in the industry contributed to the conversation, and basically helped us with some of the content that we’re talking about today and over the rest of the week.
Jet: But the Thrive thing came out of the fact that not enough people are encouraged within the real estate industry to put their hand up when they’re struggling, or when they’re not coping, or when they’re finding it tough.
Jet: I think Leanne Pilkington said it best. She said, “People don’t have conversations around burnout, around anxiety, around depression, because particularly men don’t like to share that because they think that it makes them weak for other people to know that they’ve got those problems.” I think the industry doesn’t have enough avenues for people to be able to be vulnerable, in that sense, and show weakness. It’s a really harden up type of you know … Get on with it type of industry.
Jet: We saw the statistics … Yesterday we talked about, we know a lot of people are potentially struggling but don’t have avenues or ways to reach out.
Kevin: Yeah, one of the other people that took part in your round table, Kate Strickland, made a very good point. Kate is a sales agent with Marshall White in Victoria. She said, “We all want to play this role where we’re perfect and we’re not. Living our lives from the outside in. Being judged.”
Jet: Yeah-
Kevin: A lot of great insights came out of this.
Jet: Yeah, they did. It’s a profession that sometimes sets you up for failure, because there’s an expectation you have to be superhuman all the time. If you’re not you just get thrown out. Unfortunately, not everybody is superhuman, I don’t think anyone is. So you take a person, you drop them in the pressure of real estate and sometimes that’s a bit hard for people to cope. It doesn’t mean they can’t do it over the long term, but they might need just a little bit of support, a little bit of encouragement, a little bit of direction to make it sort of happen. We definitely don’t have an industry where you can put up your hand and say that I’m struggling, and I think that needs to change.
Kevin: It does. There was a saying in real estate that I grew up with, and that was that you don’t try real estate, real estate tries you. I think it is a very testing and trying industry. Do you see that changing at all, Jet?
Jet: I think it will change when we understand what true wellness and wellbeing is for the individual. A person who is able to be part of a profession that is supportive and encouraging and understands that people aren’t perfect and they’re not superhuman is going to be a profession that people want to become a part of. I think we need more leaders in the organizations to step up and say, “Okay, it’s okay to show weakness sometimes.”
Jet: It’s different to complaining and moaning and not putting in the effort you should. That’s different. If someone’s doing that, well then you can tell them to just get on with it. But if you’re struggling a little bit I think you need people around you that are going to accept you, going to support you, encourage you, inspire you to keep pushing forward and doing your best.
Kevin: In your forward, you say that the industry is at a turning point; it needs a shift from the old school which is pretty much what you were describing towards a progressive and contemporary approach to wellness and wellbeing.
Jet: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Kevin: I wonder if this is like a generational change? Is it possible for some leaders to change their approach to how we look after people?
Jet: I think most leaders are going to need to change, because the millennials are coming through and their way of work environments and work practices are far different than the traditional real estate agent has been over the years. I think they’re creating that shift that’s going to happen.
Jet: I think leaders can change, and I’ve seen a lot of leaders change in organizations who are running big offices or big companies. They’re realising that the old way of just, “Here’s your desk, here’s your phone, get out there and get on with it and stop complaining,” is not helping. There are very few people that can cope at a high level of stress consistently all the time without any impact. Very, very few people can do that. The rest of us, the mere mortals, are doing our best, having a crack, trying to do the right thing, and being as professional as we can in this industry. But let’s face it, sometimes life gives you challenges and setbacks, and sometimes they’re difficult to deal with. Holding it in and not being able to talk about it, especially if you’re male, creates more problems than it does.
Kevin: Jet help me here … Some are listening to this now saying, “Yeah, look I’m struggling like that. I’ve never identified it to anyone.” What would be your recommendation to them right now?
Jet: I think there’s external places like, R U OK? and Black Dog Institute and stuff if they are at that sort of point where they’re really struggling and they really need help. If they’re having an off day and if things are a little bit tough, there should be people in their organization that they can sit down and talk to. But because it’s not encouraged, they feel like that they have an issue or a problem and it makes them look bad, so they don’t seek out that type of help. So the industry has to change. There’s plenty of great organizations outside the industry that will talk to you; Lifeline et cetera, if you are that level. But inside the industry there is nothing that we own as a group that says, “Okay, this is okay. Here are the people you can talk to.”
Jet: I was just at a round table in South Australia today, a think tank for Revive. We were just talking about the fact that you can have mental health first aiders now in organizations. So rather than just having a first aider certificate person, you can have mental health first aiders. We were talking about the fact that some organizations would benefit from having performance coaches in their teams that basically took care of the people and supported them and encouraged them and were there in good strong times but also were there in the vulnerable times. Which we all go through.
Jet: Let’s just take away this myth that every single person in the real estate industry is bulletproof, superhuman, they can go 24/7, 365 days a year. That is rubbish. It doesn’t exist, and it can’t continue to happen. People that think they can have been sold a lie. The fact is that we go through three different periods during the day: we peak, we get into a trough, and then we recover. Daniel King talks about that a lot as far as performance. So let’s learn to manage our peaks, manage the troughs, and manage the recovery so we can perform at high levels with less impact.
Kevin: Yeah, I highly recommend you get a copy of this report. It is absolutely free, and everyone in this industry should read it. It’s the Inaugural Study of Wellness and Wellbeing in the Real Estate Industry, conducted by Jet Xavier who is our guest this week. You can do that because we’ve got a link on every one of the pages. So right through Uncut today will take you directly to Jet’s website and in fact straight to that report. So make sure you get a copy of that. Jet will be back again tomorrow. We’ll have a look at another couple of the themes coming out of this report.
Kevin: Thanks for your time, mate. Talk to you in the morning.
Jet: Cheers, mate. Bye.