Keller Williams Realty CEO Mark Willis sharing his new favorite word, petulant.
#BOOM! That’s the best way to describe today’s first KW Young Professionals Division members-only webinar starring Keller Williams Realty CEO Mark Willis. First of all, Mark can literally say the word, “BOOM,” and anyone will engage and listen because he is THAT GOOD. Add a valuable message coupled with all-too-human personal stories and the result is a #KWBooYAH. (Mark’s favorite hashtag)
I made the distinct yet hilarious mistake of telling my boss’ boss’ boss that he was “petulant” immediately before showtime. So, our KW Young Professionals started their webinar with Mark outing my indiscretion and adding a vocabulary lesson. (At least I used a silver dollar word.) That’s so @lifeatkwri!
pet·u·lant
ˈpeCHələnt
adjective
(of a person or their manner) childishly sulky or bad-tempered.
“he was moody and petulant”
synonyms: peevish, bad-tempered, querulous, pettish, fretful, cross, irritable, sulky, snappish, crotchety, touchy, tetchy, testy, fractious, grumpy, disgruntled, crabby; informal grouchy, cranky
The goal of today’s webinar was to share why it is important to use the Recruit-Select process when building a real estate team. Mark is the ultimate giver. The biggest gift he gave today was sharing his personal story with our young professionals, stories I found quite endearing. And because of this, for the sake of quick and easy blog reads, I am breaking this post into two days. Today is the inspiration of Mark’s early years, tomorrow is the practical advice that is key to building a rock star team.
Mark is a brilliant leader with a dynamic mind. He thinks BIG. Mark knew at age 11 he wanted to be in real estate. That’s great! He had a vision. What’s shocking is how big he was thinking at age 11 when he told his parents he would be bigger than the biggest agent in his hometown of Houston. DONE! I think becoming CEO of Keller Williams Realty and leading it to become the largest real estate company in North America, soon to be the world, conquers that! #KWBooYAH
When Mark ventured into real estate right out of college in Austin in the early 1980s (age spoiler alert), he had the ambition and discipline to knock it out of the park. He also had the right partner, his wife, Cindy, who would use her summer breaks from teaching to knock on doors and help lead generate. Talk about a couple laying the foundation for an empire together! He quickly formed his own company for the most amusing reason ever, he wanted “President” on his business card. He playfully laughed that at that time feeling important was important to him. A voracious reader with an ambitious reading list, he recommended numerous books, including Your Infinite Power to Be Rich as a major motivational tool.
He shared tales of ups and downs and his early experience with other companies, highlighting a mentor along the way. A webinar participant asked, “How do you ask someone to be a mentor?”
“You don’t ask someone to be your mentor,” Mark said. “You just behave like the person is your mentor. He discussed his strategy of identifying who he wanted to be and what he wanted in life . He just behaved like it existed, a brilliant strategy. He said, “Be! Do! Have!” which immediately received an outpouring of comments from webinar participants and the Twittersphere.
Mark made a very important point: When one door closes, another door opens. Mark shared professional ups and downs. He was candid and honest. He left production to lead and then went back into production. He entered a business relationship that didn’t work. When it was time to go, he knew it was time to go. Yet that door closing led to Gary Keller opening the next door. There is no doubt that Mark was destined for something HUGE, but what a twist of fate for such a big door to open!?!
I would like to say the rest is history, but it’s only the beginning. Tomorrow’s post will share how Mark and thousands of Keller Williams Realty’s most successful agents have continued to grow this real estate empire with like-minded professionals who put God and family before business, making Keller Williams the real estate company of choice. #KWBooYAH
Tags: Keller Williams Realty, motivation, real estate company of choice, think big, young professionals
