It’s that time of year again – college basketball’s Final Four time.  As you think about the potential winners of this year’s tournament and past winners, the teams that will win or have won in the past are all high performing.  This got me thinking, what represents a high performing team and how can this relate to your business?

Here is what I came up with for you to consider:

• High energy – Get rest, exercise and be ready to tackle any challenge that comes your way.  Do what it takes to pump yourself up.  Read motivational quotes, talk with mentors, rally yourself or do whatever gets you excited to have energy.  High energy is contagious.
• Integrity – Always do the right thing for your clients and your team – especially when no one is looking.
• Goal oriented – Each and every team needs to be working towards a common goal or goals to keep them focused.  Review with the team on a regular basis and make adjustments quickly and as necessary.
• Happy – Always be positive and optimistic and remember to celebrate achieving your goals.  Also, high performing teams have fun and laugh with and at each other to keep the atmosphere light and entertaining.
• Performance driven – The best way to be performance driven is track and measure results of the goals you have set.  Depending upon the goal, this can be daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly.  I wouldn’t go out any further than quarterly so you can make adjustments to keep you on track.
• Educated – Always be seeking to learn new things about your business, your clients, and other industries that you can take and adapt to your business.  Review what was done right or wrong to build upon your accomplishments or learn from mistakes.
• Resilient – They don’t get down easily. Failures are learning experiences and setbacks are temporary.  They understand that no is not personal and gets you closer to the next yes.
• Forward thinking – Incorporating strategic planning, careful analysis of trends, and reviewing industry data will enable you to think about the future and make the right decisions for success. Don’t get caught up in what you have now, but project on what you will have one month from now, two, etc. Agents always get hung up on what they have going on now that they often times forget to prospect for the next month, and going forward.
• Opportunistic – They continuously look for opportunities in their fields.  In the recent past it was foreclosures, short sales, and working with investors  but remembering to work and grow their database is important.  Recognition of trends is key.
• Realistic – Remember to never get too high or too low.  Set attainable goals, stay the course or make the appropriate adjustments to be on top of your game and focused where you should be spending your time.
• Money driven – They are driven by money but not money focused and they don’t sell from their wallets.  They realize by helping others, they too will succeed.
• Accountable – The teams are accountable to each other but most importantly, to themselves.  The leader keeps himself accountable through meeting with the team or trusted advisors regularly.  The leader needs to set the example.
• Nonconforming – They set the pace and don’t follow, they are leaders and approach things differently from others.  Additionally, they look at things from all angles to determine the best course of action.
• Communication – They provide positive feedback and praise in public, constructive criticism in private, face to face meetings, emails, texts and phone calls on consistent basis is critical to achieving great things.  Most importantly, you need to be consistent in your communication, i.e. messaging, relevance and timing.
• Enthusiasm – Be ready to tackle any challenge and celebrate your success.  As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm”.  Be enthusiastic.

Now that you understand a little more about becoming a high performance individual or team, incorporate these philosophies and make things

happen.  Get it?  Got it?  Good!

Now, go sell something!