Freedomway.ca - Stefan Aarnio's Blog
  • Who We Are
  • Blog
  • Book
    • Money People Deal: The Fastest Way To Real Estate Wealth
  • Resources
    • Recommended Books
  • Bring Us Deals
  • Awards
  • Completed Projects
    • Completed Projects
    • The Benefits Of Hands Off Investing
  • Press
    • Winnipeg Free Press
    • Canadian Real Estate Wealth February 2013
  • YouTube Channel
  • Interviews
  • Art & Philanthropy
  • Strategic Partners
  • Contact
  • Exclusive Investor Club
  • New Page

How to Build a Million Dollar Team: Loyalty

7/24/2013

5 Comments

 
Picture
By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

Remember: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

"Loyalty is the fabric that holds relationships together." - Stefan Aarnio

Loyalty is one of the rarest commodities to be found these days. In a world where everyone seems to have their own agenda, where can one find loyalty and how can we measure it?

I have always found it easy to do joint ventures with other business people and investors because I understand one key fundamental. To work together, two parties must share one common goal, or mission. If two people have the same mission, working together on a venture is simple. Loyalty happens when two parties can keep their missions aligned over time.

As my business grows, I have to bring on more and more team members. I have been burned in the past with bad team members, but have slowly built an outstanding team. Entrepreneurs and self employed business people are always apprehensive to add more team members because we want to have full control at all times. However, the larger we get, the more team members we must add.

How do I choose my team members?

I have always believed the mantra of the American billionaire Bill Bartmann "Hire slow and fire fast" and "hire for aptitude, fire for attitude":

1) Hire slow and fire fast: When considering bringing on a new team member, take your time and make the "courting" process long. Have the new team member jump through many hoops before offering them a position. I used to belong to an organization that thrived on having all potential employees work for free before becoming full time staff. The organization had stellar people working for it because the bar was set high. On the flip side, when the disease of negativity is spreading through your ranks - fire fast! As soon as you sense a team member becoming jaded, negative or poisoning the minds of your other team mates, then fire them as fast as possible. Negative energy and negative attitudes are a cancer that must be dealt with quickly if your business is going to survive.

2) HIre for aptitude, fire for attitude: When I am bringing new people onto my team, I do not care if they have paper "qualifications". I am more interested in their passion and personal ambition. I want to know if this team member finds their work exciting and enjoyable and if it fits into the larger vision in their life. Happy people are infectious and they attract success. In contrast, a poor attitude of a single team member can destroy an entire team. I was recently going to hire a realtor to sell a house I had just finished renovating; she had all of the qualifications and was recommended by one of my colleagues - she had the aptitude. However, her attitude was so negative that after listening to her talk for 5 minutes, I changed my mind and fired her on the spot. Attitude is everything, especially in selling and business, the right attitude can bring your organization to the stars and the wrong attitude will smash it on the rocks.

Recently, I have been looking for an apprentice to become my successor and take over the daily operations of my real estate business. There are many qualified individuals and many people who would like the have the position. With so many qualified prospects, decision making can be hard, how will I make a choice?

The #1 attribute that I am looking for in an operations manager is loyalty. Loyalty these days seems to be a forgotten virtue of ages past, but I can still find a few loyal people if I look hard enough.

But what does it mean to be loyal?

Loyal people stay faithful in their primary relationships, stay with their employer without "shopping around" for other jobs, and can manage to create relationships for life through exclusivity.

There are far too many business people who will chop of the heads and hands of their partners to get one step ahead. Unfortunately, the world does not need more of these people.

So how do you find the best and most loyal people for your team?

Divide the people you know into three categories:

1) The loyal and trusted - These people are proven, they are loyal and have the same mission as you - they have no reason to change course! When you have someone in this category, do everything you can to keep them happy and keep them on your team. Billion dollar businesses are built by assembling teams of these people. The loyal and the trusted are gold, especially in today's economy.

2) The "watch carefully list" - as soon as I see someone on my team show signs of disloyalty somewhere in their personal life or business, they go on the "watch carefully list". Does this mean I will not do business with these people? No. It just means that I must handle these people with extreme care and know that they will not  be around for the long term. They are short sighted and can't see the big picture. If these people get too greedy or ambitious, they may become traitors.

3) The blacklist - These people are proven traitors. When I am betrayed by a team member and trust is broken, I may forgive, but I will keep proven traitors on the blacklist and they will receive no further business from me. The quickest way to stop bleeding is to cauterize the wound and seal it with fire. As soon as I can sense betrayal, I will quickly move the offending team member to the blacklist from which they shall never return. "Fool me once, shame on you… fool me twice, shame on me".

The lessons I have learned about loyalty, traitors and relationships have been hard fought from the school of life. No business school in the world can teach you how to spot a traitor or how to deal with them. Business schools also cannot teach you about cherishing loyal partners for life. Sometimes the hardest lessons in life must be learned first hand, but once you have weeded out all of the bad apples, you will be left with nothing but the sweetest fruit on the tree.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

Remember: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!




5 Comments
Yehuda Fulda link
9/20/2013 04:12:55 pm

Thank you for sharing this work with me but I am the best of the world on topic How to Build a Million Dollar Team: Loyalty. Thank you very much for sharing it but I am the best of the world mate.. A powerful site and also a good blog with nice articles as they are very much related to every other particular subject matter

Reply
Obducat link
3/3/2014 01:19:41 pm

It’s a nice post to comment here.I am inspired by this blog.

Reply
Selacorp Singapore link
3/6/2014 07:47:47 pm

Wow that comment is really very much inspiring.The author is having great knowledge.

Reply
essay writing service link
5/30/2016 04:10:28 am

I think it's very difficult to learn to have an eye on people. I'm sure each manager fails sometimes. But due to your post many people will try to use these pieces of advice and I hope it will help them to make a right choice.

Reply
Stojanced link
6/25/2023 10:34:53 pm

This was a lovely blog postt

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Stefan Aarnio

    Stefan Aarnio is a Real Estate Investor, entrepreneur and artist based out of Winnipeg, Manitoba.His real estate website is Freedom Way Joint Ventures  His art can be seen at http://stefanaarnioart.com

    View my profile on LinkedIn

    Archives

    October 2013
    September 2013
    July 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012

    Categories

    All
    Amateurs
    Art
    Authors
    Billion Dollar Business
    Branding
    Business
    Business Building
    Buyers
    Cash Flow
    Change
    Charity
    Coaching
    Connection
    Contractors
    Deal Partners
    Deals
    Decision Making
    Distributors
    Dragon's Den
    Dreams
    Economy
    Education
    Email
    Emotional Value
    Emotions
    Enthusiasm
    Entrepreneurship
    Evolution
    Fashion
    Fears
    Franchise
    Fundamentals
    Grit
    History
    Identity
    Industry
    Instant Equity
    Instant Profits
    International
    Intrinsic Value
    Investing
    Jobs
    Joint Ventures
    Leadership
    Marketing
    Missed Opportunity
    Money
    Mould
    Needs
    Negotiation
    Net Migration
    Networking
    Outsourcing
    Passion
    Passive Income
    People
    Persistance
    Philanthropy
    Power Team
    Producers
    Professional
    Professionalism
    Profits
    Raising Capital
    Real Estate
    Recession
    Return On Effort
    Return On Learning
    Return On Relationships
    Return On Time
    Risk Mitigation
    Self Employed
    Selling
    Shark Tank
    Social Status
    Speed
    Strategy
    Success
    Tactics
    Team
    Time Managment
    Traitors
    Unlimited Cash
    Value
    Venture Capital
    Vision
    Wages
    War
    Weakness

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.