Discipline 1: Establishing a Wildly Important Goal

The first discipline is to set a wildly important goal (WIG). It’s surprising how many entrepreneurs I meet who lack this crucial element. As simple as it sounds, the first step is to ensure that your entire team is crystal clear about the wildly important goal. Typically, in our industry, this goal revolves around revenue. I recommend focusing on net revenue, but if you’re not comfortable sharing that with your team, gross revenue is a suitable alternative.

Years ago, I was completing 100+ deals per year. Unfortunately, we weren’t consistently generating profit. This experience taught me the importance of setting goals that aren’t just about volume but also about profitability.

When building my organization, I set a wildly important goal related to revenue. I even created an organizational chart with placeholders to indicate roles that needed to be filled. The goal wasn’t achieved until those spots were occupied by someone else. By integrating this system into my company, we made significant progress, and all those roles were eventually filled through referrals. This process is revisited every quarter, with goals reassessed and refined.

I recommend setting goals quarterly rather than annually, as a year can feel too long and less actionable. Over the past six years, I’ve iterated and improved this process every quarter. Initially, I had a single goal, but now I use a tiered approach. For example, Tier 1 might be achieving $10,000 per week, Tier 2 could be $20,000 per week, and Tier 3 might be $30,000 per week. Each tier has its own bonus structure, with a substantial bonus for reaching the stretch goal in Tier 3.

Discipline 2: Tracking Lead and Lag Indicators

The second discipline is to meticulously track both lead and lag indicators. A common example is weight loss: the lead indicator is the number of calories consumed, while the lag indicator is the weight shown on the scale. In business, every role has its own set of lead and lag indicators, such as the number of outbound calls compared to the number of appointments scheduled. It’s essential to monitor both types of indicators.

Discipline 3: Maintaining a Compelling Scoreboard

The third discipline is to keep an engaging and visible scoreboard. Even after all these years, despite the availability of sophisticated tools like Plecto charts, I still use a simple Google Sheet. This sheet is updated and reviewed every week. If I were running an in-office culture instead of a virtual one, I would display this scoreboard on a TV for everyone to see.

An important lesson I learned the hard way is not to rely on team members to self-report their lead and lag indicators. Instead, assign this task to a virtual assistant or an office manager who can systematically gather and record these indicators.

By following these three disciplines—setting a wildly important goal, tracking lead and lag indicators, and maintaining a compelling scoreboard, you’ll create a structured environment that drives execution and success in your real estate business.