All posts by Keith Thompson

Being a good leader starts with being a good teacher

Career

There are leadership roles that are given and there are leadership roles that are earned. More times than not, the longevity of a leader depends on if that person was given or earned the position.

In my line of work I have seen many puffed up blowhards that didn’t last long in leadership roles because the people they were supposed to lead did not want to follow. Without people that want to work with you and be involved with you, there really isn’t a leadership role. It’s more of a placeholder role until the company can replace the leader.

One important thing that all leaders should be very aware of and do their best to implement is the role of a teacher versus a leader. People respect and respond to someone that is not just giving orders, but is helping the person to better themselves. There are many teaching moments that are often overlooked that leaders could do a better job with.

I remember one time many years ago I was on a conference call with 4-5 people and I mistakenly would start to talk before the other person was finished. I did that a couple of times on the call. After the call was over my boss called me and said “Keith, I want to have teaching moment with you.” He proceeded to teach me about conference call and phone etiquette when someone else was talking. I really respected how he handled that talk with me. It is big difference when you get called and told how wrong you were versus being called and told he wants to have a teaching moment with you.

That really made an impression with me on how to approach people on your own staff to help them improve. After that call with my boss I had a greater respect for him because he treated me with respect. I believe one of the greatest fundamentals of being a leader is being able to get people to respect you and want to work with you. How you handle these “teaching moments” usually will determine how good a leader you become.

So in summary, if you are a leader, think of your role as a teacher instead of a leader and you will be surprised how much of a leader you become. KT

Boundless Love

Life

Boundless love is a love without boundaries. Let me say that again. It is a love that literally has no bounds. It is not contained within any limits. It is perfect, pure, always, bold, exact, transparent, fearless, complete, confident, without judgment and it is everything you will ever need. Boundless love is always and forevermore.

This type of love is not based on any measurement or conditions. It is truly and fully unconditional and cannot be measured. Boundless love is forgiving to point that the debt is already forgiven even before it happens. It is a love that is so pure, nothing or no one can stop it.

All of our relationships except for our children are based on boundaries and conditions and acceptable behavior. When you look at your brother, brother in-law, or parents, they all come with conditions and a performance clause. These close family relationships can get into trouble if certain lines are ever crossed. I personally know all too well how these relationships can be hurt and non-repairable because again, they are based on performance and conditions.

As a parent, when I look at my two daughters and two granddaughters, the love I have for them is perfect and without condition. It is boundless love. I would die in the street protecting them with my life and I would not think twice about it. There is nothing I would not do as a father to keep them safe.

Boundless love is best described as the love your heavenly father has for you. He already knows today every sin and mistake you are going to make in your life and he has already forgiven you today of all future sins and mistakes even before they happen. There is nothing and no one that can pull you away from your father’s love.

We all need someone who will never change and truly believes in us, forgives us, holds us, loves us, leads us and is right there beside us every step we take in life. His name is Almighty God and he is the great “I AM,” meaning that he is everything you will ever need. KT

A little bit at a time

Career, Life

Many of the changes in our lives occur a little bit at a time. The important changes in our lives take time. Let’s look at a few examples. Health, finances, education, business and the way we think are just a few. These all take time to improve and change in our life.

You can’t go from poor health to good health in a week. Many people try with these 7 day diets, but almost 100% of those fail. If you are in sales, it just takes time get traction and develop relationships and build a pipeline of business. In your finances, it is very unlikely you will go from need to oversupply in a few months. All these aspects of our lives take time and consistent behavior.

My mentor Harmon Born was speaking to our church years ago about giving and tithing. In that church like many churches, there were plaques and name plates around the church where someone gave once to a project years ago and had their name engraved on a plaque. Many times that person gave once to get their name on the plaque and then didn’t give anymore. I remember Harmon saying one time that what we need is a plaque that recognizes the weekly giver that gives consistently and not just for one time givers.

Your life, your church, your finances, your health, your joy, your peace are all a product of consistency in our lives. There are many people looking for the quick deal, the quick way or the quick fix to their situation. Most of these attempts fail to have a lasting effect on us.

With our brokers at Hotel AG, the long term stability of our business is showing up for work and consistently making calls every week. The brokers that rely on past efforts for present gain usually end up leaving this line of work. We have one broker that consistently will out work and out call everyone else and it is no surprise that that broker has the biggest pipeline of business and is more successful than many of the others.

We had an employee one time years ago at another firm I was with that decided one weekend to go have liposuction as a quick fix to her weight situation. Well, her idea was that if a little liposuction was a good thing than a lot of liposuction would be even better. What could go wrong with this plan? She left one Friday and had liposuction surgery in about 7 places on her body and just about died that next week. It is this kind of thinking that I am talking about.

So as you look at where you are in life, I believe the secret is to make a decision to change and then create in your heart an achievable consistent plan to systematically day by day move toward your target. Move a little bit at a time toward your goal and the likelihood of your long term success is much greater. KT

Hope, the most important emotion

Life

When you think about emotions, feelings and heart based impressions, I believe hope is the most important of all. Emotions can run the full spectrum from love and joy to anger and strife and everything in between.

I have read many authors on the subject of hope and where it comes from. There are no clear solutions on how to get hope, therefore I will give you my opinion.

I believe hope just like trust and faith come from your heart. By your heart, I mean your spirit within you that gives you expectation for the future. I believe it comes from that still small voice within you that calms you in a troubled time. Faith and Love are the now factors meaning they are for today. Hope is the emotion that tells you that tomorrow will be better.

I read a story today about a four year old little girl that with the help of her mom, has completed her bucket list. See, she is dying and her mother helped her do the things she wanted to do before she died. I read yesterday about a young lady 14 years old that is dying of Cystic Fibrosis and while her life expectancy is 17 years, she has decided she doesn’t want to go through it and is asking to be helped to go ahead and die.

I can’t talk about these two little girls because I don’t how to handle it.

How do you get and keep hope? It can be complicated or it can be simple. I like simple much better. I believe you have to ask God to renew your hope. Let me say that again, I believe you have to ask God to renew your hope. I am talking about literally opening your mouth and voicing these words to your heavenly father. “Lord, I am your child and you are my father and I ask you to renew my hope for the future. By faith I receive the knowing of my salvation and the hope for me and my family’s future.”

We cannot see into the spirit realm, but if we could, I believe that once that two sentence prayer leaves your lips, you would see almighty God lean forward and send a legion of angels to cover your world and to see to it that his child has a renewed hope for their future. I believe hope is simply a prayer away. KT

Continuing education

Career, Life

In real estate if you are a licensed agent or broker, you have to complete continuing education every 4 years. Each state has its own criteria but it is a generally accepted rule that in order for you to continue in real estate you have to complete the education. Most of it is done online but there is also classes you can attend

This week I had to do 30 hours of continuing education for our Oregon real estate license. I believe I would rather have a prostate exam or have my nose hairs pulled than to have to do continuing education. Ha.

The only way I could get through it was to give it a spiritual application and thought process. It is like if you need to have surgery, you want your surgeon to be fully up to date with his knowledge and techniques. Right? Same thing for the CPA that prepares your taxes or the lawyer that represents you. You want to know that that person that you have entrusted is fully prepared to help you.

If you are a mechanic on cars or trucks, this also applies with each new model year as you will need to get educated or knowledgeable on the new models. This certainly is true over in social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) as that market changes every day with new options to reach people. Don’t even get me started on Microsoft changing the operating format for outlook emails that you have to learn. This is the dumbest thing because there is some little 100 lb. tech guy that decides what we all need is a totally new format instead of just an updated version of what we already know. Can I get an amen to that?

Anyway, why is then that over in the spiritual realm that we are ok with learning something 30 years ago and assuming it is as fresh in our consciousness as it was then? See, we need to make sure that the fundamental beliefs we had and have are still in our hearts. A little continuing education over in the spiritual realm is a good thing and needed thing to make sure we are confident in our faith. The bible says that “faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” The interpretation is one of “continual hearing.” So if your faith is based on hearing the words (reading the bible) 30 years ago, it may do you good to get a fresh revelation by rereading what you already know.

So make continuing education a part of your spiritual journey as well as your physical journal. KT