Servant Leadership and Financial Payoff with Glennda Baker

Real estate agents in 2021 make the mistake is that they think that they can get all of the knowledge that they need online real estate, I don't care where you are in the world, real estate is on site, not online. Got to maintain that energy level because once the energy level starts to drain, people become less productive. You can't sell 149 houses and, and not have a system. I mean, that just doesn't happen.

This is the energetic leader led by a team of three who have influenced people at the highest level of corporate, athletic, entrepreneur and the business world. We teach through science and data driven methods to help you lead through energy and influence. We don't just use our stories, but the stories of those who have walked the walk, been in your shoes, and ultimately excel. Whether it's leading a team of 10 or 10,000, building a business of 1 million or 100 million, winning one championship or 10, they all have one thing in common. Energetic leadership. So with that step inside and let's help transform you into that energetic leader. Glenda, it's just amazing that I'd love to learn a little bit more about your journey in where you started and what really drove you towards the real estate world and, and what pushed you in that direction to have the drive that you do to ultimately become that top 1% of realtors globally.

So what got me into real estate was my mother. My mother, I was in retail. I designed and manufactured ladies clothing here in Atlanta. I had a line of clothing that I designed and sold in five major markets around the US and sold to large department stores, but just hated that business that people were so mean. And I mean, keep in mind, I've been in real estate since Jesus was a baby. So like a thousand years. And so 28 years, almost 29 years actually. And so I was terrible day and I called my mom and she's like, pumpkin, you need to go sell real estate. And so sure enough, I went, took my test or took my class, took my test, and got into real estate. But people say like Glenda, like, where did the drive come from? Where did the drive come from? And that's very easy for me to identify. I was the last kid picked on the playground every day of my life. Like, like, you really cannot understand. Like, you're like, oh, yeah, right, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, no, no. So there are three boys and there's three teams. Everybody lines up and then these three boys pick, they go down the line and they pick this one and that one and this one and that one and no lie. Every day, it came down between me and the little boy that was autistic. And no lie. When they realized that they were going to have to take me. Blast. Because the little boy that was autistic got picked before me. When they realized that they were going to get me, they were so upset. So every day on the playground of my life, I was the last person picked on the playground. And so it really. It was terrible because my confidence was so low. When I got into real estate and realized how much I liked it and how good I was at it, I really attacked it. And I was like, I can do this. And once I started getting a little momentum, I got some wind behind my sails. Like, I, like, doubled down. I was like, this is it. And I started September of 1992, and by December, I was agent of the month.

That's incredible. You say a couple things there that just really stand out is you doubled down. What is it that you were able to double down on?

Okay, so I barely got out of high school. Like, literally, I barely got out of high school. I'm convinced that my mother, they wanted to get rid of her worse than they wanted to get rid of me. And so I graduated from high school. I didn't go to college. I don't even know that I could have gotten into a college, but I didn't go to college, nor did I want to, because I hated school. I was bullied. I missed 40 days of my senior year. And so I got out and I started designing clothing. And then when I got into real estate and I latched onto it, I realized, like, the more data, the more knowledge that I had, the more certainty and clarity I had, which gave me confidence. So I literally knew everything about every house in the neighborhood. And it's so funny that we are sitting here today because the house that I have listed that I had to show today is in that original neighborhood that I farmed in 1992. So I knew everything. Back in 1992, you had this thing that's called a camera that's attached to your phone, and I had to take the film to the developer store. Picture number one goes with 1, 2, 3 banana street. Picture number two goes with 1 to 5. And literally, I had ever. I had all the tax records, every sale record, all of the real estate profiles. I had the picture of the house. So when somebody called me and said, hey, Linda, I want to talk to you about 1, 2, 3 Banana Street. I was like, oh, my gosh, that's the house with the white columns. It's in the curve. Oh, I know exactly which house is blah, blah. And I knew, and it automatically gave me that confidence. And that was when I realized you need to double down on your knowledge. You need to double down on your marketplace knowledge, because that is what's feeding your confidence. And that's what I did.

So what do you think, Glenda? That's awesome. I love what you just said there. I think information is power, definitely and definitely improves confidence because you, when you have that certainty, that translates into confidence. So what do you think some of the other Realtors don't do right or stumble upon? Whether that's someone new in the business or someone that's been in the business but isn't, you can say, accelerating or growing their path.

They take it for granted that they can get everything online. They. So let's listen through this. So me and you, we go on a listing appointment. You go on it, and then I go on it, and Mr. Seller says, so have you seen one, two three banana street? And you're like, oh, well, here's the profile sheet right here. Here's the color photos. It's got granite, it's got hardwood floors. It's very nice. Yeah. Have you been in it? No, no, no. But we've got all the information right here. I go in and I'm on the listing appointment. Mr. Seller says, Glenda, have you been in 123 Banana Street? Absolutely, I've been in 1, 2, 3. Let me tell you all about it. So do you think that I'm getting the listing or you're getting the listing?

Yeah.

That's where real estate agents in 2021 make the mistake is that they think that they can get all of the knowledge that they need online real estate. I don't care where you are in the world. Real estate is on site, not online. Don't forget that. And there's never going to be anybody in a Cuban Iowa with any platform or any AI that is going to take over. The fact that Mr. Seller or Mr. Byer had a knee replacement and the master bedroom on the main floor is worth way more to him than Johnny and Susie, who are bouncing up and down the stairs.

It's so interesting that you say that, Glenda, because I can relate so heavily to that, because what I do in, in our business is it's all about data, information and application to the individual. And energy that you show up with is what people eventually will buy. Because when people purchase something, when people come into your world, it's one of two things there's an energy and emotional connection, and then there's an intellectual connection. And when you're able to bridge those two together in a way that nobody else has done, you've done what I love to call you don't. You're not better than everybody else. You're different. And people will buy different every day of the week. And I just love that. What is the biggest thing that you've noticed? The way in which you show up. That puts you above anybody else. You put you. And I don't care what industry they're from. They can be owning a shoe company to some other type of business. What is it that makes you different as a leader, that allows your team to work the way in which they do, that has allowed you to be this again, the top 1% of realtors globally.

Great question. And it applies to my team and it applies to my clients, and that is knowing your audience and knowing how to communicate with them. Because I am a stalker by nature. I love to do recon. I don't go on any listing, appointment or buyer consultation without looking at your social media, your Instagram, your Facebook, your LinkedIn. I want to understand who my audience is, who am I presenting to? Because Mr. Seller analytical isn't paying for Glenda the beauty pageant queen. That's not who he's looking for. So me and all my fancy brochures and all my See, touch, feel candy, Mr. Seller could care less about that unless I can get show Mr. Seller that I can consume and analyze and interpret the data. So you need to know who your audience is. For my team, I just test every single person. I don't hire anybody without a disc test. The reason is, is because I know how I work, I know who I am, and I want to know how to communicate with them. How are they going to take in the information? Because you've met people that absolutely repel you. Like, you wouldn't do business with those people. It wouldn't matter if they were giving the shit away for free. That's why you need to know who you're talking to. Because if you're not presenting to your audience properly, whether it's your team, seller, or your buyer, they're not buying in. It's that simple.

I love it. And it's, it's so applicable. And so once you start to find the people that fit your, your mold, once you identify, hey, I want you to become a part of our team. What do you do as a leader? What is it? What has have you done to empower your Team members to operate with the same energy, the same charisma, the same talent acquisition type as you, to ultimately vault yourself and your company, to give and to produce the results that you have.

You need to be more interested them than trying to be interesting to them. You need to invest in your people. The thing about it is, is that people, people will buy in if they think that you believe in them. I think about every seller that I've worked with. The seller that was always fighting me, the seller that was always at odds with me. I literally hated to deal with them because I didn't feel like they believed in me. And that was really a shift in my leadership style because I worked with a football player, mvp, super bowl winner, and that guy believed in me. That guy, he went all in on me and how that made me feel. I realized, wait a minute, I need to make my people feel like this because I'm working my brains out for this guy because he believes in me. And so investing in them. And what is that? Is that making sure that they're going to the movies? Like, I have one team member and her and her family love to go to movies, and I love to surprise them with movie tickets. I have one team member, her and her husband love to go mountain biking. I want to make sure that she has time to go mountain biking. And also, everybody is equal. There's no secrets. There's no side gig over here. You're not getting more than the other person. Everything is very transparent. They see how much money I spend, they see how much money I make, and they know that they are right along there with me. I show $900 rentals. They show $900 rentals. Nobody's better than anybody. And also, we start every day with the team huddle. We start and end with a team huddle because you don't gain 10 pounds overnight. I want to recalibrate. I want to check in. I want to check the temperature every morning and every evening. That way nobody's too far off base. Whacked out with you because you know, when you've got a team, somebody's getting all whacked out. They're upset about something and they let it fester. And it gets bigger and bigger and bigger. When you don't address the elephant in the room, it only gets bigger. So for me, I check in every. Today I've got one team member, and she is whacked. Somebody didn't get the house cleaned. We had to move somebody in. It made her look bad. She's all whacked out, what do you do? You jump in, you make sure the house gets clean, you let her know you're in the car with her, you're in the boat with her, because when she thinks she's out there on an island, she's out there looking for another job. I don't operate that way. We're all working together here.

So how much time do you spend with your team members versus actually going out and dealing with the actual sales or showings?

I spend 30% of my day either with them or on the phone with them. So third, I have my day. This is how my day is blocked off. And people say, oh, Glenda, you should only spend your money, your, your time in money making opportunities. My team makes money. Duh. That's a money making opportunity. So 30% is client acquisition. 30% is dedicated to my team, and 30% is nothing but appointments with, with people that I don't know, people that I want to know, and people that I do know. So I do appointments, I do my team, and I do. And most of that other 30% block literally is stalking people on social media and connecting with them. Because I will tell you, I want to. I'm on the phone with my people, with my clients, my sphere of influence, my past clients. 67% of my business is past client, past client and sphere of influence. And all of that is facetiming with them, calling them, video, text, checking in. They had a baby, they got married, they got a job promotion, the kid graduated from kindergarten, they got a gift, they got a phone call, they got a video text. Literally. We love on people like you. Cannot believe.

It'S. It's so apparent to hear you talk. And there's a, There's a concept that I call gas and it's, it's an acronym. It's, it's. It's your give a shit level. And I, I only should. You should 100% take it. I only operate. I only deal with people who have a high gas level. I love a high gas level because that's how I show up in the world. And the moment that you surround yourself with people with massive gas levels, guess what? That gas tank never gets empty because everyone's filling themselves up together. And so I just love what you're feeding out here because I'm getting energized by it. And I'm curious, you talked about that morning huddle that you do with your team. What does that consist of? What is it that you do with them that they're just like on fire for you every single day that you guys leave that.

So the first thing I want to know is, what do they need from me? Because I want to be able to pour in so none of the other questions even matter if I don't know what they need from me. So the first question I ask is, what can I do for you today? What do you need from me today? The second question I ask is, what do you want to get accomplished today? And the third question I ask is, what do you think is going to stop you from getting it accomplished? That is it. Three questions. And I want to know that every morning and I want to know it every evening. What do you need from me? What do you want to get accomplished? And what is going to stop you from getting it accomplished? That is it. And if I, if they answer those three questions and I can fix them, I can solve them, we are golden all day.

And so off of that information that they give you, do you then have tangible steps in which, hey, this is what I want you to focus on today. On top of everything else that you have going on and there's actual action taken. It's not just a ring around the rosy type of, hey, let's answer questions to make ourselves feel good.

We stop. So we start with Elizabeth, and we're in a group and we're on a zoom or we're on a call. We start with Elizabeth, Elizabeth goes through it, and we literally talk about how we're getting Elizabeth from point A to point B. And this is the thing is, I script through a lot with my team. Like, okay, so you're having an issue because you got five offers. You've got three of them that don't have a pre approval, but they have better terms, but the pre approval is not attached. So let's script through how we're talking to the seller to make the seller understand if an agent isn't going to take the time to attach the pre approval letter, the ability for them to dot the I and cross the T is probably pretty slim. So we want to make sure that we're looking at the offers and talking. So let's talk through how we're talking to the seller. So it's practical and it's tactical because I don't want Elizabeth to think like, okay, all she wants to do is check the box. I hate people that, that think, okay, I checked the box and now it's done. That's just, you can't check the box until you've closed the loop, until you've gotten every single thing Done to close it. Because if you're just like, okay, Elizabeth, what's your deal? Check, check, check. Okay, let's move on. That doesn't help anybody. That's just me making myself feel like I did something. And that's not my deal. Everything is practical. Practical and tactical action steps.

Love that so much. Because not only now does your team know that, hey, we've got these things in a line, but they now have marching orders in which they can go take action on.

And I'm checking in with them that evening to make sure that they took those action. So for me, I recalibrate nine, noon and six every day because nobody gains £10 overnight. So every day, nine, noon and six, where am I? Where am I? Where am I on everything that needs to get done? What's the temperature in the room? Is everybody still excited? Because think about it. You've got to maintain that energy level. Because once the energy level starts to drain, people become less productive. They become less excited about their business. I want to keep everybody plugged into the outlet. We're all plugged in. We're all going to. Let's keep moving. Because once you get the momentum, we attack the small stuff in the beginning. And then. So we get the small things. Three small things. I get all those three small things done. Then I move to the big things. Okay, I get the big things done. Because if you save the big things to the end, you never. Oh, dear God, you're never doing them. Okay, so you want the small things, the really big things, and then the autopilot things. So that's how the day is broken down. I'm big into breaking everything down in three ways. Because you can only eat the elephant one bite at a time. If you try to eat it, if you try to eat it, you know, like, like, oh, I'm just going to do it all at once. That doesn't work. Just small bites. Small bites builds the momentum. Get a big bite. You swallowed it. Now you're on autopilot.

So everything that you're talking about, Belinda, I'm just, I'm listening and I'm just smiling because you have everything down packed in a system. The way you operate, the way your team operates, your leadership style. How long did it take you to actually build that?

Okay, so I am a very observant person and I am a very system and process oriented person, which is really strange because I am an ic, So I am an expressive, analytical, which is very uncommon. But please do not be concerned because I am a D in times of conflict and indecision because the road is paved with dead squirrels that failed to make a decision. But I am an ic, so there is a system in a process. It took me probably 15 years to realize that you couldn't just fly by the seat of your pants. So now I am probably calculated to a scary level because I don't, like, I don't want anything to slip through the cracks. I don't. I hate excuses. And if there is a workflow like. Like the house that didn't get cleaned today and somebody's all whacked out, I'm on the phone. Is this not on a workflow sheet? Like, what do you mean it wasn't clean? Come on, we moved through. I sold 149 houses. You can't sell 149 houses and not have a system. I mean, that just doesn't happen. And if you do, if you don't have a system and you did sell 149 houses, I guarantee you that 100 of those people are never coming back to you. So you've got to have a system and a process, because people find comfort in certainty and clarity, and a system and a process provides that.

Yeah, you're absolutely bang on there. When it comes to when things go sideways, which they always do, you can always take a look at the system rather than just saying or blaming the person, because I think that's where a lot of leaders fail and is. They blame the person rather than saying, okay, what's the actual system that the person was following?

Because I don't. It's not any. Nothing is anybody's fault. Because this is not grade school. We've done this thousands of times before. So I know that if something falls through the crack, there's a crack in my system. So we stop the bus. We get everybody. We figure out, where did it happen? Because that makes me better. I want to tweak constant and never ending improvement. I learned that from Tony Robbins in 1994. If you are not constantly improving every single day, don't kid yourself. You're not standing still. You're moving backwards because everybody else is going in front of you. So for me, I want to make sure that there's never a problem. Until there's a problem, you address it immediately. You fix it immediately. You apologize, listen, apologize, satisfy, and thank. And you go through it and you get it done and you fix it so it doesn't happen again. It's never anybody's fault. It's not. We're all at fault. If something happens it's not one person's fault, it's everybody's fault.

Yeah, I like that approach. I like to tell my team it's 100% accountability, but no pointing fingers. Everybody's accountable for the results. So. And what, what happens when you have someone on your team that doesn't like to follow the systems? I'm assuming because I know a bunch of realtors, I've worked with a bunch of real estate teams. Some of them just are, they like to do their own thing, they like to go out.

I had this girl and she worked for me. And I'm telling you, the girl is super talented, super smart, super engaging. But that girl, she couldn't follow a system to save her ever loving life. And I have 35 people at every open house and she has an open house and she has zero people. That's not possible. Walk me through exactly what. Well, she didn't do anything. There's a checklist, there's a system and a process. She didn't do it. And I said to her, I said, this is how I work. And she says to me, she goes, glenda, I feel like you're being passive aggressive. I said, don't ever mistake my aggressiveness for passiveness. I'm telling you right now, this is the way we do it. We do it my way. My name's on the door if you've got a better way to do it. I'm absolutely open to listening to your way, but until you can prove that your way is better than my way, we do it my way. And I think you're amazingly talented, but maybe it doesn't work for you. And I'm all good with that. And I just talked to her yesterday because I absolutely love her and I think she's so talented and I think she's such a great real estate agent and the girl sells a shit ton of real estate. Not following a system, that's just not my deal. So I always wish everybody the best if it, if it works out on my team, it works out. But if it doesn't, I never ever want you not to do well. For God's sake, I want you to do, I want you to do great and I want you to thrive in whatever system works for you. And sometimes that's my team and sometimes it's not. No hard feelings.

Glenda, I've got a question. Because as I think what blows my mind is, and I'm going to let you tell everybody because I know how many are on your team, you would think for the amount of volume you do, the amount of work you get done, the impact that you have on every single client, and not just the client of the 142 homes that you've sold, but the, the repetitive contact that you have with them. Years after 28 years of being in this space, the systems and operations in which you have in place, the way in which you lead from a servant leadership style, from a way of giving, from a way of under promising and over delivering, has ultimately allowed you to create what you have ultimately created, which is absolutely incredible. And it, and I, and I admire it. Tell everybody how many people are truly on your team and how you ultimately develop the systems and the leadership style to manage and get this amount of work done.

So there are three of us that sell me Eveline and Elizabeth. Tiffany runs the paperwork, she runs the back end contract to closing. And Jojo runs all of the client touch. So that's it, that's all of us.

And that was lean and mean.

I mean, it's just people, people think that I've got like some like massive.

Team, just some army out there just doing work. But there's really five of you.

Yeah, but this is the thing is like there's nothing that makes me more insane than for somebody to stand up and say, oh, I sold 300 houses last year. And how many, how many agents do you have? Oh, I have 48 agents. Like that's not a profitable business model to me. Like that doesn't work for me. And if you're stacking the soldiers like that, how are those people thriving in an environment like this is not all about making Glenda awesome. I want Elizabeth and Evelyn and Jojo and Tiffany to develop generational legacy wealth. Like I want us to buy a house together. Like right now we're looking for a house to buy that I can finance, we can all do together and share the profit. Like, I want them to build generational wealth. I want to invest in the people who invest in me. These girls, they love me. Like those, those girls, they would do anything for me and I would do anything for them. So it took a lot of mistakes, it took a lot of trial by error, it took a lot of breakdowns. It took a lot of self awareness for me to understand who I was. Like, I think that I sucked as a leader for like 0 to 15. How.

What was it that specifically stood out for you that you started to become aware, aware of that you were not leading in the right way?

Because I hated them and they hated me. I mean, and it in every Day was just like an argument. No matter. I mean, I had this one girl I never got this one girl who worked for me. And literally every single person that she did a transaction with hated her. And I hated her, and she hated me. And I was like, I don't want. That's not like. Like, every time I had to deal with her, when I saw her on my phone, I was just like, oh, God, I don't want to. And I. And I just was like, I'm not going to live like this. I didn't want to live like it. Elizabeth and I have worked together for 20 years, so Elizabeth was the first. First hire that I had. She started with me when I was pregnant with my son. I brought her on so I could take some maternity leave. But again, it was trial and error. But the real change was understanding myself, my own style, and then also getting a coach and learning how to. How to lead people and learning how to communicate with them based on their disc profile, their natural tendencies. So, I mean, it's learned over a period of years. It's not anything like there's some magic bullet. But I think if you don't understand yourself, it's very, very difficult to lead people. And I think that it's very difficult to lead people if you think that you're the queen and they're the minions, if you think that you're better than them. Nobody likes that leadership style. When we're all in it together, that's when the magic happens. That's when everybody is helping out each other. That's just a whole different culture. It's just. There's, again, there's no side deal. Eveline's not getting more than Elizabeth. There's no whispering. Every single thing is out there. All the money that I spend, it's not like, oh, Glenda, she made $2 million last year. That's not it. Every penny that I spend, they see. Every penny that I make, they see. It's completely transparent. Because I want my team to know that it's not about getting rich. It's about all of us getting rich together. And that's rich mentally. That's rich financially, that's rich physically, that's rich emotionally. It's a quality of life. Did that answer your question?

Completely. And I love that. Because when it comes to leadership and it comes to bringing people along with you is so often in the American culture, leadership is seen as the person at the top that's leading the way. That's, hey, don't follow in this guy's track, because he might look back and you're doing something wrong, but instead it's the guy that's leading from the back. It's leading and directing, it's guiding, allowing everybody else to be on their own journey, but yet the leader is guiding the way. And when you can do it together, you start to understand how far you can actually go and how much impact you can actually create. And we see it with exactly what you've created, Glenda, and it's inspiring and it's just so awesome to see where can people interact with you? Where can people find you and see more of your stuff? Because, again, if you're in the real estate space and you haven't seen the way that Glenda does her videos through TikTok, through Instagram, through LinkedIn, you've got to go check those out, because they just make you want to purchase a house, right, to begin with. And if you're not utilizing that same form of energy, that same form of detail in any business that you're in, you're dropping the ball big time. And I don't care if you're selling toothpicks or if you're selling homes, you need to go and listen to Glenda speak and listen to her videos, because there is. There is massive value just in simply mimicking what works. So, sorry, Glenda. Where can they find you?

Well, I appreciate that. So I'm the most unanonymous person in the world. Every single thing is the same. It's Glenda with two N's. G, L, E, N, N, D, A B, A K, E, R. Glinda B. You can find me on TikTok and Instagram and Facebook and YouTube and all that if you just. Glenda Baker. But I just. I posted a video on TikTok yesterday, and I love that video. I. I had it in my drafts for six to eight weeks. I was a little bit worried because it's a little bit. You know, it's. It's pretty strong. I was hesitant to post it because I was like, well, maybe I look like a big redneck or, you know, maybe people think that's just a little bit too strong and authenticity builds your audience. And I just think, like, if I'm just me, like, it gives you the opportunity to say, I'd love to work with her, or, oh, dear God, let me run this far away from her as possible. And I think that just as far as video goes, be you, do you. Because they're gonna find out who you are at some point. So you might as well, just give it to them up front. And so I posted that video and I will tell you, I bet you I have had this morning, I had had about 90, 95 DMs about that one video about people talking about that. We love, we love your videos. We love how honest you are in them. And I think that that's what people are looking for in 2021 is somebody that is honest and somebody they can relate to. But Glenda Baker is how you can find me. And if you have any questions, don't hesitate to DM me. I respond to every DM and I'm happy to help in any way that I can.

I love it. Glenda, something else we always ask our audience or our audience, our guests, when they come on is our audience is full of action takers. And what can our audience do for you?

You know, send me a message. I want to know my whole goal. I've got three things I want to do. I want to inform you, I want to inspire you, and I want to impact you. That's my whole goal in life. Every day I wake up and I say, who am I going to inform, inspire and impact today? And if I can touch one person, if I can change one person's life today, every day of my life, think about how many people I will change. So if I touched you, if you got value, send me a dm. Follow me, interact with me, engage with me. Let me help you. I have done it. I have done it right, I have done it wrong. And there is no reason to reinvent the wheel. I am happy to share and every resource I have with everybody. So don't hesitate to reach out to me. I'm happy to help in any way that I can. But I want to know if I was able to inform, inspire or impact you today. That is what makes my heart warm and that is where I get the energy that I have from.

I love it. I absolutely love it. So, guys, whether you're selling toothpicks, whether you're selling homes, whether you're an entrepreneur, executive, it doesn't matter. It all comes back to the way you lead and think of these three questions. Next time you go in with your team, is it what do you need or what do they need from you? What can you help them accomplish and what is going to stop them that you can help with? The moment that you care, the moment that you show up, the moment that you execute a little bit of gas, that's going to give people the opportunity to really excel and to show you that they can lead under your tutelage and truly thrive in any situation. So be sure to listen, apologize, satisfy and thank, and you will always win. At the end of the day, stay hungry, stay humble, and we'll see you next week.