In this first‑person monologue, a high‑performing real‑estate broker recounts how his relentless demand for perfection created a toxic, high‑turnover environment. After attending the Strategic Coach program and reading Dan Sullivan’s book The 80% Approach, he realized that expecting 100 % perfection was unrealistic and unsustainable. He explains the core idea of the 80 % Approach—trusting team members to meet about 80 % of targets, allowing room for mistakes, and backing them when errors occur. By pulling back, reducing micromanagement, and communicating that mistakes are acceptable, he observed fewer errors, higher morale, and improved retention. The talk serves as a practical guide for leaders seeking to shift from control‑centric management to a trust‑based, sustainable leadership style.
Chapters
as a real estate broker, I've been at the very tippy top of the success ranks. And when I got there, I was miserable to be around, because I knew that I was really good and I demanded my team to be better than good. They had to be perfect. And when they screwed up, man, I came unglued on them. And then, as you can probably imagine, I had a revolving door in my office to the point where other agents were like, "Hehe, you're working for her this week? Good luck." That had to change. That wasn't going to be a sustainable business model for anyone. And frankly, you're not leading when you're keeping other people from growing. So I went to a coaching program called Strategic Coach. You may have heard of Dan Sullivan. And at my first meeting, I was so strung out because I had so much business going on, I could barely pay attention. When I did finally tune in, it was to absorb one of Dan's books. It's called The 80% Approach. And once I read it, I had that moment of, oh, I got to fix me. So my team is going to operate better. I can't drive them crazy if I want them to stick with me. And if I want them to grow, and I do, and I did. So here's what I learned in The 80% Approach. When I, as the leader, was expecting 100% perfection, I was never going to get it. So I was demanding something that was unrealistic. Which meant that my micromanagement was unrealistic and kind of mean, and it was never sustainable. The 80% approach says if you trust your people to hit 80% of your marks, that's really good. In school today, I think 80% is an A. We can discuss later if it's really an A, but it's a B. Even back in my day, that was a B, and a B is solid. I'll take solid from my people, absolutely. And what you'll find, friends, is that when you tell people there's room to make mistakes, they'll try really hard not to make them. As it turns out, your greatest team members never want to fail you. They never want to make mistakes. And when you take the pressure off and tell them it's okay if you do, they'll actually make fewer mistakes. So if this number 1 leadership trait driving you nuts is micromanagement, there is a way to fix it. It starts with pulling back, telling the people around you that if you make a mistake, I've got your back.
