The link between knowledge and success is forged through soft skills. You’ve gained a huge amount of knowledge associated with real estate. You know
- contract writing
- real estate law
- appraisal theory
- mortgage financing
- property law
- construction
- building codes
- design
- marketing
- and much much more
You are an expert in real estate or you are on your way to becoming one. But this expertise has no monetary value unless you earn the opportunity to use it to benefit someone who will pay you, and this opportunity is earned through soft skills.
Soft skills are defined as: Interpersonal and relationship building skills that help people to communicate and collaborate effectively. A partial list of soft skills that are essential to real estate are:
- communication
- negotiation
- personal accountability
- responsibility
- emotional intelligence
- listening skills
- etiquette
- empathy
- curiosity
- collaboration
- creative thinking
- willingness to learn
- flexibility
In this new age of information and knowledge, soft skills are over taking linear task-oriented skills as the main drivers of business. Many of us are uncertain, uncomfortable or even down right skeptical about soft skills but if you look at who’s rising to the top in the current economy, it doesn’t take long to see that investing in learning these skills is essential to your success.
Most government real estate organizations have policies against any training that includes soft skills. I’ve heard this from real estate boards, provincial associations and CREA for years. (There are a few notable exceptions including The Oakville, Calgary and Edmonton real estate boards.). I’ve never understood the reasoning as I know for sure that interpersonal and relationship skills are critical for us to represent and protect our clients professionally. Perhaps soft skills are frightening for members of the government bureaucracy.
The good news is, when you gain these soft skills, you will have found the magic bullet of success.