A wellness survey of the real estate industry once turned up numbers that should stop any principal in their tracks: around two-thirds of people in the industry report frequent stress, nearly half regularly deal with physical symptoms of anxiety, and close to half say work regularly damages their relationships.
Numbers like that don’t fix themselves. Here are seven places to start.
1. Thrive
Real estate culture is built around striving, not thriving, and there’s still a stigma attached to admitting you’re struggling. As Leanne Pilkington, CEO Laing+Simmons and president of REINSW, put it: “People don’t have conversations around burnout, around anxiety, around depression because [they], particularly men, don’t like to share that. They think it makes them weak for other people to know that they’ve got those problems.”
Take action: Make it normal to be open and honest about how people are actually coping, not just how they’re supposed to look like they’re coping.
Feeling this one? You don’t have to figure it out alone — book a free High Performance Call and let’s talk through where you’re at.
2. Act
There’s no coordinated industry response to wellness and wellbeing — it needs input from peak bodies, employers, individuals and government alike. As Darren Hutchins, co-founder O’Brien Real Estate, put it: “It has to start with the organisation…as an individual, absolutely – you are responsible for your own health and wellbeing – but the business also has a certain amount of responsibility. As principals we probably need to be stepping up to the plate and saying, ‘OK, we need to look at how we deal with these situations as they come through’ and become more accommodating.”
Take action: Get into the conversation about wellness in your business, rather than waiting for someone else to lead it.
3. Adapt
Real estate lags well behind global best practice on this front. As Phil Harris, Harris Real Estate, put it: “The small business and franchise model is the one we have, largely, in the industry, but greater corporatisation would be needed to gather the resources to invest in people at a level that would make a big impact.”
Take action: Look outside the industry for wellbeing models that work, and bring them in rather than reinventing them.
4. Lead
Change needs leaders willing to activate it, and there’s a genuine business case for doing so — organisations that take wellness seriously build a stronger employer brand and attract better people. As psychologist Marianne Dyer put it: “In terms of changing the culture around wellness, it’s about leaders being the leaders in wellness.”
Take action: Model the behaviour yourself, out loud, rather than just approving it from a distance.
5. Include
Success in real estate needs a broader definition than the numbers on a settlement statement — health, balance, community and relationships all belong in the picture. As Valerie Timms, Timms Real Estate SA, put it: “The industry only seems to recognise the top 10 per cent and the spotlight is always on those people. So there isn’t a reward for those doing consistent good business.”
Take action: Push back on one-dimensional definitions of success and start recognising healthier markers of it.
6. Educate
The fix has to start at recruitment and onboarding. As John Cunningham, Cunninghams NSW, put it: “There is a huge onboarding issue that is not even being talked about. We talk about how tough it is… we are really not understanding who we are taking on, who they are and how to actually get the best out of them; for them to be their best.”
Take action: Onboard new people with a genuinely holistic view of what success and sustainability look like.
7. Nurture
None of this holds without a culture that actively supports it, at team, organisation and industry level. As Nathan Casserly, director Ouwens Casserly SA, put it: “As leaders we need to lead by example and start showing some vulnerability, and showing that back to them [employees].”
Take action: Build a culture that proactively supports wellbeing, instead of reacting to burnout after it’s already happened.
The wellness of this industry ultimately comes down to its people choosing to take the initiative — starting with whoever’s leading the room.
If building a sustainable, high-performing culture — for yourself or your team — is something you want real support with, book a free High Performance Call and let’s map it out.
About Jet Xavier
Jet Xavier is a High Performance mindset and accountability coach who works with real estate agents, principals and team leaders to build sustainable, high-performing careers. Learn more about Jet.
This piece began as a column for Elite Agent — you can read the original here.
