Kris has four critical pieces of advice for you in 2019, all learned from his personal triumphs and challenges in 2018. — BTB #13 One on One

(0:00:00) Intro: Welcome to the Behind The Billboard podcast. Here’s your host, Kris Lindahl.

(0:00:06) Kris Lindahl: So I’m excited for 2019. But I wanted to do a quick, little podcast and recap 2018 and just four things that I learned.

So we created our own real estate company this year. We did it in a short amount of time. What I learned is… Anything is possible. Remember that. Anything is possible. Just because someone tells you that it’s not possible or maybe you’re in this box, or maybe they’re trying to keep you between these lanes… Anything is possible. Anything you put your mind to can and will happen, but it’s a mindset.

And we really turned our company around in short order and I’m proud of everyone. I’m proud of everything we accomplished there because it wasn’t easy to do what we did. But guess what! We did it— and now we’re crushin’ it.

Number Two: Control Emotions.

This has been one that I have worked on for a long time in my journey in personal development. And I will tell you, as you grow as a leader and you put yourself out there, people are going to have opinions of you. You’re going to have doubters and critics and naysayers. Some people might call them “haters.” I look at when I created our new company this year, boy, I couldn’t believe how many people had negative things to say about myself and about our organization, about the people that are a part of our organization. It doesn’t feel good when people are talking bad about you. But you know what’s the best part about that and what gives the ultimate power? When you can control your emotions and you can control your response. When you have the ability to control your brain and how you respond. I will tell you that I had so many people that were naysayers… “It’s over for Kris Lindahl… It’s over for Kris Lindahl Real Estate… This is the end.” I had former agents and employees calling saying things like, “Oh my gosh! This is the end!” I had people at our previous brokerage and other agents in the community say, “This is the end. What happened? Kris is going to jail! Kris has done ‘this’” I heard every single rumor you could possibly think of, but I’ll tell you one thing. I responded gracefully to everything that I heard. I didn’t let my emotions get out of whack one time. I got crushed by a lot of people. I had a lot of people that said negative things and I know who they are. But I’m okay with that because what I’ve realized is that they’re the issue— not me. So remember that when you have someone who’s trying to kill your dreams. Is that your fault? Or is that their’s? It’s their responsibility, not yours, to solve that. I learned a lot about myself and about the people in our organization in 2018. But if you can control your emotions, it’s really what I’ve been focusing on for four years, it’s how can I control that way that I feel when there’s adversity or when people don’t agree with me.

You know what’s so interesting about all of it is… Have you ever judged a book by its cover and then found out that you were completely wrong? I’ve heard this happen so many times when someone will give me a recap of what a book looks like and then I’ll let them know I read it and the book wasn’t anything about what the cover was. I think the same thing about our organization and so many successful leaders. Everyone has an opinion and a lot of those people who had opinions had things to say about myself or someone in our company, a lot of them I’ve never even met. I don’t know them or never spent any time with them— so it’s really interesting as we take this journey on personal development and the growth of our organization. When people have an opinion about you, you’re winning. You’re winning. You’re playing offense. The people that are focused on what you’re doing are playing defense. I’ve never worried about what someone else is doing. I’ve always been focused on our organization and our people and how we become better. What I’ve found over the years is that so many people are focused on what we’re doing, which helps us win at a higher level. So when you’re looking at your emotions, make sure to keep them in check. You don’t need to worry about what someone else is doing. You need to worry about what someone else thinks about you. What other people think about you is none of your business. Remember that. It’s none of your business. So, control your emotions.

The next one is one that I’ve always tried to keep a curious state on and that’s why I always like to ask so many questions. Be a student first.

When you’re asking questions, you’re learning. I’m always intrigued when I meet successful people, successful business leaders. When they’re asking all the questions, they get it. They understand. They’re not the one talking. They’re listening. So, remember that. Are you a student first? Because if you want to grow and you really want to get to the next level, whether that’s personally or professionally, ask questions. A lot of the things that happen today in leadership are things that happened 30 years ago. Yeah, there’s a lot of technology that’s changed. The way we communicate has changed. There are things that are different, but the principles are the same. There’s a lot of people that have already done all of this so why don’t we ask them more questions and be a student first.

I’ve learned so much over the years by just asking questions. There is so much power in asking questions rather than being the one that talks the whole time because you all know that person. When I say “talks the whole time,” there’s that know-it-all you spend some time with you’re like, “Well they think they’ve got it all figured out.” I can tell you right now that they never do. It’s a front. So many sure you’re asking questions. Asking questions is what helps you grow and it gives you the power.

The last one. It’s extremely critical when you’re growing an organization and you’re part of one. It’s not about you. It’s not about me. It’s about “we.” It’s about the organization. It’s about all of us. It’s about their families. I look at when we made the change to create our own real estate company and the amount of people in our organization that stepped up and really did work that was not fun. It wasn’t ideal. It was tough work in a short amount of time. That’s where success is formed when you have people around you that are helping you, that are carrying the mission, carrying your core values and helping you get to the next level.

What I love about that is that the organization isn’t dependent on me. I’m just a small part of it now. That’s really where you want to get. I see the mistake in leadership is that we’re too afraid to empower people around us— that we want to be the know-it-all and that we want to have all the power and that we want everything to go through us. Really start giving that control away so that the organization takes a life of its own. It’s not about you. It’s about everyone. It’s about their families. Supporting everyone and helping them get to the next level is the most enjoyable part. I’ve learned a lot this year about our organization, the people that are in our organization and their families. We have so much support and we have incredible people. Those things make such a massive difference because industries are changing and things are happening but when you have loyal people that are willing to give everything they have to help you get that organization to the next level and they start to carry the culture and the community and it starts to take a life of its own, it’s fun to be a part of it. It’s also really enjoyable when it’s not just you that has all of the responsibility now. That is really enjoyable. So, remember that. It’s not about you as the “leader,” it’s about everyone. It’s about “we.” I care so much about the people in our organization and they can feel it. They can feel that empathy. I truly care about each and every one of them and I know that every move and every single thing that Kris Lindahl says or does, not only impacts everyone in that organization, but it also impacts their families. So, remember that, as a leader, whether it’s social media… whether you’re out to lunch or dinner or you’re getting interviewed, or maybe you didn’t think anyone was listening or recording and you said something and you’re like, “Oh, I don’t know if I should have said that!”

Remember, you’re always on stage. When you’re leading an organization and it’s about “we” and you have other people that are counting on you and you have other families that are counting on you, make sure that you don’t take that for granted. Make sure that you don’t because it’s all about the people.

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