Good reads for AEs

Want to be a better leader, change your attitude

Reader: John Sebree, RCE, CEO, Missouri Association of REALTORS®

I’m confident that most people around me would say I maintain a positive attitude. So when our Region 9 conference speaker, Sam Glenn, handed me a signed copy of his latest book, Attitude Changes Everything: A Simple Way to More Happiness, Enthusiasm and Positivity at Work and in Life, I didn’t think it applied to me. I gave it a read, anyway.

This book turned out to be just the recharge in attitude I needed. Sam’s book reminded me that each day I determine whether my attitude is going to be “in my way” or if I’m going to make it work for me. This is not easy, and wishing it does not make it happen. Working my attitude requires me to determine what I can control when everything can seem out of control. Yet, despite all the obstacles we face as association executives, we are in control of a majority of what’s around us, including our attitude.

This book is an easy read that I’ll keep on my shelf and reread when I need an attitude boost. It also makes a great gift for elected leadership.

Engage members with your association’s story

Reader: Chip Ahlswede, RCE, CEO, Beverly Hills/ Greater Los Angeles Association of REALTORS®

If your association is like mine, it is also struggling with low member volunteerism, attendance, participation, and investment. Recently I’ve been looking for solutions and diving into new ways to communicate that may motivate members to actually engage.

The first book I read on the subject, Brief: Make a Bigger Impact by Saying Less, by Joseph McCormack, focuses on using brevity and other techniques to create more compelling communications. If members are not showing up because they didn’t get the invitation, the techniques in this book can help you create messages (videos, infographics, and posts) that they will actually pay attention to.

The second book I read, Building a Story- Brand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen by Donald Miller, showed me how to create “who we are” messaging that ties together all our communications.

The book details how to use the seven universal story points all humans respond to, including rags to riches, a quest, renewal, and redemption, to create messaging that makes a connection to readers. Miller outlines a process we can use to craft messages that highlight the unique value we bring to our members. I’m looking forward to implementing some of these insights into our member outreach.

Immeasurable returns of giving back

Reader: Kyle Anderson, CEO, Greater Gateway Association of REALTORS®, Ill.

I finally did it. I volunteered to serve on an NAR association executive work group, inspired in part by the classic bite-size book, The Go-Giver: A Surprising Way of Getting More Than You Expect by Bob Burg and David Mann

Told though a heartwarming story about a young man named Joe, the authors deliver universal words to live by about giving and success. Instead of pushing a win-win philosophy, the authors suggest to first make sure the other person wins. By concentrating on the value you can bring to others, you will begin to attract success to yourself.

As AEs, we work so hard to make our respective associations the best they can be and to provide the most value to our membership that we sometimes forget those in our shoes at other associations.

We all experience similar struggles in this line of work, and sometimes sharing those struggles and successes with others may be the only thing that gets us through. I have shared and learned from many AEs across the country and I know I’m a better AE as a result.