Join The Relentless.

We are more interested in what’s working than what’s not working! It is crucial as we move forward together that we pause to “look off the back of the boat” to measure our progress and achievements so that we acknowledge and appreciate our successes. As we focus on something that represents progress and achievement, our confidence is raised – both as individuals and as a team. When people are confident about what’s working, they have the courage to look for improvements they can make. The whole company always has to become more confident, but you can only do that by reinforcing what already works.

At CENTURY 21 Signature Real Estate, we desire that all personal progress and rewards within the organization should be as a result of value creation. All your status and growth opportunity within our team, in any kind of position, comes from creating as much value as possible.

All opportunity lies on the other side of value creation.

Our agent-clients have chosen to step out of the “Time/Effort Economy” (where employees exchange time and effort on work days for a paycheck) to the “Results Economy” (where they are compensated only if/when they perform and create value in the marketplace.) Although our support team does not live entirely in a “Results Economy”, we believe that taking on a “Results Economy Mindset” forces us to always be asking how we can create value for others, and thereby increase our own value.

For this reason, the ability to grow and progress within our company is defined by our team members’ ability and willingness to be on the lookout for new ways to create value for our agent-clients and the teammates we work with on a day to day basis. Looking to the company to see what its needs are, and then working to create value is a sure way to be noticed by our leadership and make rapid progress inside the organization.

We are always getting better! Everything we have done in the company since its inception, both big and small, has improved CENTURY 21 Signature Real Estate. We believe in “Exponential not Monumental Growth”- the idea that we are always working, one step at a time, to improve and enhance our organization through constant improvement of the fundamentals rather than through “silver-bullet” strategies. We are committed to always reviewing our processes and strategies to see “what’s working” and “what’s not.” Every year our team, systems, and organization as a whole has been a better and enhanced version of the year before.

We remain committed to always improving, always innovating, and never settling for good enough.

We use our Back Stage capabilities to make our Front Stage presentation a unique and positive experience for our agent-clients and the buyers and sellers they serve. Everything that happens on our Front Stage (agent meetings, training, services, and our office environments) must be supported by excellent Back Stage teamwork (planning, organizing, tweaking, and administration.) It’s like a great theatrical performance. People come and pay their money to have a magical Front Stage experience. But in order to create that, you have to have a Back Stage.

So in our Back Stage, we not only have to support what’s going on Front Stage, we also have to support one another. We have to treat one another in the same way we would treat our agent and buyer/seller clients. Many companies say one thing about what they’re doing Front Stage, but it in no way corresponds to the way they actually treat one another Back Stage. And you can’t hide that. Here, everyone gets treated the same way- with respect and appreciation for their uniqueness as individuals. Everyone expects everyone else to contribute their best capabilities, their best efforts, and their best results to create a great Front Stage experience and a great Back Stage experience.

Our agent-clients (living in the Results Economy) are always being encouraged and guided by us to protect the things they value most in life from the busyness of their work schedule. We view our work and the money we earn in real estate as a means to an end rather than an end in itself. We know that happiness doesn’t come from wealth, but from a fulfilled and inspired life journey.

We want the exact same thing for our team members at CENTURY 21 SRE, and strive to protect the boundaries between the workday and our downtime which we all need to be productive and happy. We want to create an environment that allows for flexibility as life happens, where we don’t ask you to work late at night unless there is a special project, and we don’t ask you to work on weekends. We see time off not as a bonus, but as a necessity. We believe you will be far more productive if you enjoy your time off away from work.

In the same way that we hold the organization accountable to improvement and innovation, we believe that all of us as individuals should be encouraged to progress down the path of personal growth and development. This means that your knowledge increases, your attitudes become more powerful, and you develop greater skills and better habits. We acknowledge that not everyone desires to journey down a path of personal growth, and that not everyone is a great fit for our culture. As we say to agents desiring to join our company, “not everyone gets to work here.” We are purposefully organizing our culture to support the lifetime personal growth of our team members, and we believe this is a great place to grow. But if you don’t grow, then you have to go. This has been the case for some team members who have elected not to join us on a journey of personal growth.

At CENTURY 21 SRE we respect everybody. Most of all we respect other people’s goals and decisions. At the basis of this respect is our recognition that CENTURY 21 SRE is not for everyone. It’s not for everyone who becomes an agent, and it is not for everyone who joins our support team. Not everyone shares our philosophy and approach to business and life. So when an agent or team member leaves the organization, we support their new direction.

One of the important things we try to do is to express our appreciation of what they contributed while they were with us. People have their own lives, their own agendas, and their own goals, and you’ve got to respect that. We feel the same way about our support team members – especially when they have decided that there is a better opportunity for them. We want to encourage people to follow their own paths. We always insist that people respect other people’s decisions and goals in life.

In all areas of life, not just at CENTURY 21 SRE, all progress starts by being honest and telling the truth. Progress comes from using intelligence and creativity to say, “Yes, this is not working, and this is what I think might be a better solution.” This is really important because we are a growing organization and that means, first of all, that many things are working that are contributing to the growth. But it also means that, at any given time, there are probably important things that aren’t working. You have to be willing to be honest about what’s not working for the company. You may have doubts or worries, but rather than keeping them to yourself, you develop a willingness to bring them to the surface and say, “This isn’t working, and I think it would be better if we did (fill in the blank).” The more we tell the truth about our progress as well as our shortcomings, the faster we’re going to progress as a company – which means growth and rewards for everybody on the team.

One of the important things we try to do is to express our appreciation of what they contributed while they were with us. People have their own lives, their own agendas, and their own goals, and you’ve got to respect that. We feel the same way about our support team members – especially when they have decided that there is a better opportunity for them. We want to encourage people to follow their own paths. We always insist that people respect other people’s decisions and goals in life.

Every day, as individuals and as a collective, we are faced with difficult decisions and forks in the road. Not all decisions are black and white, and sometimes the ethical impact of our decisions isn’t realized until much later down the road. Whenever we are faced with a decision that involves any potential impact to the reputation of our team or organization, we want every one of our team members to be empowered to “take the high road.” Sometimes this means more work. Other times it means financial loss.

Taking the high road is seldom the easiest path, but in the long run it is always the right decision.

So whenever you are faced with a tough decision of two or more options where there is any opportunity for ethical fuzziness or negative relational impact, ask yourself, “What’s the high road?” We will always support your decisions to do the right thing by people.

We walk the talk. In other words, we have integrity throughout the organization. We never ask or demand of others what we’re not doing ourselves. We do everything in the company that we ask our agent-clients to do, so we retain credibility as a company in the marketplace.

This is so important because that’s what creates the kind of trust that attracts new agents. That’s what makes agents want to stay with our team for years to come, and encourages them to invite like-minded colleagues to join our team. Any time you see any kind of disconnect, or anything that we are failing to do Back Stage that we’re doing Front Stage, make sure you bring this up.

Things can happen fast. We can have a quarter in which everybody’s got a lot of work and something slips through the cracks. We are not a perfect organization. We will never be a perfect organization. But we are an organization that’s always getting better. Part of that is found in all of us holding each other accountable to always be living up to our own stated expectations.

As leaders of this organization, we want all of your skill, energy, attention, and effort going into ever-greater creativity, cooperation, and contribution. We don’t want any of your energy being spent on defending yourself We want you to have no defense budget.

All of the other values are designed to create a positive environment so you don’t feel you have to spend time defending yourself against complaints or criticism. There are workplaces where the environment is so bad, so hostile, that individuals feel that they have to spend 50% of their energy every day just defending themselves against really mean behavior.

Here, the mentality is one of progress, not perfection.

It means that you can make mistakes and learn from them, and that is considered valuable. We really don’t want you spending any energy worrying at night or over a weekend about how you are going to defend yourself when you come to work. We are trying to create an environment where we get the best of you all the time and where all of your best goes into really positive things.

Gratitude, as a value, means that you’re always appreciating what you already have. You’re always happy with the achievements, the progress, and the rewards you’ve already received. You’ll recognize from your own experiences that nothing contributes more to a positive environment than gratitude.

Everyone loves grateful people. And grateful people attract other grateful people.

It’s absolutely impossible to have a negative thought or emotion when you’re being grateful. Gratitude is the key to an all-purpose positive attitude and it makes every moment in every situation better. If you think about it, the people you enjoy being around the most in your life are those who are most grateful. So, the first thing to do is to be that kind of person yourself, then encourage other people to be the same.

About one-third of your waking hours over the course of your lifetime will be spent at work, and your work colleagues are the people you spend the majority of your time around. Work is not just necessary to pay the bills, but in a fulfilling and growth-oriented environment, can be an incredibly gratifying and enjoyable aspect to a fulfilled and inspired life.

We want every member of our team to partner with us to create a work environment that is not afraid to have fun as we work to accomplish goals and meet deadlines.

Not only does the occasional lighthearted office event add life to our work days, we believe it has the capacity to rejuvenate and re-energize our minds. This leads to more productivity through the work week. We encourage you to be a part of creating a fun environment where we can all enjoy spending time together on a common mission.