Business

Rodney Waits Holds Impact Above Income

Published

1 year ago

March 10, 2022

Value. It has a different meaning for everyone, and each person’s perspective on value is what defines their goals. While one person will spend every spare second chasing dollars and cents, the next would feel more gratified by appreciation than money. Others would even give away huge amounts of money to obtain something else that they hold to a higher level of importance, such as an old baseball card, or an exhilarating experience. Someone can determine what they value the most in their life by looking at what they are striving toward, and what they are willing to give up to get it. What is the goal? What is the “why?”

This difference in personal value is exactly what sets Rodney Waits apart from many others in the real estate market: his “why”.

Rodney currently works with eXp Realty®, is based in Destin, Florida, and services much of the surrounding area. Although he is a very successful Realtor with several specialty certifications, his accomplishments were not on the top of his list of newsworthy achievements. The achievement that means the most to him, above even his awards and impressive sales volume, is simply that his team had helped over 50 families in 2021. His value is not that he and his team had more transactions than ever before and closed a record number of deals; they had been able to help over 50 families sell or find their dream home.

This is because Rodney Waits puts people and relationships at a higher value than money, and there is absolutely no doubt that this is why he is successful.

As a young, curious entrepreneur, Rodney loved working with people and found himself looking for opportunities to make a difference in the lives of others. His step-father, who worked for a builder in the area, had always wanted to run his own brokerage, and approached Rodney with the idea of trying to get it started. Rodney saw the opportunity, and took on the position part time. Diligently, he honed his skills as a Realtor and as a businessman, and immediately began to excel. It wasn’t long before he had brought in enough business that he was able to help his step-father leave his job as a top salesman in new construction to run the family brokerage full time, as well as bring his mother into the brokerage. For five years, this family-owned and operated brokerage expanded, up to the point that all involved knew that a change had to be made. With the brokerage well established and in good hands, Rodney took another step on his journey by joining eXp Realty® in 2021.

eXp Realty® is one of the fastest growing brokerages in North America, with business in real estate all over the world. The opportunity for continued growth gave Rodney the options he needed to meet his full potential. Within one year, Rodney has already achieved ICON status, an award within the company that speaks to the dedication and commitment of a Realtor who is a prime example of the company’s core values.

Although Rodney has been able to exemplify the company’s core values, the true impact he has achieved has come from his own personal drive of what is true value. All clients that go through him find that he fully commits to meeting their needs. Whether he must show three homes or 50, he is happy to do it. Unless his client is happy, he is not. He truly enjoys guiding people through the life changing process of finding or selling a home.

It’s not just the clients that have learned first hand of Rodney’s selflessness. Rodney has been slowly building a team of other Realtors who share his vision! The agents fortunate enough to find themselves under his leadership have also received an exceptional amount of care and consideration. Rodney says, “I currently have the goal of teaching all that I know, and sharing everything I achieve with my team, because I want to see them more successful than they could ever imagine.”

His desire is to create and inspire a group of Realtors that will be long lasting, not only for himself, but so they can also make an impact on more families, assisting more people in the long term. “My goal is helping people. My passion is making a difference in peoples’ lives. Real estate is my avenue.”

Rodney doesn’t only work toward this goal through real estate, though. He has also found other ways that he can inspire positive change in others. Aside from being active in his church and community, Rodney hosts a live, weekly radio talk show through the popular Florida Man Radio program. His weekly show is then turned into a podcast called Making An Impact that listeners can tune into on their own schedule and share with others. The focus of the entire program is to inspire, encourage, and empower people to reach their full potential.

Attributing to his own sense of value once again, Rodney has a different goal than most other show hosts. Rather than shoot for a mass of listeners and turn himself into a household name, he subscribes to a different creed: “Impact is greater than influence.” Rodney would rather provide one person with a lasting and meaningful impression than check a box on an arbitrary list with unaffected listeners. This is a testament to how he lives his life and conducts his business daily, and why people turn to Rodney when making some of the biggest decisions of their lives.

“How am I going to impact somebody’s life?” he says. “I’m not going to do something for financial gain… I’m really just working to make a difference. If I can just help one person see that they can change their whole life with one decision, that would be me doing a job well done.”

In short, the thing that Rodney values the most… the opportunity to help other people obtain what they value the most. This is what makes him such a prolific businessman, and why his clients and team alike are not only satisfied with his leadership and care, but look forward to coming back for more.

Business

The Ultimate Guide to the Essential Social Skills in Business

Published

1 week ago

May 30, 2023

Matthew Wiles

Effective communication and strong relationships are essential for success in the workplace. One factor that can greatly influence these qualities is emotional intelligence, often abbreviated as EQ. EQ refers to the ability to identify, understand, and manage one’s own emotions, as well as the emotions of others. Research has shown that individuals with high levels of EQ are better equipped to handle stress, communicate effectively, and work collaboratively with others (Chamorro-Premuzic & Sanger, 2016).

Research has consistently shown that emotional intelligence (EQ) is an important predictor of job performance and success in the workplace. EQ is comprised of a set of skills that allow individuals to recognize, understand, and regulate their own emotions, as well as the emotions of others. In addition, individuals with high EQ are better able to communicate effectively, build relationships, and navigate complex social situations. As a result, they are often viewed as effective leaders and collaborators, and are more likely to achieve their personal and professional goals.

In fact, a number of studies have demonstrated the significant impact that EQ has on job performance and success. For example, one study of 85 upper-level managers found that those with higher EQ scores were rated as more effective leaders by their subordinates (Law, Wong, & Song, 2004). Another study of 151 employees found that those with higher EQ were more likely to be promoted within their organization over a five-year period (Carmeli, Brueller, & Dutton, 2009). These findings highlight the importance of EQ in the workplace and suggest that developing these skills can lead to significant benefits for both individuals and organizations.

According to a study conducted by TalentSmart, a leading provider of EQ assessments, EQ is responsible for 58% of success in all job types (Bradberry & Greaves, 2009). In contrast, IQ only accounts for about 4% of success in the workplace. This suggests that EQ is a crucial skill set for individuals in any professional field. Fortunately, EQ is a skill that can be developed and honed over time with practice and awareness.

There are several key components of EQ that are particularly important for success in the workplace. These include:

Self-Regulation: This refers to your capacity to recognize and control your emotions. Sometimes treating them when they arise may be necessary. Understanding how to manage your anger is essential. However, it can also cover how to control the feelings you’ll experience.

Self-Awareness: This implies recognizing and understanding your own feelings. Do noisy places make you nervous? Do other people talking over you make you angry? Knowing these truths about yourself shows that you are working on your self-awareness. Being conscious of yourself is necessary for this phase, which can be more complex than it sounds.

Socialization: This category focuses on your capacity to manage social interactions and direct relationships. It doesn’t entail dominating others but knowing how to work with others to achieve your goals. This could entail presenting your ideas to coworkers, leading a team, or resolving a personal disagreement.

Motivation: Strong motivators include external forces like money, status, or suffering. Internal motivation, however, plays a significant role in Goleman’s concept. By doing so, you demonstrate your ability to control your cause and initiate or continue initiatives of your own volition rather than in response to external demands.

Empathy: It’s equally critical to be sensitive to others’ feelings. This may entail learning to identify different emotional states in individuals — for example, can you tell the difference between someone at ease and someone anxious? — but it also requires comprehension of how other people may react to their current situation. Empathy is one of the essential traits in business and business leadership.

A thought leader in this space, Michael Ventura has built a career advising organizations on the importance of emotional intelligence in the workplace. In his book, Applied Empathy, Ventura highlights the value of empathy in business and provides strategies for developing and applying this skill set. With two decades of experience as a leader, facilitator, and educator, Ventura’s work has made impact in with prestigious institutions such as Princeton University and the United Nations as well as corporate clients such as Google and Nike.

Through his work, Ventura advises leaders to focus on the development of EQ in order to help individuals improve their communication, collaboration, and leadership skills, ultimately leading to greater success in the workplace. Experts like Ventura continue to support the growing body of research on the value of EQ in business, and the evidence that organizations who invest in the EQ of their teams help to create a more empathetic and successful professional environment.

And it’s worth noting that EQ isn’t just important for individual success in the workplace, but also for overall organizational success. A study by the Center for Creative Leadership found that EQ was a better predictor of success than IQ or technical skills in the workplace, and that teams with higher levels of EQ tend to be more effective and productive (Boyatzis, Goleman, & Rhee, 1999). By cultivating a culture of empathy and emotional intelligence, organizations can improve their overall performance and create a more positive work environment for their employees.

In conclusion, emotional intelligence is a crucial component of success in the workplace, and individuals and organizations alike should prioritize the development of these skills. The ones that do not only develop a leading edge in their category, but also become a meaningful place to work for their teams. And in today’s rapidly changing talent landscape, the retention of highly capable, emotionally intelligent leaders is one of the greatest keys to unlocking success.

References:

Boyatzis, R. E., Goleman, D., & Rhee, K. S. (1999). Clustering competence in emotional intelligence: Insights from the emotional competence inventory (ECI). In R. Bar-On & J. D. A. Parker (Eds.), Handbook of emotional intelligence (pp. 343-362). Jossey-Bass.

Bradberry, T., & Greaves, J. (2009). Emotional intelligence 2.0. TalentSmart.

Chamorro-Premuzic, T., & Sanger, M. N. (2016). Does employee happiness matter? Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 3(2), 168-191.