Great agents have certain behavioural traits, but merely possessing those traits does not make an agent great. They need to be harnessed, says Laing+Simmons Head of People & Growth Jacqui Barnes, and leadership is the active ingredient.
This agent has ‘it’, that one doesn’t. Many of us have had conversations like this.
Conversations that are grounded in the view that talent is a fixed thing.
But what if we shift our thinking to view talent not as fixed but buildable?
That what we’re really looking for in a person are building blocks – behavioural traits – that may not yet be fully realised?
From here, other questions emerge.
What if our job as leaders isn’t to find the most talented people, but to build them?
What if potential is not something to be discovered, but harnessed?
If we adopt this perspective, our job as leaders becomes clearer. We are responsible for turning promise into performance.
The patterns of behaviour, the traits, exhibited by high-performing agents appear early on.
Recruitment is about identifying this raw material. It’s at this point that the real work begins.
The gap between promise and performance is a leadership opportunity.
Leaders must consider the systems, culture and coaching needed to close the gap.
This typically depends on clear expectations, consistent feedback, development opportunities and a supportive culture.
These are strategies leaders can implement to shape agents with promise from day one.
Similarly, there are strategies leaders can use to understand which traits to look for and how to spot them.
At Laing+Simmons, we undertook a profiling study to understand what makes a high-performance agent.
The sample included agents writing over $500,000, with some writing up to $1 million.
We found there is no specific mold for the ideal agent, but there are certainly common behaviours.
They are highly independent, take initiative and figure things out for themselves.
They are direct communicators who get to the point and handle feedback well.
They are goal-focused and action-oriented, unafraid of numbers or targets.
They don’t need social approval and speak up if something doesn’t make sense.
They’re comfortable working solo, while still being able to be a team player.
And they’re intuitive decision makers who trust their instincts.
How we spot these traits in an interview is key. Laing+Simmons has developed an interview guide with specific questions and scenarios to uncover an agent’s promise.
For example, to understand if an agent is highly independent, we might ask them ‘when you’re unsure what to do next, what’s your first move?’.
Then we listen for self-starter behaviour.
For leaders, knowing how to turn promise into performance means understanding what promising agents actually want.
Managing is keeping people on track, while coaching is helping them figure out how to go further, faster, on their own terms.
Promising agents don’t want control, they want coaching. They’re not looking for management, they want guidance.
After all, they are already self-driven, purposeful, direct and resilient.
The job of leaders is to help them become what they’re capable of, to build their talent with the right coaching, support and accountability.
Leaders can reflect on their approach by asking themselves if they’re telling the agent what to do, or helping them figure it out for themselves.
Are they investing in their development or just measuring their results?
The right environment is needed but building the right environment isn’t about grand strategies.
It’s about consistent, intentional leadership moments.
And the more intentional we are about building talent, the higher people can rise.
This is leadership
