The music started, the lights started flashing and two dynamic individuals came rushing on the stage…  Not walking, but dancing! Yes dancing…  Now these weren’t the cheerleaders from the morning session, and they were not some of our wonderful KW family demonstrating the WI4C2TS…  It was Ken DeLeon and Dianna Kokoszka!  Yes, Ken got our awesome Dianna dancing on stage in front of our Keller Williams leaders from across out company.  And if you were wondering, they BOTH had some great moves!

I am not sure if Ken ever stopped dancing through his amazing story about his way to the top.

He lives an amazing life…  He does not have a fear of dying; he has a fear of living a mediocre life.  So he lives every day in a way that can uplift others that are around him.  By smiling, waiving, dancing, smiling – he thrives on the emotions he brings out in others.

If you haven’t yet had a chance to hear his incredible story, I will do my best to recap quickly here in this post: Ken lost his sister, and now carries her on his journey in life.  He has survived an ongoing battle with cancer and a devastating car accident. Despite these set-backs Ken pushes on. He carries those life experiences as catalysts for success and as a result he has poised himself to emerge at the nations #1 producing agent across the board.  He hopes to achieve over $275,000,000 in closings.

Ken joined Keller Williams Realty from another national brand in 2005. When he left that company, he had just closed $26 million.  During Ken’s first year with Keller Williams Realty he closed $55 million – a 210% increase in his business. Every year for him in real estate has been his best year in the business, and he is not close to stopping.

Ken is a dear friend of mine and someone I admire. We enjoy looking out for one another, and helping each other out.  Extending a hand whenever we feel the other may need it.

One day back in 2006 Ken and I were talking about where he stood against KW’s top agents, and what it would take to be No. 1.  I pulled the numbers, and we saw he ranked No. 5.  What a wonderful moment.  $55,000,000 in closed transactions, doing 32 units, and No. 5!

Yest what we kept on looking at was the 32 units.

I pointed out that the No. 4 agent in Keller Williams had done around 270 units to achieve an amount above $55 million.  I said to him “If I stripped away the $55 million and dropped him in an area where prices were at $100,000 and kept his 32 units, would he still be happy with his success where he stood right now?”

We both had a moment of clarity, and he himself made the decision to go from entrepreneurial to purposeful in his career. As Gary Keller wrote in The Millionaire Real Estate Agent, “From ‘E’ to ‘P.’”

As we fast forward to today…  And $275,000,000 later… His current successes are just more stepping stones on Ken’s amazing journey in life.

It was truly a treat to have Ken with us today at our Mega Agent Camp!

Chris Alston

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“Which do you think will help you be most successful? Strengths or Mistakes?” asked best-selling author and Mega Leadership Keynote Speaker, Marcus Buckingham.

With everyone in the audience holding a copy of his new book Standout, Buckingham explained that we spend more time fixing ours and others weaknesses than we do building strengths. Which is exactly why he wrote Standout, and created an assessment, similar to Strengths Finder, to help leaders find the personal edge that will help them win at work.

“The series of questions and the results that follow will help you identify where you’ll have an unfair advantage. The focus this time is on performance. We’re helping you ask and answer the question ‘How Do I Win?’”

Buckingham then described the nine leadership categories that people typically fall into, noting that, “you probably all have a lot of these, yet there are two that characterize your leadership style more strongly than the others.”

1. Adviser: This person asks “What is the best thing to do?” They are energized by other people’s problems and often feel excited and empowered by having an answer.

2. Connector: This person asks “Who/What can I connect?” They see the best in people and find others to connect them with to make everyone better. Continue reading ‘Standout through your strengths’

KW CEO Mark Willis delivered his state of the company address today at Mega Camp. Much has been said about who’s the No.1 brand in real estate. There are a myriad of metrics that any company can use to place themselves in the top spot, and the press releases and ad campaigns can go on forever.

The Keller Williams Realty business model that real estate is a local, service business was Willis’ focus during Mega Leadership Camp:

Emerging Technologies with Chris Smith of Inman Next and Tech Savvy Agent

It’s an all too-familiar tale. The minute you think you’ve got a hold of the latest, greatest, ground-breaking technology another one comes out! Or the minute you have your Business Page just right, Zuckerberg decides it’s time for a change. Keeping up with the Facebook’s, Twitter’s and Google’s of the world in an effort to reach more clients online often becomes all-encompassing and sometimes overwhelming. Where are my current and prospective clients?  how much time should I spend getting to know the new technologies, and what will my return on investment (ROI) be?

Thankfully Chris Smith, chief evangelist for Inman News, co-creator of Inman NEXT and author of the popular blog Tech Savvy Agent, took the stage at Mega Technology Camp to present his vision for the future of technology and its impact on the day-to-day business of real estate professionals. Here he is giving his two-cents (worth so much more!) on what’s to come and how smart agents can tap in and effectively leverage technology in their business.