When you look at your personal goals for work, your career, your life, and your family, have you ever wanted to:
Then you have to take 26 minutes and watch the presentation from Tim Ferriss in the video below. This was Tim’s presentation at the Do Lectures.
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I recently had the opportunity to catch up with Jeff Perry Quicken Loans Vice President, and the leader of the Cleveland location of the company. Jeff joined Quicken Loans in 1995 in the mailroom, and grew his career until 2006, when he was named vice president and leader of the Cleveland location – a position he has held to date. Here’s what he had to say on leadership, growing a team quickly, and his keys to personal development and growth.
Jeff Perry Quicken Loans: When I started at Quicken Loans, it was about assisting the mortgage needs of my clients and focusing on my own personal accomplishments and goals. Over time, it has been about understanding how to work with different people, hire, train, coach and mentor team members and show them what has worked; and not worked, for me over the years. I have maintained a focus on my personal goals, however the needs of my teammates have been the driving force behind my day to day actions.
Jeff Perry Quicken Loans: Focusing on my vision and then having a strategy to accomplish that vision by setting priorities. You have to understand where your business is going and then you can enlist followers of that vision. People want to know where their career is going and showing them the steps they can and will need to take to achieve their personal goals.
Jeff Perry Quicken Loans: I think it’s about staying in touch with what drives people to succeed, asking for feedback, and always looking for ways to make an impact and offer support.
Jeff Perry Quicken Loans: Stay true to yourself. Don’t try to be someone you aren’t, stay in touch with your passion, and work on your strengths. Also, develop and mentor a strong core and foundation. As your team expands its harder to get personal with everyone on that team, but you must develop a core group of team members that you communicate often with and that clearly understand your vision. This spreads throughout.
Almost all of us have Clients. Sometimes we call them Customers. Sometimes it’s clear who they are, but sometimes it’s not. At Quicken Loans, My team and I essentially have 2 Clients: every person in America who needs a mortgage or wants to refinance, and the senior leaders of our company. Today, I’m writing about the latter.
You see, there is an old saying we have: “good AND bad news should travel fast.” To us, that means it’s always better to share the news – good or bad – and deal with it right away. If it’s good, you celebrate it. If it’s bad, you deal with it. However, you never sit on it, as that can only lead to bigger problems later on.
So, in the spirit of “good and bad news should travel fast” here’s the secret to happy Clients:
Make sure your Clients NEVER (and I mean never, ever) have to ask for a status update!
Informed Clients are inevitably happy Clients. If you can achieve this goal, you will have happy Clients. The trick is to ensure you are delivering the right update at the right time in the right way. Some Clients prefer updates directly in person, while some prefer you update their assistant. Some like email, others like voice mail (see my voicemail tips). Some prefer presentations (see my presentation tips).
So, your path to happy Clients is two-fold:
Practice these two things on your projects, and you will reap the rewards.
There are some great lessons and perspective on entrepreneurship and life in this video from Dan Gilbert, Chairman of Quicken Loans, Owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Founding Partner at Rockbridge Growth Equity.
My favorite quote: “give what the greedy man won’t, and you’ll get what the greedy man wants.” You have to give to receive. Dan discusses that idea and many more.
Check it out:
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