I was talking with an MLS Exec the other day, he told me that they had to call the police because a member was upset at a recent change they made to their MLS system and made threats about what he was going to do when he came to the MLS office. In this day and age with what happens in schools I don’t blame them for calling the police.
I heard another story about an MLS/Assn how a member organized a “march on the association offices”, in this case, the MLS was accused of making too many changes in a short time. Yikes! They even started a Facebook group. Imagine that, a Facebook group, I wonder what name they gave the Facebook group? “Hands off our MLS system!”, “Back to the MLS Books!”, or maybe “You’re doing too much, STOP!”
Of course, you have to plan. These changes have to be thoughtful. But no matter what members will complain that “we didn’t have enough time”, “we weren’t notified”, “it’s not the right time of year” or “we wanted more training”. That is always going to happen, no matter if it’s 3 months or 3 years. To me, those are table stakes that any organization has to deal with when they move forward.
Along with all the drama on social media, MLS staff, and execs are berated with emails, phone calls, and name-calling. You really can’t blame any MLS exec who doesn’t do much and keeps the status quo. I mean it is the safe thing to do if you want to keep your job.
But there are others that press forward, who know the risks, but know the rewards as well, and press on. Because if we aren’t growing, we are dying. You don’t want to “change for change’s sake” but we have to try new things if we want to progress. We all need to fight to move our organizations and the industry forward.
That’s leadership.
So when presented with a new idea you want implemented, or a decision you need to make that should have been made long ago, don’t be discouraged. Remember what the Spartans said when the Persians told them if they fought they would unleash enough arrows that would “black out the sun.”
“Good,” the Spartans said, “then we will fight in the shade.”
Thank you Greg, rarely reviewed but ever present in our MLS world. Standing still is not an option in today’s world!
I raise my glass to fighting in the shade! It was recently said that I was like an overly excited puppy. I assume this is because I am not afraid to fill my agenda by networking with new people, reaching out to new vendors, and demoing new products. Change doesn’t scare me, I would rather already know what my members are looking for than have to research it after they ask. I was very discouraged to hear that I was too hungry when in my eyes, I was trying to make progress. Here’s to walking the fine line; thank you for reminding me there is nothing wrong with fighting in the dark. Have a great one!
We are replacing our AMS, website, and MLS this year. Wish me luck! Oh, and I also made them all move from PCs to Macs.
We made a change in our company from lockbox distributor to being the access control software provider in order to give the end users more flexibility. The latest: “we don’t like it, so we’re just going to buy construction combo boxes”.
The horse is standing in the river and dying of thirst!
Not to be ageist but have to wonder age group of the protestors. I’m 61 and I welcome every bit of “great” tech I can get my hands on. CRMLS has some nice stuff rolling out this year and I’m like a kid the night before going to Disneyland. Still hoping for a Sentrilock lockbox under the Christmas tree.