Change the way you think about what you do, and change your outcome!

Mark Bridgewater

Sales Manager at Carrington Holding Company, LLC Licensed in 38 states

In the day and age of "rate compression", 'scaling back", "do more for less", and getting caught up in all the negative "water cooler talk", how can you set yourself apart from your peers and be more successful that ever?

Think like an entrepreneur!

How does an entrepreneur think?

For L.O.’s seeking to improve their performance, successful entrepreneurs make for great sources of inspiration. (Just scroll through LinkedIn and see all the inspirational quotes by entrepreneurs!) Though many loan officers work for someone else’s company, an entrepreneurial mindset can help boost an L.O’s success. One of the top qualities we associate with any entrepreneurs is…. Ownership

Ownership

What does ownership mean for entrepreneurs, and for you in your mortgage business? It’s the difference between feeling like another cog in the machine and being the one operating the machine. It’s the difference between doing things because you’ve been told to, and doing them because you’re driven to succeed. It’s easy to spot a coworker/peer who takes ownership by the level of work they do….Are they’re doing just enough, or going above and beyond?

Taking ownership powers your business growth.

Having a mindset of ownership not only makes you appear more professional, confident, and qualified to your peers, but it’s also instrumental in growing your business. Even for loan originators working for a company and under a manager, finding and maintaining a sense of autonomy and ownership can directly contribute to their professional growth.

It’s a motivator

Taking responsibility for your own success is very motivating! When you realize your achievements and success are in your hands, your dedication and focus increase tenfold. This mindset not only helps you feel more empowered to continually be better than yesterday, but it also makes you feel like a more connected part of the entire branch, and that branches success.

It invokes passion and investment

When you see both managers and LOs taking ownership in their roles , you see a greater sense of investment, and this is usually followed by great success for the group as a whole. When you take ownership, you see a sense of pride and confidence in the work you put in, and the positive results you achieve. Seeing that you’re responsible for that success can keep you in touch with your passion what you do, and will attract like-minded individuals to to be a part of what you’re creating!

Encourages confidence and innovation

Confidence, creativity, experimentation, and innovation — these are key elements of the entrepreneurial spirit. A mindset of ownership encourages you to take creative risks. It’s the foundation for the confidence to experiment with innovative ideas that could lead to greater success.

Ways to start taking ownership in your role:

Take initiative

It’s best when ownership starts from the top with managers who encourage autonomy, but even if you haven’t been given free reign, you can still take initiative to create your own success. Start making the moves you need to each day to grow your business. Prospect and market more consistently. Try out new ideas, even if you’re not sure what the results will be. (Don’t just keep them as ideas!) Get off on the right foot with a new client and invest the time and care needed to ensure your success with them. When you focus on how much you can control, it becomes easier to feel that sense of ownership.

Stay accountable

“Owning” your work means coming up with goals to drive your success and staying accountable to them. When you’re in control of your success, you’re setting your own bar, and expectations. If you want to dial it up next year, you’ll be able to reset expectations, and make it happen!

Own your mistakes

Taking ownership means taking responsibility for good and bad. Just as your success is in your hands, so are your mistakes. The more comfortable you become with failure and mistakes, and the more aware you are of your own weaknesses, the better you’ll be able to handle these things as they come. If you’re going to push forward towards greater success, chances are you’re going to try some new ideas, and some of those ideas may fail. In order to grow, we must fail at times….and that’s okay! When you focus on learning from failure, instead of letting them crush your confidence, you take control. The lessons you learn from those mistakes can power your renewed drive to continue striving…. And more importantly, you’re executing your plan, and not just being the next “great idea” person! Too many people?have great business plans, but fail to execute them.

Taking on a greater sense of ownership in your mortgage business will help to boost your overall success. This entrepreneurial mindset helps to channel your engagement and passion, and it also helps you to focus on what matters most — your clients. They can easily tell the difference between a L.O. who is going through the motions and one who is invested in and dedicated to their work and wanting to build a real relationship with them.

?Think like an entrepreneur!