January 15, 2010. Bethesda, Md. Standards.

Eary in my life as a manager, the standars for affiliation were establishrd by the agents. This occured at our first all office seminar, the only time in the year when every agent comes to gether to learn. Every other weekof the year, the training is given at three different groups, the beginners, the intermediate and the experi agents. At our first seminar, the agents were divided into groups, to determinte what qualities we wanted in agents. Everyone knew the office needed to grow in size which meant adding agents, and I wanted consenses, so they did it for me. Every group came up with the four qualities that we ultimately agreed to, and it became our standard.

Now standards are one thing to establish and another to carry out. I have been able to lean on those standards all those 22 years, which have made my life much easier in my discussions with new agents. All agent here in the Gateway office subscribe to the same standards, therefore, any new agent must do the same. But this is a two way street. The agents and manager agreed on the standards, and both agents and managers must uphold these same standards. My first year as a manager, I fired two agents for ethics violations, but I have not had to do it again, because everyone knows that if it happened once it could happen again, and ethics is number one on our list. The agents expect us, as managers to inforce the standards and we do. But as time goes on, some things change and we as managers tolerate the exceptions. Several long time agents do not meet our productivity standards and we accept that and cherish their contribution to the office both past and present. The same with young women who have children. The children come first in those early years, and when the children grow up and go to school, the agent will become more productive and have a full career.

The standards have been our salvation here at the Gateway office of Long and Foster. I always wonder why everyone doesn't have them.