Jim started his career in real estate back in the 80’s. He was successful in it but eventually he found himself wanting to do more. He went on from owning several real estate firms to building teams of driven sales professionals. But it was his passion in helping people become the best version of themselves that led him to become a coach who is committed to transforming leaders who want to do the same.
Today, Jim is a national speaker, best-selling author, coach and consultant. His book VISION TO RESULTS: Leadership in Action belongs to the Forbes List of Best Leadership Books of 2019. In this book, he teaches how to create an actionable vision for your organization that brings everyone’s role into sharp focus.
Let’s join Jim as he shares his thoughts on why he believes in “data not drama” and how he thinks the world will get better through leadership.
In this episode, we talked about:
(02:23) What Jim is most passionate about today
(06:27) Why you need to have technology to support the systems you placed in your business
(08:59) What should be the most important asset in your business
(12:42) How to divide your time for working in and on your business
(14:18) Why you need to set a “thinking time” for yourself
(23:29) Why it is important to track results on a daily and weekly basis
(25:33) Why the activity for every “no” is just as important as the activity for a “yes”
(27:14) What is the advantage of daily tracking?
(32:34) Jim’s biggest piece of advice
(37:16) How important is having a successful family life to having a successful business life?
Brian Charlesworth 0:35
Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the GRIT podcast. I'm Brian Charlesworth your host of the show. I'm the founder of Sisu, which is the real estate growth automation software. And super excited today. I'm here with Jim Fischetti. Is that the correct pronunciation Jim
Jim Fischetti 0:51
You nailed that. Awesome.
Brian Charlesworth 0:53
All right. So I have a little bit of Italian background in my language anyway. So anyway, super excited to have you here today. Jim. Jim is a speaker, author, coach and consultant. He owns real estate businesses still today all over the world. He's been in real estate since the 1980s. And just super excited because Jim is somebody who's gone from a real estate agent and real estate, we all know, as most of you listeners are in real estate, real estate is a sales business. And Jim has taken that and taken it throughout the real estate industry and then beyond where he's coaching companies all over the world now. And he has a top selling book from last year. So Jim, welcome to the show. What do you have to add to that?
Jim Fischetti 1:40
Well, first of all, thank you for having me, I'm honored and humbled to be a guest, I would say that one of the roles that I'm best at is I've been married to the same woman, it'll be 35 years in December so that that accomplishment is awesome. And I'm granddad to three amazing grandchildren and dad to two awesome children, a son and a daughter. So
Brian Charlesworth 2:06
It’s awesome. Congratulations.
Jim Fischetti 2:08
Oh, that's what I want. So you did a great job. But I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that my bride of nearly 35 years, I wouldn't be where I am without her.
Brian Charlesworth 2:18
Great. I love it. So, Jim, just tell us what you're most passionate about today. You have a lot going on in your life. What is it that you're most passionate about today?
Jim Fischetti 2:30
Oh, for me, leadership is really important. So as a salesperson, as a business owner, you start with leading yourself. So I'm really passionate about leadership. And for me, leadership is about your people getting better. So if you're running a sales organization about your people getting better. And I believe that vision is important, obviously, the first role of a leader is to have a vision. And that vision has got to be big enough, bold enough compelling enough that it needs to attract people. So if my vision was just big enough for Jim machete to do it by himself, there'd be no reason for you to come alongside me. So my vision has to be compelling. And the vision actually attracts, you know, Toms Shoes, I've seen their shoes, they're not overly nice looking. But they're by one give one was a vision that was compelling to the customers to actually attract customers. So have a vision, connect with people through your vision, clearly communicate the vision. And jack welch famously, you know, he's considered the CEO of the 20th century. And they asked him how he spent his time and he said, I spent 70% of my time, I spent 70% of my time sharing my vision. My mistake was I didn't spend enough time. So until your people can give you the vision back to you, you haven't communicated enough. And then after you've connected it, and they have clarity on the vision you need to empower people to go get it done. Hall of Fame football coach Bill Parcells, you know that he said, you know, if I'm responsible for dinner, I ought to be able to buy the groceries. There's nothing worse than trying to hold somebody accountable, but not empowering them to achieve the results. And then I think this is really missing in corporate America, in a person's business in life in general, and that is accountability. And what I mean by that is, it really starts simply about having consistent communication. Too often we have annual reviews, or some type of come to Jesus meeting when things aren't going well. But if we have consistent and in most times, if you're having some type of weak weekly feedback session, then it becomes better in the sense that many times you're celebrating the successes as opposed to simply course correcting. And in order to have really great, I believe accountability, the first thing you have to have is clear. expectations. The second thing is you have to track and monitor results. Because then the conversation is about data, not drama. It's about evidence, not emotion. And then the consistency allows there to be, you know, no stress and anxiety about that meeting. And then based upon the numbers, you're either going to course correct, or celebrate, and repeat, rinse. And then the other thing that's really important for us to understand is that if something's happening, that will threaten your vision, your goals, your objectives, you act to act very quickly. You can't dilly dally, you know, the great thing about action is that action exposes opportunities and situations that analysis never can. So get into action. I'm pretty passionate about getting results, achieving things, and the world getting better through leadership.
Brian Charlesworth 6:01
Obviously, you're making a difference in the world. And you just took us through, like, I think about eight points, I have not read your book. Are those the points that you cover in your book?
Jim Fischetti 6:11
So some of that is yes, you know, there's a little more detail and things but that in a synopsis I that to me encompasses what really leadership and for me getting results through other people, right? Yeah. And one of the things that I love that you're doing is that everything in life really needs to have three basic things. And one need to pick a model in a system. So once you pick them on the system, then you have to have technology that supports that. If you're not using technology, to supplement that, it's being wasteful. Then, the third thing is you have a person that's responsible to drive it to many people in business, start with the person, and then try to hodgepodge everything else now, start with what modeling system, you're going to operate and find the technology that will best support that. And then the person who will drive it.
Brian Charlesworth 7:02
Yeah, it's great. I mean, sitting there listening to you, and a lot of the stuff you're saying, I'm like, you sound like me.
Jim Fischetti 7:09
I don't know whether to pray for you, or you say,
Brian Charlesworth 7:12
I mean, I am always telling people, do you want to coach your people and hold them accountable based on their goals and their numbers? And do you want? Or is it yours? And? And do you want to coach them based on their results and their numbers every week? Or do you want to go in there and be their counselor and have a drama session with them? Right?
Jim Fischetti 7:31
Yeah. data over drama every day for me?
Brian Charlesworth 7:35
Yeah, I love that. You know, I'm asking you what you're passionate about today, you come in immediately rollout leadership for any of you leaders out there. And I think almost everyone listening to this podcast is a leader. take that to heart. That was some great advice. I would recommend starting this podcast over with your pen and paper or at your computer and make notes. I know, I just made notes of everything that you said, Jim. So tell us more about your book, what's the name of your book,
Jim Fischetti 8:03
The book is vision to results, leadership in action. Thank you for the opportunity to discuss it. I I truly believe that. As we develop leaders, leaders can change their community and ultimately the world. So leadership is missing throughout society. If you look, you know, it seems like we have politicians now. No statements. Doesn't matter what letters behind there, I see a lack of leadership. You know, even in churches, you don't see the leaders and even in business, there's sometimes a leadership is given away to quarterly objectives and profits. So throughout society, leadership, and then leadership in the home. So that's important, from my perspective. And I talk about that in the book, as really the basis for why I don't care if you're a salesman. If you're running, owning a company, you know, one of the things years ago, 60 minutes did a session on SAS out of Cary, North Carolina, which is close to my hometown. And, you know, 25 plus years ago, the program ran and SAS was really one of the first people to have linens in the dining room of the cafeteria. They had concert pianist, they had concierge service for their people. They literally built a charter school for their people. They did all these things for their people. The owner of the company, Jim Goodnight, built his personal residence in the middle of the compound. And he gave the access code to his property to every employee in case they wanted to ride their bike, or jog or look at nature during the work day. And the reporter said, why would you do all of this? And Jim Good night looked him in the eye and said 95% of my assets leave at five o'clock. It's my job to make sure they come back. If you're a leader, if you're a leader, people don't realize your people are your most important asset. You need to rethink why you're doing what you're doing.
Brian Charlesworth 10:08
That's great advice. I love it. So you started in real estate, and you've evolved to where you own numerous real estate businesses, how did you go from an agent to the next level, walk us through that journey. Most of our listeners, I think, are pretty far down that road and that journey, where they're building teams or brokerages or businesses, but I'd love to hear your story and how you've evolved to where you are today.
Jim Fischetti 10:36
So you know, the industry real estate, it's a great industry, I love it. When I started, things were obviously different in the 80s. You know, matter of fact, buyer agency didn't even come around until the early 90s, there was no dial in MLS, but what there really wasn't, in the first probably 8-10 years of profession for me, you were an individual sales agent. So my first journey was in the 90s, probably late 90s, of really trying to build a company inside of a company, building that sales team inside of the, and I will say that's where I got my flat head from banging my head against the wall. And that was the first time I really started to think like a business person versus a salesperson, so much of my career, you know, we were taught unit volume, right? That was the ever increasing perspective. And then when that pivot of focusing on profit, because that's what you get to live off of, and then executing through other people, when you're building a sales organization, the way I describe it, in my journey, the difference between high school and college is pretty significant. The difference between undergrad and when I went to grad school was not very significant. So the move from individual agent to team owner, that was the hard part, then from going from team owner to owning businesses was a piece of cake. It's the first effort that you go to attracting talent, creating an orange structure, building into people and getting results through people that first time is difficult. And what I'd like a lot of people to understand is that you may have to take a step back before you move forward. And that slowing down to go faster later, is well worth it.
Brian Charlesworth 12:40
And I think that's what as I've watched real estate, so many people in real estate really struggle with that, because it's difficult when your money is coming in from your sales efforts to step outside and start working on your business instead of in your business. That's a difficult step. So what's your advice on how to best make that step and make it successfully?
Jim Fischetti 13:02
I tell people, especially real estate sales agents, what I want you to think about is somewhere between 60 and 70% of your time, possibly 80. But I think 60 to 70 should be working in your business, the remainder 50% of that time should be working on it. And then the other 50% should be working on you and you are the most important asset in your organization. So if you did, you know 60-20-20, 70-15-15 that's, you should look at your calendar and say, hey, did I build in time to work on my business and is their time and they're built on working on me as a business professional as a sales professional and as a leader?
Brian Charlesworth 13:45
Okay, so if you're listening to this podcast right now, do you have time scheduled in your calendar, blocked out where you are going to work on your business, instead of in your business? And if you do, make sure you abide by that so that you can really get these rewards moving forward and years to come.
Jim Fischetti 14:06
So Brian, I often find if it's not in my calendar it doesn't exist.
Brian Charlesworth 14:10
Yeah, I'm the same way. If it's not in my calendar, something else is and I don't do it.
Jim Fischetti 14:15
Right. So you can literally one of the things that I did in my early 20s was I set out to read 50 books a year. And they would be sales books, leadership books, biographies on successful people and some motivation. And 20 years after I was doing that consistently, I realized I had read 1000 books. And during that time, one of the things you could look at my calendar, and I literally had a block for thinking time. And it's really important because again, I believe each person listening today, you know the answers to what you need to do. You just need to allow yourself the time to process that.
Brian Charlesworth 14:58
I agree with that. 100 percent Jim, such valuable such a valuable tip? Do we sit and actually, instead of looking at our phones and looking at TV, walk the time out for you to be alone and think about what you want your life for your business, for your family, for your health, for every aspect of your life, right? Absolutely. Yeah. Okay. This is great stuff. So you now after reading 1000 books, and most successful coaches and people who own coaching companies that I know personally, which I know a lot, they've all read 1000 books, which I have not read 1000 books, and I see do I should have read 1000 books, but I'm not there. So taking that to the next level, I mean, I've found with audiobooks, I'm able to listen and read far more books, because now in my drive time, my workout time, even if I'm on my mountain bike, sometimes I have audiobooks in. So it's a great way to get through, I think it's much easier than it used to be, to have to schedule your time and actually sit down somewhere and read a book is far more difficult for me. Do you feel like is that enhanced? The amount of books you can read or?
Jim Fischetti 16:16
So I do think there's a learning style. Most people I know Brian are like you and they love the audio book. And because there is the opportunity, right exercising? I think it was Zig Ziglar who used to say about his tapes, go to automobile University, right. And so you plug in. And so there is some truth to that. And yet there are some learners who are visual learners, or kinetic. So for me personally, when I read books, I sit there with highlighters under liners and notes. And so the process, I miss a step when I do the audio. That's just why I am. So I'm a weird guy that still does holds the paper. But I value. So what I do is I actually listen to podcasts when I'm traveling, I do that as well. There's something about the book that I still like to mark up, but I let you know if I'm not driving and somebody else's drive on the pocket. I'll have my notebook out taking notes as I go through the podcast. Yes, I've learned better. I am kinetic, I like to take action while I'm burning.
Brian Charlesworth 17:32
I'm the same way I'll be in the gym. And sometimes I'll be listening to a book and I'll actually pause it I'll sit down and take notes about that particular book. And right now I'm reading measure what matters. And I find myself in the gym, just maybe I don't get as good of workouts as I get but at least at least I'm working my body on my mind. Right?
Jim Fischetti 17:51
You're working both. So yeah.
Brian Charlesworth 17:54
So you've now built several mortgage businesses, you were at kw, you were Regional Director for owning several brokerages. You still own some brokerages, tell us how you took this to the next level. Because right now what you're passionate about, I can tell is actually seeing other people receive that same growth and have those same rewards that you've had in your lifetime. So you've said, Hey, I'm going to help others. That's why leadership is so important to you. I'm going to give back and help others become better. Tell us more about your coaching company, how it evolved to that. And then I want to dig in and learn about who you're actually coaching and what I mean, what kind of businesses and all that kind of stuff.
Jim Fischetti 18:39
So I do believe people matter, right? So I've been fortunate to have mentors, people built into me, I still have coaches that coached me so I benefited. On a side note, I'm not you know, I don't like consumer debt. But I tell people, the one thing you can borrow all the time, is you can borrow my belief in you. And sometimes as people, we need that belief from somebody else who believes in us, when we're a little skeptical of whether or not we're going to make it. And so coaches tend to work primarily with accountability. consultants also bring models and systems along with some of that coaching and consulting to their accountability so that you can drive results. So for me, it's about wanting people to live their best life. And too many people are settling for what's not important to them. And the way to change that is to have somebody come alongside you and literally becomes a partner with you and your business too. And your personal goals to achieve your goals. I believe most people will accomplish what they say out to accomplish, if they create a plan, are willing to be held accountable to it, and create tracking and measurements in order to make sure it happens. And if it's important to them, you know, Simon Sinek, famously, you start with why it's got to be important. It's got to be something that gets you up in the morning, right. So, you know, for me the transition, you know, after about 20, some years, I started working with some agents, and coaching them, and coach some of the top agents around the country. And then from there, I started working with businesses, primarily, it started with people own real estate offices, and walking them through and helping them grow, increase profitability. So starts with growth, growth leads to more production, production leads to profit. And hopefully, you build a culture that encapsulates those three points. And every organization has a culture, and if you need to zealously protect the culture you want, and that will be part of the differentiating factor for an organization. And so that's really the case, I've also been fortunate to work with some major nonprofits as a way to give back and help their organizations grow and achieve results through people. So I've enjoyed that process, too. You know, really, I'm just a guy who serves people. And I've had the fortune of working with a lot of great people who made me look good. So I do believe, if you're in the leadership role, you should only be out front when there's a screw up. And when there's success, you should be behind the scenes pushing your people forward, they should take credit, you take the blame, they take the credit. I think
Brian Charlesworth 21:52
It's so important in the real estate industry, that people do exactly what you said. And they focus on their culture. Because the amount of commissions someone is paying is not what's going to keep people in your business. It's going to keep people in your business is your culture. And they feel the value that you bring to them. It's not about the Commission's. So anyway, hopefully everybody understands that it's a great point you bring up, one of the things you've talked about several times today is tracking and accountability. And that's a big part of the culture. But obviously, you see my dashboards behind me, that's a big part of what Sisu does. That's actually how we got started. We're now much more than that, and that we're full contract to close management platform as well. But that being said, there are so many coaching companies out there that utilize si su now to actually be able to see real time all the time exactly where their agents, teams and everybody's out. How have you guys been doing that? The reason? I mean, it's a difficult thing to do. And it's actually why I started this company, because as I moved into this industry to help my wife build her business, it didn't exist. And so like, how have you guys been doing that? You've been doing it since the 80s. It sounds like so Is that it? So did it start with paper and scratching four lines down and one across, because that's how I started when I was in real estate.
Jim Fischetti 23:25
So every real estate agent out here appreciate this. There's basically six basic conversations that you want to track. It starts with a contact, X number of contacts leads to a lead X number of leads leads to an appointment appointments, excellent, you know, lead to a higher, whether it's a buyer agency or seller's listing agreement, and then you track appointments, hires lead to under contract and under contract lead to closings. So you need to have those six basic conversations and some type of tracking and goal form. And technology is the simplest way. I mean, yes, pen and paper still work and you can have that conversation. It makes sense to me, organizationally, that people would report their numbers daily. So as the leader, they could see daily what's going on. The thing to remember about real estate is our business is primarily 90 days out. So if we wait to check your numbers, and at the end of the month, then and we need to course correct. That month is gone. We're really four months before we'll see financial differences based on what we do. So it is this industry real estate, especially as important to track your numbers, daily and weekly. And so the great thing about a system like yours is it'll start to calibrate X number of contacts leads to a lead So, the beautiful thing about that is when you have clarity about it takes this many contacts say it's 20 to get one lead, and it takes five leads to get one appointment, then you know, with 100 contacts, you'll get an appointment.
Brian Charlesworth 25:14
Yep. And for you leaders out there, if your agents new for every hundred contacts they have, they would go on it, they would schedule and go on an appointment. Would it be so much easier for them to make the hundred contacts, it becomes almost a game at that point, right? I've got to make 100 contacts, I get that appointment.
Jim Fischetti 25:32
So you may have heard of old Tommy Hopkins. Okay. When I got started in real estate, Tommy was one of the gurus in that and I'm showing my age and inflation. But when I got started, every note was worth 20 bucks. And so the game was so that you do the contract
Brian Charlesworth 25:51
And they know that you can write right.
Jim Fischetti 25:54
And back then my average commission check was a little less than $1,000. So you know, every note was worth 20 bucks. And then I always ask how much was the yes worth? Most people say the amount of the commission check. Nope, it's only worth 20 bucks. Yeah. You don't get to choose who says yes. So the activity for the know is just as important as the activity for the yes
Brian Charlesworth 26:17
That's a great way of putting that I love that. I want to go back to this, you talked about how important it is to measure and track daily and I read a book probably 15 years ago now. And it talked about in January, we go in and we set our new year's resolution, yes and 90% of us, probably more like 98% of us. By the time the 21st rolls around, we no longer have that resolution, we no longer have that goal. We don't have the why you talked about. And is because we're not measuring by the time 21 days has happened. We don't understand we don't even remember what it is. It's not important to us. If we were measuring that daily, if you were working out in the gym and had an app tracking that every single day, you would go in the next day, because it's important to you. So my key takeaway of that was though, okay, if I have a new year's resolution, and I do that, personally, and let's just say I do the same thing for my business. That's when I do my goal setting once a year. Well guess what? I can course correct, as you talked about, or I can celebrate, as you talked about once a year. If I move to monthly, well, now I get to do that fun activity 12 times a year, and I can increase my business, I can correct any issues 12 times a year. And now if I move it to weekly, which a lot of real estate companies do this weekly, they come in and meet every Monday, weekly, or every Friday, and they're going to go over Okay, what's your big rock for last week? Did you hit it? Or did you do your four one ones? Or did you do? And so now you're talking about 50 times a year you get to course correct or celebrate. But as soon as you move it to daily gym, that's what I love. What happens
Jim Fischetti 28:11
When people go daily? I don't have the statistical analysis for the percentage, but my guess is, it is somewhere between north of 95% of the people actually hit their goal. Okay, because the advantage of daily is one it's in front of you. It's important. The more you're looking at it, the deeper it's ingrained in you. And you know, so if we use the example of the goal is to make 100 contacts a week. Well, at the end of day one of them I'm at 19. I obviously know tomorrow, I've got to do 21. And so it's so easy to get back on track. And by the way, if you're one of those people that's always 100% on track. God bless you, we love you. But you're not the norm. Most of us have, we got to get back on track at times. Sometimes we're ahead of track and sometimes we're a little behind. But that's the advantage of daily, the Delta doesn't get so big, that it becomes a headwind versus tailwind.
Brian Charlesworth 29:19
Right. I see it all the time. If somebody gets midway through the month, and they are not on pace for that. Guess what they're giving up this month. This month is over all start back up on the first of next month. It's just the way we as humans. That's the way we operate.
Jim Fischetti 29:36
I don't know if you're familiar or read the book. 12 week, year. Yes. So you know, and that's part of it. The Author's premise
Brian Charlesworth 29:44
A book, right? I mean, that is how real estate people measure their business, right? It's every 12 weeks. That's a new year for you.
Jim Fischetti 29:54
Right so if you think in terms of because for that reason, is it typically most people January goals, they're highly motivated. And if they're in reach in December, they're highly motivated to accomplish. So the first month and last month tend to be high energy, productivity month. So that premise of the 12 weeks, the first four weeks, you're gung ho, the middle is shorter, and the last four weeks, you still have time to course correct enough. So chunking those things down, makes a difference. And like you said, weekly is great. And daily is better.
Brian Charlesworth 30:29
Yes. And I'll share an example. My wife runs a real estate brokerage and a real estate team, she now has about 20 agents on our team. They were doing about 25 transactions a month, when COVID hit, they went from weekly reporting, and she had Sisu, so it was all in there. But actually, every morning at 8:30, everyone reporting their numbers out, guess what? They're now doing over 50 transactions a month. And sure the markets hot right now. But, you know, with COVID, a lot of people took the opposite action and said, You know what, we're all going to stay home for the next two months. I don't care if you're home, or wherever you are, you can still take action.
Jim Fischetti 31:09
So Brian, your wife did exactly what I said, you know, there's gonna be two different or two main people during COVID. Those who treated this like a snow day, and really just, you know, whatever stayed in their pajamas,
Brian Charlesworth 31:24
Whatever TV series out there, you know,
Jim Fischetti 31:27
What was the big but and then there were those who say is that? And then there were those who said, You know what, I'm going to lean in and double down. And for those people, they took market share. Yes, and your wife that hurt, her organization will never give that back. They own that market share. And as the market normalizes they'll benefit from that. Also,
Brian Charlesworth 31:57
It's been really fun for me, not just because of my wife, but I would say our customers, our teams and brokerages, pretty much across the board did that same thing. And so therefore, they've grown we've grown and it's just been a great thing for everyone. But it's because of that daily, being able to lean in and knowing your numbers. You couldn't do that if you were managing based off of emotions or drama, like you call it.
Jim Fischetti 32:24
Yes. Yeah. data over drama, evidence over emotion.
Brian Charlesworth 32:28
Great. Okay. Just for the sake of time, Jim, you've talked about so many great points today. What is like one piece of advice that you want to make sure, like, if I was listening to this podcast, and I just have one takeaway, it's going to make the biggest difference in my life? Or in my business? What is that?
Jim Fischetti 32:45
So the biggest piece of advice I could tell somebody is, first of all, think bigger. Have you read that book? I have not. I think I live that word now. Because one of the things, you know, when I started off my real estate career, you know, I had a simple goal, Brian, my goal was that my children, you know, I got married, after I got in real estate, I've been in real estate a little longer. My goal is that my, my bride could be a stay at home mom, and my kids would graduate college debt free. Guess what happened.
Brian Charlesworth 33:18
That's what happened, you know, act in life,
Jim Fischetti 33:22
Right. And in my 40s, then I understood legacy and other things. And so I'm not a do over guy. But if I could go back and tell my 21 year old self, think bigger, that's what I would do is that you, you really are more powerful than you realize. So think bigger. And then if you've got a big passionate goal, to think that you've got to work with, bring somebody along, to help hold you accountable, that you share that with, and then hold you accountable to achieving that.
Brian Charlesworth 33:57
I love it. I read a book things bigger last year, and it actually made me realize that Sisu was much more than just this tracking software. Right? When we actually came up with the tagline, similar to CRM, but its growth automation software, because everything we did was focused around growth or automation. But we weren't communicating that we weren't sharing that we weren't so anyway, and now we're thinking even bigger than that, but it's amazing what can happen when you feel you can accomplish more or when you feel you deserve more, just how life can change for you.
Jim Fischetti 34:38
May I encourage you, you said growth system or growth growth. Software, software, okay. If you remember I said everything, especially in the real estate business starts with growth, growth then leads to production, production leads to profit, and hopefully you have a culture that encapsulates all of that. Yes, you know, you, you are at the tip of the spear for the real estate industry. When you create a growth automation software, it's because everything in royalty starts with growth.
Brian Charlesworth 35:13
Yeah. And so in our opinion, everything in real estate should flow through our system, including all of your communication with your vendors, with your clients with how you manage your team, your tasks, everything. So anyway, but yeah, it's just fun to hear your advice. I love speaking with people like you, who I can just ask whatever advice I want to get, and and you deliver it for everybody. So thank you for that. I just have a few questions that I want to leave with today, which I pretty much asked all of our guests are quick, final questions. But it's really favorite book or favorite source of learning. You've kind of already addressed this because you listen to podcasts all the time. And you wrote an amazing book last year. So I'm guessing that your favorite book and podcasts are your favorite source of learning, but correct me if I'm wrong.
Jim Fischetti 36:05
You know, I have one unusual form of learning that I really like. And that is I studied Jimmy Buffett, and his words speak to me. Matter of fact, his song, the captain, and the kid is kind of a there's a light first for me in there. He wrote it about his grandfather, and it says, even though I cried the day, he died, I was so proud to love a man so rare. And in my 20s, I realized I wanted my loved ones to be able to, to say that. So I focus on that. And if you actually look at Jimmy Buffett, he clearly knows who he is, what he's good at, when to expand who his customer is. And you know, he has a staggering fact, last year, Margaritaville licensing fees, or $1.5 billion.
Brian Charlesworth 36:59
Unbelievable. Well
Jim Fischetti 37:00
So Mark businessman, it so that that's my unusual, quirky learning thing. But I do love books, I love podcasts. And I do like Jimmy Buffett too.
Brian Charlesworth 37:13
I love it. So you brought it up down a couple of times. And this is back off of our final questions. But I have to go here because you brought up a couple of times family, whether it be your grand father, your wife, your kids, your grandkids, family is super important to you, I can tell as it is to me, like how important is enjoying that family life to really enjoying your business, like having a successful family life to having a successful business life? Or vice versa?
Jim Fischetti 37:41
Yeah, for years, especially early in my career there, there was this personal life was in professional life were separated, right? Well, the reality is, if somebody is going through a divorce, it's going to impact them professionally. And if your business is cratering on you, it's going to impact your personal life. So for me business is to support my family and my mission and my legacy. And I realized there are people who it is easier to work on your professional than your personal. You know, I always joke to the guy who writes the book, how to understand their wife will sell a bunch of copies. You know, it's a process. And it's harder, I think, to lean in to being a spouse, a dad, a parent. And it's easier for me to hit metrics in business than it is. But it's more important for me to hit my family metrics.
Brian Charlesworth 38:45
That's what I thought, that's what I thought you were gonna say. And you talked a little while ago about Simon Sinek and having a Why and from what I can tell your Why is your family. Is that right?
Jim Fischetti 38:57
My family and then
a legacy for my future generations, but also for our community. So it's bigger than the family but the thing is, number one, it is absolutely. So my most important relationship is with my Creator God. Second is with my bride, and then my children and grandchildren. You know, fortunately my wife and I were early on, we're both people who wouldn't even really utter the word divorce. And then remember I said think bigger. So my goal when I first got married was to not get divorced. And I realized a couple years in that's a pretty crappy goal. I better have a golden awesome relationship. So that pivot to thinking bigger. You know, the best relationship I have is with my bride, Jill,
Brian Charlesworth 39:49
I'm glad you made that shift because I've learned in my life that you get what you focus on. Yes, focusing on not getting a divorce, you're probably going to get a divorce. Because the divorce is what you are focused on.
Jim Fischetti 40:03
Correct.
Brian Charlesworth 40:04
That's the way our minds work. That's the way we work. So I'm glad you brought that up about, it's bigger than just your family. It's bigger you want. And a big part of that is you've talked about growth, this entire podcast. And now you just brought up the other why you have which is country contribution, it's giving back and to your community, to your generations that follow you. That's why that is going to make a difference. And so I just wanted to point that out. Because that is, what we all should strive for, is to have a why like that. And if you can figure out your why everything else will flow. rec. So thank you for that. What is your favorite place gym to travel or visit your favorite place?
Jim Fischetti 40:55
It is obviously a beach with my family. So I live in North Carolina, so I'll pay homage to the Carolina shores right now. I take my bride, my kids, my grandkids for years to Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, which is always but basically any beach. and preferably where it's warm. So those are my, my favorite places. I've had the fortune of traveling to a lot of places. I like that. But I've had some great trips to other places, but my go to destination will always be sand and surf.
Brian Charlesworth 41:34
Makes sense. Do you surf?
Jim Fischetti 41:36
I used to body surf? I haven't. I did surf in Costa Rica, but I don't surf consistently.
Brian Charlesworth 41:44
Okay? And what's your favorite thing to do in your personal time?
Jim Fischetti 41:48
Mmm, that's great. So I'm going to incorporate two things. My wife is health coach personal track. So we exercise together I absolutely love doing that activity with her. And she would probably say that I would rather be with my grandkids and she might be right. But those being with my grandkids and being with my bride, those are my favorite favorite people in the world to be with.
Brian Charlesworth 42:14
Okay, I think we've addressed everything else I was going to ask you. So everyone, thank you for joining us on another episode of the grit podcast was an honor Jim to be here with you today. Everybody, Jim Fischetti is who you've been with please, Jim, tell us how we can reach you surely, to get a hold of you, or your coaching organization or for a speaking engagement, those types of things. And maybe you can give yourself a plug there, what kinds of things should people reach out to you for?
Jim Fischetti 42:43
So one, you can reach me at Jim@coachwithjim.com. So one of the things I like to say, when really good isn't good enough for you. And that's the type of people I coach well. So if you really want to go, if you want really a deeper level of excellence, then those are things I do well, I work with organizations also to help build their leaders to help structure accountability inside the organization, sales, you know, after over 30 years of sales career, I help their sales people. So if you want me to speak to your sales people, I can work with that we can I've created programs for individual companies. So we can do that. Or we can take an existing program. The big thing is, if you're a leader, you want your people to get better. If you want to read about leadership, the book is great. If you want to personally make challenge yourself and be held accountable at a high level. You can coach with me. So more importantly, if you just want to say hello, I'm happy to do that. I'm grateful for the listeners taking their time to listen to me. And I welcome your feedback. So, Jim@coachwithjim.com
Brian Charlesworth 44:01
All right. Thank you, Jim. If you haven't already, please don't forget to subscribe to the podcast. Also give us a review. giving us a five star review allows people like Jim to say, hey, I want to be a part of that podcast. So thanks again for joining us on the GRIT podcast. And Jim, thank you for being here with us today.
Jim Fischetti 44:19
Thank you, Brian.