The pull chain

The pull chain for the light in a dark closet.  You know the one.  Old house, or a basement – sometime it has a string hanging from it.  Just in case you haven’t seen one, here is a picture to help.

We have all fumbled around in a dark closet and can’t see.  We reach up for the pull chain to illuminate the room.  We can’t see a doggone thing until we find that pull chain, and wa-la!  we can see everything.

It’s why I teach.  I love to see the reaction when students see that light come on in class.  It is that ‘aha’ moment when everything is illuminated for them.

I have to give credit to Joe Fochler for the analogy.  I am not sure where he got it, but he used it one time when he was teaching me some software when I was just starting out in the software business.  Joe had gotten a promotion to the sales department from the support department at Delta Health Systems where we worked.  In order for him to start his new job, he had to train his replacements.  He sat down and showed Tim Serbin and I how the software worked.  He used the ‘pull chain light in a dark closet’ analogy with us and it stuck with me.

For a while I was a software trainer, showing customers how use our software.  I went on to get an MBA and immediately started teaching at Penn State.  I have mentored and taught a lot of people over the years.  When I started my real estate brokerage, I built teaching and training into it from the ground up.

I learned a long time ago that education is a moving target.  You have to learn constantly in this world of ours.  It is not a matter of keeping up.  We look for people who are genuinely interested in improving our craft – upping their game, making things better for our clients and customers.  That happens through constant education.  I started a state licensed Real Estate School to help the cause.

We have had a few agents join us from traditional brokerages who promised training and development.  They floundered and were underwhelmed by what the received.   Since joining Perry Wellington Realty, they have picked up and have all seen success working with us.

We are dedicated to this.  We are determined.  We have a lot of people who feel the same way who have joined up with us.  The light has come on for them.

Photo credit B_Zedan on flickr

Adam Conrad is the broker/owner of Perry Wellington Realty.  Adam is the Director of Education for Advance Academy, a real estate school.  Adam is a part time lecturer at Pennsylvania State University and part time faculty for Saint Francis University.  You can reach him via email here or at Advanc Academy.