This week, I really want to share something with you from my heart. Today, I want to talk to all my fellow wholesalers out there about something really important to me: leadership.

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In the last couple of months, I’ve been learning a lot about leadership and have been really focusing on developing my skills in this area.

I recently attended a local leadership summit where great motivational leaders like John Maxwell, the wife of the founder of Microsoft Melinda Gates, and others were speaking.

It was super powerful! One of the craziest things I picked up was just how simply these top leaders led their lives.

You would think billionaires would be pretty prestigious, flashy and complicated but they’re not!

At the conference, I learned a few key things that I believe will transform my life and business, and I think if you apply them yourself, they’ll do the same for you.

The Top 5 Leadership Principles for Real Estate Wholesalers

In proper Brett Snodgrass fashion, I’m going to list out the top 5 principles in a list format, so that later it’s easy to recite them from memory. So without further ado, let’s jump into it!

1. Transparency

To be transparent literally means to be “see-through.” As a wholesaler, in an industry where there are a lot of scammers, tricksters and straight up con-artist, making your business as open and clear as possible is essential to being a good leader in our industry.

Related: The Simple Self-Help Exercise to Improve Leadership Skills & Business Acumen

One of the biggest rebuttals I have when people say they don't want to get their real estate license as a real estate wholesaler is what’s wrong with full disclosure?

If your goal is to truly serve both the motivated sellers and the end-buyers, why would you not disclose everything clearly?

When people know they can trust you, you will be one of the first people they come to looking for deals — I know from firsthand experience!

If you’re in this business for the long haul, there is no reason you shouldn’t be as transparent as possible. If you conduct your business ethically, you have nothing to hide — so don’t!

2. Honor

The best definition I have ever heard for the word “honor” is acknowledging, respecting, and cherishing the greatest in someone regardless of their flaws, due to their character, social position, or personhood.

It’s acknowledging greatness, despite flaws. As a leader, you need to give honor where honor is due. If your staff pulls an all-nighter to meet a deadline or someone around you is one of the top investors in your market, you need to appreciate their success, effort, and achievement.

So many times, I’ve seen up-and-coming wholesalers get into the battle of “who has the bigger stick,” and they boast and brag about themselves instead of truly honoring the competition out there.

Yes, some people play dirty and try to steal leads or deals from people, but that’s not you! Leaders have an abundance mindset, where they instinctively know that there is more than enough money for everyone to be successful. As with boats on the water, if one increases, so do all!

In your business, learning to be a man of honor will open doors that would otherwise be eternally shut. Give yourself to honor, and see how it affects the big players in your market.

3. Connection

People only care what you know once they know that you care. We are in a relationship business, and as such, everyone that we interact with, from our contractor to our most high-net-worth buyer, needs to know that we care and needs to feel a sense of connectedness with us and our brand.

Leadership is, very simply, influence. How can you make any influence on your market, your industry, or your relationships without being able to connect heart-to-heart and inspire others?

Your team needs to know they have a relationship with you beyond taking orders. Your buyers need to know you’re in this to help them make money, and your motivated sellers need to know that you’re in this to help them get out of their desperate situation.

Make sure you take the time to genuinely connect with the people you work with. It will transform every aspect of your business — I promise you!

4. “Wow” Factor

If someone happens to stumble upon you and your team, they should walk away thinking, “Dang! Those guys are awesome!”

As a wholesaler, how can you make it so easy for your buyers to buy from you that they almost have to buy from you instead of others?

We use things in our business, like text message alerts and listings for all of our properties (with presentations showing comps, rents in the area, etc.) clearly on our website for all to see.

I think we can even do better, but one of our core values as a business is to leave a lasting impression.

As a leader, people need to recognize the service and sheer awesomeness you carry. If you’re just like everyone else out there, you won’t be able to stand out, and you won’t be able to influence others!

Related: 7 Ways to Set Yourself Apart in Real Estate (& Build a Standout Business!)

When people encounter you, their lives need to be better because of it! Wow them, and then they’ll be hooked on you and your business for good.

5. The Ability to Dream

The final principle I want to share in this post today is that of being a dreamer. Where there is no vision, there is nothing.

You have to always be striving to achieve the next level. If you’re doing five deals a month, how can you start doing 10? If you’re doing 10, how can you do 20?

What is it exactly that you want out of life? What do you want your company to be when you die?

As a leader, you are a vision-caster. You throw out what you and your team will spend the majority of their waking hours pursuing.

It needs to be good!

Never stop pursuing growth and greatness in your business.

You can be and do anything. It’s only when we stop dreaming that we begin to get stale and stagnant and stop progressing and growing. We then end up miserable, failing, and unfulfilled.

Always be a dreamer, and chase after those dreams with all your heart, mind, and spirit.

Is there anything you’d add to this list?

Let me know with a comment!