What I’ve learnt from my kids during The Lockdown

One of the great benefits of Covid19’s social distancing and being stuck working from home is having to spend a lot more time with my kids. Now, don’t get me wrong I have those days (actually, nearly every day) when they pretty much drive me up the wall, and leave me completely overwhelmed, stressed and wondering how long before I tell my husband I’m heading to the “grocery store” and never come back (lol, but seriously). However, having observed them so closely for most of the day, I have to say I’ve learnt a few things from them that I can definitely connect to running my property business more effectively! 

Persistence (Crying actually works): My daughter is a real tough cookie – saying no to her is almost futile!! She will constantly cry “mummy mummy mummy” until I’m like “arrrrggghhh”. Before Covid19 I was stronger, but now I find myself yielding more easily for peace sake! If she needs something, she comes at me full on until I eventually give in.

So, it got me thinking how much more would I have achieved by not accepting NO to either a planning application or lender or investor or pitch? I don’t usually give up too easily, however, my kids really take it to another level which has challenged me. What if I went back consistently to ask for another chance? or confidently challenged the reason why my offer or application was rejected? and just pushed back that little bit more?

We don’t always have the opportunity to go back after we have received rejection, but how about working harder next time to find out why or what could have been done differently and then trying again and again. Today, we have various forms of communication channels; for that non-responsive prospect, what if instead of giving up, I sent an email with a “thank you” message, then a few days later followed up with a “check in” call, then chased up with a text or sent a survey or provided options to my original pitch. There are numerous ways to reach out without appearing “stalkery” and showing you won’t take no for an answer quite so easily. 

Creativity : I’m constantly amazed by how creative kids get especially when we tell them to go to bed. A few minutes later my son comes creeping back “..but there’s a spider, “there’s a funny noise that’s so scary in my room”….the oddest was him running in saying “he’s afraid he’s going to get hurt by “combustion”? I’m like “huh?” “Yes, combustion! “but mum, I watched it on Blaze & monster machine that combustion hurts people so I can’t sleep alone tonight”.

Granted, it didn’t quite work, but you have to give him an “A” for the creative ways he’s trying to get his central idea “I don’t want to go to bed now” across and how we learn from that and create messages that speak about our businesses creatively, in a fun, simple way but still engages our audience and captivates our clients without being too boring or underwhelming them with “business speak”.

Fearlessness: I caught my daughter putting her little step ladder on top of a kitchen barstool to try to reach the remote on the top shelf which I purposefully kept out of her reach (or so I thought). Ofcourse, I yelled out loud and dragged her off, but I know if I hadn’t been there she would have gotten that remote control! Most certainly,  taking more “calculated” risks would have taken me that much further in my business.

When I first got started in property investing, I came by a 4-storey building in Camden N1, in the heart of central London at an auction. Even as a newbie investor, I knew it was a great deal at £600K (now, easily worth £3M) but that was going to be my 1st ever property?! No chance! I just couldn’t go through with it, and now I look back on my younger self and I’m like “geeez”!!! Thankfully, I’ve done a few good deals since then, but having the guts to take on larger deals that takes us outside our comfort zone is definitely something I still strive towards. No guts no glory!

Negotiation skills: It’s remarkable how much charm, wit and playing on their inherent cuteness, by trading hugs and kisses, gets them favours. More surprising, is how much they fully understand how to leverage what they have for what they want. While I sometimes feel my kids certainly get the better of me in our relationship, I’m amused by how many times they return with a counter offer to convince me to get me to give them that extra piece of cake or pie.

I believe negotiating should be win-win in business and so knowing your strengths and weaknesses goes a long way in helping you negotiate to highlight your strengths, especially if you recognise how valuable it is to the success of whatever you’re trying to achieve. More importantly, recognising when any of your weaknesses are compensated for by the strengths of the other party provides the balance you need to achieve that coveted win/win scenario.

There’s no such thing as a final NO!: This is a funny one, there are so many things I said “never will I let you do that!” ”Oh mummy, can I have ice cream for breakfast”…….. “Never!” or “Oh mummy? Can I watch TV in the morning?” Pre-lockdown answer “NEVER!” now….. “Yes, why not, I need to sleep just a little bit more….”.. as it turns out, I only needed the right amount of pressure from being stressed, overtired & overworked to make me rethink my hard No’s. Something to remember next time I make a pitch…

Being Completely open & real– my kids are an open book, what you see is what you get because they’re too young to know better, I think. However, if I apply this principle to my business- what am i actually afraid of? That I wouldn’t get as many clients? Or I won’t be taken seriously? Does putting on a persona in my business dealings not actually limit my potential, since people don’t get to see the real and truly authentic me? and in my professional discussions, what persona do I need to put on to endear me to a client or colleague, but doesn’t fully represent who I am? Or what do I think would get me more acceptance? I came by a saying recently “Forget about being impressive and commit to being real, because being real is impressive” and it’s completely true as I am truly impressed by how real my kids are especially when I judge them against my self.