Ep #498 – Brad Lea – Life is Sales – Dropping Bombs on Multifamily Entrepreneurs
Master salesman Brad Lea talks about how influence and persuasion are key to successful relationships, career, team and life. Great stuff to apply every aspect of your life.
- Everyone sells
- The bad ones don’t know they are doing it
- 4 keys to a good sales program
- The power of influence
- “Confidence is the memory of winning”
- The Sacred 6 confidence builders
- New information changes your mind
- Ego vs Confidence vs Arrogance
- Hacking your subconscious
- Racking up wins
- Getting ‘Law of Attraction’ right
- Million Dollar Morning
- “The more hands you shake the more money you make”
- Team building
- “You can’t get rich making poor choices”
- Brad’s Gages
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- Mindset (Do you believe?)
- Map (Do you have clarity?)
- Motions (What actions are you taking?)
- Measurement (“What doesn’t get measured doesn’t get managed”)
- Money (Where’s my money going?)
- What will you sacrifice?
To find out more about our guest:
Full Transcription Below:
EP493 – Dropping Bombs on Multifamily Entrepreneurs – Brad Lea
Rod: Welcome to another edition of “How to Build Lifetime Cashflow through Real Estate Investing.” I’m Rod Khleif and I am absolutely thrilled that you’re here. And you are gonna love today’s guest. His name is Brad Lea, and Brad is a sales expert. He’s a sales training expert. He’s this brash, cigar-chomping, luminary in the sales space and I’m super excited to have him on the show. Welcome, brother.
Brad: Hey! Thanks for having me man. I appreciate it.
Rod: You’ve got an awesome bio and I know you’ve got an incredible training program for sales. And so, my listeners might be like, you know, why you got a sales guy on your multifamily podcast? It’s not an operator talking about syndications and raising money and all that. No, because sales life is sales. You sell your family. It’s really influenced. You influenced your family, your investors, your brokers, your sellers. And so, I’m really thrilled to have you on the show today, brother. Maybe we can start by having you talk a little bit about, you know, a little better bio that I gave you and talk about where you came from. And then, some of the companies you’ve worked with and just, you know, time to brag, talk about you for a minute.
Brad: Well, you just said something that I think, hopefully, resonated with a lot of people. Because if you’re wondering why a sales expert is on a podcast for multifamily investors etcetera? Then, you really need to rewind and hear what he just said because man, you hit it on the mark. Dude, life is sales. A lot of people don’t understand that they’re in sales even though, you know, they are. I mean, we’ve been selling since the day we were born. Everyone is a salesperson. And the difference between a good one and a bad one is, the bad one doesn’t know they’re doing it. So, if you just realize that you are doing it, folks. You are doing it. No matter what, you’re doing it to get your kids to clean the room, get better grades. You’re doing it to figure out where you’re going to go eat that night. You’re doing it every second of every day and the only differential between good and bad is, the bad ones don’t know they’re doing it. So, now that you know you are doing it, let’s get good at it. So, to give you a little background on me, you know, at six years old I was given a box of candy bar. Let’s say seven, because it was around first grade, second grade. I was given a box of candy bars to go home and hopefully, pedal to my family and get, you know, 10-12 of them sold and come back with the money. That’s what the school did every year to raise it. Raise that cash. So, ultimately, they sent little Brad home with a box of 24 world’s finest chocolates. I went home, pitched it all to the fam bam. Got them to buy as much as I could and there was still some left. So, I decided to go out and freaking knock on some doors. Well, within about three or four doors, I realized that, you know, this onesie-twozy crap wasn’t gonna work. So, ultimately, I developed a pitch. So, the next door, I knocked on the door. I put the box behind my back and I said, do you know the phone number to a good roof repairman? They’d be like, what? And I’d say, do you know the phone number to a good roof repairman? Because, when you taste one of these, you’re gonna go through the roof.
Rod: No, you didn’t. Did you really?
Brad: Yes. I swear to you.
Rod: That’s freaking awesome.
Brad: And these families, these people at the door see this little kid with that pitch and I’m telling you they started buying boxes at a time. I literally set a record for selling the candy bars. All the other candy bars the other kids couldn’t sell; they were given to me. So, I was just hitting the neighborhoods with one pitch, man. You got the phone number to a good roof repairman. So, at six years old, I kind of had the gift to gab, ultimately, you know, didn’t know it, but ultimately, you know, just naturally, was good at sales. So, until I was 17, you know, I was just closing the girls and, you know, closing my friends, you know, closing my parents and closing my teachers, but I didn’t realize it. And then, at 17, I decided to get a real job. My whole family was blue collar workers. They told me go get a real job. So, I went out and I got a job, fighting forest fires or at least I thought. So, I show up at four o’clock in the morning to get there. They basically point at this backpack filled with water. They called it a piss bag and I’m supposed to put it on and walk up and down the mountains and squirt the stumps that are still smouldering. Now, I pictured I was going to be this Paul Bunyan looking some bitch with an open flannel shirt and dust on my face. And, you know, walking around with a, you know, looking all badass. But no, I was a piss bag operator. So, ultimately, what that taught me is, you know, manual labour’s garbage. And so, I hated it. Like, I was getting poison oak, you know, there was just sticks poking me in the eye. It was no fun and I thought to myself, dude, this is it? So, I went home that day or I actually quit because I got poison oak and the guy did said it was part of the job. I’m like, what are you talking about? So, I quit and I went and got a job, opened up the newspaper, and there was a job for selling cars. So, I ultimately walked into a car dealership, started kicking everyone’s ass from day one and just fell in love with the game of sales. I mean, people are coming to you and all you have to do is build a relationship and solve their problems. And I started making a ton of money and that led to becoming very, very good at it. So, ultimately, there was a Mexican dude in the back of this dealership I was running. Hard-working dude, cool as hell, you know, great kids. The whole thing was man, he was just a good dude, right? You ever meet those guys that are just like, really good dudes?
Rod: Yeah.
Brad: So, this is one of those dudes but he was making minimum wage busting his ass. I said, dude, let me teach you how to sell and bring you up front and let you, show you how to close deals. So, I taught him how to close deals and in about three months, he was making like $15,000 a month.
Rod: Wow! Life changing.
Brad: Literally changed his whole, it was life-changing for him and it made a huge impact in his life and his family’s life. And the transformation that I witnessed told me one day like, dude, you’ve got the ability to help people make more money and live better lives. What are you doing at this car dealership? So, I quit my job, went out on the road, and I started training people how to close. The crazy part was when I worked at the dealership, I was able to grab someone out of burger king, boom, make them good salespeople. I mean, I could produce a good salesperson and a great sales manager very, very quickly. When I quit my job to do it full time for myself, I couldn’t get the results and I was kind of stupefied. I’m like, what the hell? So, I realized that I needed to do a little research and I found four key ingredients, Rod. That if they’re not involved in a training program, you don’t really have a training program. You have an exposure program. So, ultimately, I discovered good content, repetition, practice, and accountability. See, when I worked at that dealership, I was given the people the good content with repetition all day, every day. I was holding them accountable. I was practicing with them. But, when I went out on the road for myself, there was no repetition. There was no practice and there was no accountability. So, it didn’t work as well. And that’s when I discovered, holy crap, dude! All these people and businesses are out in the world training people ineffectively and they don’t even realize it. So, I developed a platform for myself which is called “LightSpeed VT” And then, that technology started working. I was selling training again. I got up to, you know, $100,000 a month income and then I ran into competition. People use Zig Ziglar, you know, John Maxwell, Grant Cardone, Joe Verde, all of these other people. And I couldn’t convince them. I couldn’t close them which is what was my goal. And so, I just realized to myself, I’ll bet you these people are having the same problem I am. So, why don’t I go and show them my platform and see if I can get their content on my platform and then I could close this deal. So, ultimately, I went and started closing Tony Robbins, Zig Ziglar, Damon John, Grant Cardone, US or UFC, top chefs. I started closing all these big deals to use my platform and I thought, well dude, I’ll just bail out of the training space and focus on this training technology I accidentally developed. And dude, that’s how I started making the millions and getting a little bit of attention hanging around these big wigs. And then the next thing you know, I started developing, you know, 10,000 followers. Then, that turned into 90,000. Then, that turned into a 180,000. It just keeps growing.
Rod: Nice.
Brad: And I sit back and I ask myself, how did I get here? And the answer is one answer. The ability to sell, close and persuade, influence. That’s what got me here. So, if you’re out there, you know, in the multifamily business, you’re basically trying to create passive income. You’re trying to create, you know, obviously a highly intelligent model. Grant Cardone got me very familiar with multifamily investing and I’ll tell you, until I started looking and understanding how the multifamily industry works, I was an idiot.
Rod: Yeah.
Brad: So, you guys already listening to this are already doing the right thing or you wouldn’t even be on this podcast. So, good for you. Anyway, that’s my little background.
Rod: No. That’s fascinating, brother. I mean really, I love the roof blow, the roof off story. That’s freaking awesome. Well, if you don’t mind, let’s go a little bit micro as to, you know, I get a lot of analytical people get into the multifamily space. They’re former IT executives or IT, they’re in the IT space. And so, they’re a little more introverted. And you are the antithesis of that as evidenced by your selling when you were seven years old. Do you mind talking about confidence a little bit? Because, you know, I’m actually doing a course on this called “Courage and Confidence”, but it’s not done yet. I hope to finish it soon but I’d love to get your insights on it, on confidence. Do you mind speaking about that for a minute?
Brad: No, not at all. In my book, confidence is just the memory of winning. You know, you get really confident when your memory serves you well in regards to the ability you have in any particular field. So, if you take, well, what is confidence then? Well, confidence is the memory of winning. So, why aren’t people confident? Well then, they haven’t won enough. So, what I try to tell people, number one is, for years, you have this recording going on in your subconscious mind. You’ve procrastinated, you’ve let yourself down, you’ve set goals and didn’t reach them and ultimately, those are losses, subconsciously. Which means below your awareness those are losses. If you say I’m gonna make a million dollars this year, or I’m gonna buy four units, or you know four properties, and you buy three properties is that a winner or a loss? Well, that’s a loss. So, your subconscious mind is recording all these losses. I don’t think most people are aware, but they really don’t think that they deserve success. They don’t have any confidence. So again, the confidence to me means more a lack of belief in yourself, right? So, confidence would be believing in yourself.
Rod: How do you build it, buddy?
Brad: Well, first thing you got to do is what I call the “Sacred Six”. Number one, you gotta forgive yourself from all the crap you’ve ever put yourself through and others. So, you just apologize and forgive yourself. Number two, you commit to do what you say you’re gonna do. From that day forward, you always do what you say you’ll do. If you’re getting anxious right now, it’s probably because you already know yourself. But once you commit to doing what you say you’re gonna do, you know, to relax, just remember that you get to decide what you agree to do. So, just don’t agree to as much but always do what you say you’re gonna do. Then, number three is, you rack up the wins. Set five or ten small goals every single day that you can achieve. And because of the rule number two, you just committed to do what you say you’re gonna do. Say, you’re gonna do five things that you know you’ll do and start racking up those wins. And then, what happens after about 30, 60, 90 days is you actually start sitting up a little straighter, you start to walk a little taller, and ultimately, people are going to start noticing that you’re different. And the reason they’re going to say you’re different is because believe it or not, you’re actually starting to build confidence, you’re starting to build self-worth, and ultimately, when you do that, you start to feel like you deserve more, and you start to act like you deserve more, and talk like you deserve more, and then other people are going to get very uncomfortable. So, step four is to remove the negativity and get rid of the haters because they’re going to come and sometimes, you’ll be surprised that they’re very close to you. And you can always, they’ll stand out like a sore thumb because they’ll say things like, Rod, dude, who do you think you are, bro? Like, oh, you’re too good for us now? Like, Rod, oh, you don’t have time anymore for me? Dude, what’s the problem? You know, they want you to stay the same. So, you’ve got to eliminate those. And then, five is visualize what it is you’re trying to accomplish. See, the biggest, I would say the biggest problem with most people is, they don’t know what they want in the first place. It’s harder to figure out what you want than get it. Most people, if you ask them, what does success look like to you? They look up and think because they’ve never really thought about it. Well, you have to know exactly what you want. So, step five is visualize exactly what you want, exactly and specifically, and start to believe and feel what it’s like to be where it is you want to be. Then number six is seek knowledge, because most people don’t understand. If you want to change what you’re getting, you have to change what you’re doing. If you want to change what you’re doing, you have to change your beliefs because your beliefs cause you to choose and act the way you do. And the choices you make and the actions you take determine the results. So, if you want to change what you’re getting, you have to change what you’re doing. And in order to change what you’re doing you have to change what you believe. And the only way to change what you believe is to enter more information into the old computer.
Rod: Love it.
Brad: You have to seek knowledge every day because the only thing that changes your mind is new information.
Rod: Yeah.
Brad: So, if you do what I just said for 60 to 90 days, you’re gonna literally start to actually feel like you deserve more, you’re gonna start making different decisions, you’re gonna make different choices, and then people are going to pretty soon, they’re going to start to say, Rod, why are you so confident? And you’re gonna look back and you’re gonna go, Holy Moly! You know, and it’s different than arrogance, confidence, certainty, belief, self-worth. You start to value your own opinion more than you value other people’s opinion. And that’s when I think you have confidence. That’s the confidence at least that I’d like to, you know, show people how to, you know, attain for themselves because prior to me being confident in the way I just described, I used to be more arrogant, right? My ego was big because deep down inside.
Rod: Scared.
Brad: I had no confidence. Exactly.
Rod: Wow! Really glad you shared that man and I love those six things. You forgive yourself, you commit, you know, then you remember the wins. You maybe, you capture them somehow, you journal them, whatever. So, you have this menu of things to feel good about. You remove the negative, the naysayers, that are always there. And they’re there because they’re fearful, you know, they’re afraid of losing you or they’re afraid of feeling, you know, less than because you’re successful or whatever the reason is. But the number five is really, is huge. If you don’t know what the hell you want, how the heck are you ever going to get it? And that’s why that’s one of the first things we do at my events is, we go through and get as much clarity as possible as to what it is you want because there’s no way you’re gonna get it otherwise. And then of course, you know, competence, by seeking knowledge is going to increase your confidence and so, I love it man. Absolutely love it. Exactly what I was looking for. So, I know you did a little piece on hacking your subconscious. Do you mind elaborating on that? I thought that was such, I didn’t have a chance to watch it when I was researching, meeting you. But, does that resonate with you? Do you remember doing that?
Brad: Well, I talk about the subconscious a lot because I believe that the subconscious mind is really what most people face as their biggest problem. And, ultimately, I think it’s been recording you for your whole life. So, part of hacking the subconscious mind is to realize that it’s below your awareness. So, what you have to mess with is your conscious and your awareness. So, the more you’re aware, the better you are off, actually. Obviously. So, as far as hacking your subconscious mind, you rack up the wins. You almost trick it. In other words, just pretend it’s a recorder that’s recording everything. Every time you think to yourself, I’m gonna start a diet on Monday, and in Monday you don’t, you know, it recorded. Loser, liar, thief, cheat? You’re bullshitting that person, you know?
Rod: Fascinating. Yeah, fascinating.
Brad: So, the way I hack mine is to consciously do what I say I’m gonna do, consciously. You know what kind of freaking esteem that starts to build? Dude, I’ll do what I say I’ll do. If I say I’ll do it right, I’ll do it. How does that feel?
Rod: Yeah.
Brad: So, you start to you start to hack your subconscious by literally being more intentional with your conscience.
Rod: It ties into your “Sacred Six” really, you know. And, you know, that subconscious is so freaking powerful. I was just telling my coaching students last night that, you know, I have this thing called, “A Pilot’s Pen”. It’s this pen that lights up at night. Because sometimes at three o’clock in the morning, I’ll be in a half-awake state and I’ll come up with some fantastic ideas. So, I’ve always got a notebook there and I’ve got this pen that lights up so I don’t wake up my wife and I capture this stuff that’s, you know, getting fed to me from my subconscious. And, you know, and so, thank you. So, talk about how you feel about the Law of Attraction? What are your thoughts on that?
Brad: I think most people get it wrong. I truly believe in it, but I think most people get it wrong because they fail to add the emotion. Right? The feeling. You see what I’m saying? So
Rod: Yeah. Gratitude.
Brad: Exactly, the gratitude, and the emotion, and the feeling attached to what you’re trying to attract. You have to feel it. See, most people, they get these three wrongs. Most people are gonna say, you know, “Have, Do, Be” or “Do, Have, Be” When in reality, it’s “Be”, you have to be the person, right? Most people think you have to do something to be something. No, you “Be” something in order to do something. But “Be, Do, Have”
Rod: Let me add some. Let me add something to that, if you don’t mind. You know, one of the exercises we do at my events is, I have people visualize their perfect day, as if, you know, from the minute they get up from when they go to bed. Literally everything they do if it was their perfect day, they were living the life of their dreams because, and then, they can feel that being, you know, and associate with it, and it pulls them into it, you know? And, you know, you just reminded me of when I do my visualization sometimes, I’ll sit and I’ll do gratitude for these things that I want as if I already have them. And sometimes I’ll get freaking emotional over things I don’t even have yet because I’m feeling it. I’m being it, you know, like you just described. What a great way to describe it. Yeah, I love it, man.
Brad: That’s the key right there.
Rod: Yeah.
Brad: That’s the key right there. See, most people miss that. So, when it comes to Law of Attraction, number one, it’s a 100% real in my book.
Rod: Oh, yeah.
Brad: But at the end of the day, most people that start to read about it, you know, they read the surface, they don’t really understand. They start to think, Okay, I want this jet. I want this jet. And then, six years later they still don’t have a jet. They’re like, yeah that shit doesn’t work. Well, did you feel what it would be like? Did you feel what it feels like to have a bird at the airport to take off whenever you want? Do you know the color of the carpet? Do you know what the seats were made out of? What did it smell like when you went into it every single day? What did it feel like, to know that you could be wheels up in 10 minutes? If you say I don’t know, I didn’t go that far. Then, you didn’t create the vibration, the universe’s weighing for.
Rod: It’s got to be sensory. It’s got to be sensory, smell, hear, touch, feel, see. It’s got to be all of that and it’s funny you said jet, because that happens to be one of mine. And I’ll sit and I’ll visualize, taking off looking at my wife smiling because, you know, we’ve got this incredible resource, this incredible avenue to travel in and just like you described. And you’re really articulating it well. You’ve got to engage all of your senses. And when you do, it becomes real and the more real it is. And the clearer it is, the more clarity it has, the faster it comes into being. So, awesome.
Brad: Well, let me just make a point to people listening as well. If you think it doesn’t work, if you’re one of those people, it’s only because you haven’t done it.
Rod: Right.
Brad: The only people that don’t believe in the Law of Attraction are the ones that have never done it. And the reason they’ve never done it is because they don’t believe.
Rod: Right. Right. I agree. I agree completely, man. Yeah, no question. So, talk about how you either train or learn and grow, as if there’s some, you know, if there’s some psychology around that, or some methodology around that, you know, or maybe even incorporate how successful people really get what it is that they want. Can you speak? It’s kind of two things but.
Brad: Yeah. I mean, these are obviously just my opinions. But, you know, how do I learn and grow and how do people get what they want? Well, number one, they first identify what that is and then they put in the work. That’s why they call it work, because it works. So, at the end of the day, I mean, how do you get what you want? You decide to. That’s really all it is. You make a decision to get what you want. You know, the question isn’t, is it possible? Of course, it’s possible. The question is, how is it possible? And you need to start asking yourself, how do I do what I want to do? How can I get what I need to get? How can I go where I need to go? And then you, as a human being, are naturally wired to find answers your brain is wired to find answers. The problem is, most people aren’t asking the right questions. So, I would start there. But as far as how I learned, you know, every single day I’ve got these habits. I call it the “Million Dollar Morning.” And ultimately, what I do is I wake up every morning, the first second I open my eyes, I remember that waking up is worth more to me than $1 million. Maybe even $10 million, maybe even $100 million. And if you start to think like that, you’re like, what does he mean? Well, if I said I’ll give you a million dollars cash right now, how would you feel? Most people be like, oh elated it, you know, they start to smile, they start to feel, by the way, there’s that “feel” word. They start to feel like, Oh, that would be unbelievable. Well, then I say, would you rather wake up tomorrow morning and keep on living? Or would you rather get the million dollars and not wake up tomorrow? They’re like, well obviously, I’d rather wake up. Okay? Then you just admitted that waking up, just the simple thing of waking up, is worth more than a million dollars. But yet, you don’t wake up with that same enthusiasm, as if you just received a million dollars. So, I call it the “Million Dollar Morning” because when I wake up, I want gratitude instantly.
Rod: Yeah.
Brad: Like, real gratitude. And when I open my eyes man, I’m telling you, the first thing I think about every morning when I wake up my eyes, because I just got something more valuable than a million dollars, a smile comes across my face and I bolt out of bed, looking to attack the day. Even if it’s a tough day ahead, because if you think about it, waking up, right? Means that it’s already a great day.
Rod: It’s a gift. Yeah, it’s a gift.
Brad: And the question is, how much better will it get?
Rod: Right. Yeah. No, that’s awesome.
Brad: So, I wake up with that gratitude and then I focus on four key areas every single day. I focus on my health even if it’s running in place, I got to get the heart rate up and have at least one healthy meal, drink my greens whatever, take my vitamins. So, I focus on my health. Then I focus on relationships because folks, relationships is the key. The more people you know, the more people that trust you, like you, know you, the more opportunities you have. The more hands you shake, the more money you make. You might want to write that one down like, just remember, the more hands you shake, the more money you make. How many hands did you shake yesterday? Some people had none. I went to work, went home. Okay. Go out and meet some people. Build relationships. So, every day I focus on relationships simply by writing down five names of people that I’m going to reach out to that day and literally just say, hey, I appreciate you, thinking about you, what can I do for you? Send them an article. But I’m gonna touch five people a day. Then I focus on, how do I drive revenue every day. And I write down five things that I can do today before going to bed that will drive revenue because money is important. And then, the last thing I do, which is really to your question, how do I learn? I pick up a book, or a podcast, or you know, video of some kind and I literally study minimum 15 minutes every morning on new information. It’s not, you know, Moby Dick. It’s all non-fiction, you know, biographies, you know, how to’s, you know, self-development type of stuff. And every single day, I’m feeding new information into my head, and every single day I start to shift my perspective. I start to think a little bit differently. I haven’t considered that before, Hey, that’s gonna solve that problem and I just keep “developing”. So, that’s how I learn and grow is, I just read and consume knowledge. I consume conversations, podcasts, webinars, seminars, books, programs. I don’t really care every day, intentionally. Most people don’t. They go throughout their day, they go to bed. Two years goes by, say, how many books have you read? And their answer is none. And it’s like, you haven’t read any books. Like, if I have, if I could change one thing going back to the past, I didn’t start reading books until the last couple years, man. I wish I’d have been reading books since I was 20 years old.
Rod: Yeah, yeah.
Brad: I’d be a billionaire already if I would have been reading voraciously for 20 years.
Rod: No question. Yeah, no question. I love it. You know, back to your networking thing. You know, I sit and I think about my students and I’ve got hundreds across the country and absolutely the most successful ones are the ones that get out there and meet other people the most aggressively, without question. And, what was that second thing you said after network? After shaking hands? What are the five people, what was the thing you said after that? Because I was gonna touch on that and I didn’t capture.
Brad: The “Million Dollar Morning”, is wake up with the gratitude. You got more than a million dollars. Focus on your health. Focus on your relationships. Focus on what drives revenue that day, and focus on learning something new.
Rod: Yeah, love it.
Brad: That’s the “Million Dollar Morning”.
Rod: Love it. Yeah. Gratitude is the most foundational emotion. The most powerful emotion we have in our lives. So, I’m really glad you started with that. Love it. So, and that’s the, is that the answer to my question around, how successful people get what they want? Was that how you answered it?
Brad: No, I think successful people get what they want by identifying what it is and then doing the work.
Rod: And then doing the work, yeah.
Brad: Yeah. Like, dude there’s no answer that hasn’t already been given. How people succeed is they identify what that looks like and then they do the work successfully and consistently.
Rod: Consistently. It’s an operative word there as well. So, let me ask you this, let’s shift gears for a minute. In your career, can you remember any “Aha!” moments? I mean, I think you mentioned a couple as part of your, you know, introduction here but anything else come to mind? It was just like, Wow! That’s what I needed, that’s what I needed to hear right now.
Brad: Well, I had a big “Aha!” moment with multifamily property and realizing, you know, how cash flow assets work, I’ll tell you right now.
Rod: And the tax benefits, and the tax benefits, especially for someone like you, man.
Brad: Dude, it never ends.
Rod: Right.
Brad: You know, the equity growth, I mean, historically properties have usually doubled every 10 years.
Rod: Right.
Brad: You know, usually.
Rod: Right. And, they don’t pay taxes. That’s the thing that’s amazing about it. Most that happens.
Brad: That’s like a bonus, even. I mean, just to me, the vehicle of multifamily is incredible. I had an “Aha!” moment when I was hanging out with Grant Cardone for a little while, four or five years ago. And I was watching him just make hundreds of millions of dollars in multifamily, really. And I’m like, that was an “Aha!” moment, it’s like, Damn, dude. I’ve been doing it wrong. Oh, I’ve been blowing money like an idiot.
Rod: Let me ask you. Let me ask you. You know, this multifamily space is a team sport like we talked about. And, you know, you’ve put together a great team. Can you speak to team building a little bit? If you have any thoughts on that, and if not, we can move on to something else, but I was just curious if you had some thoughts on team building.
Brad: Rod, I got thoughts about everything.
Rod: You know, putting a team around you about everything. What’s that?
Brad: I got thoughts about everything.
Rod: All right. Well, let’s hear it then. Awesome.
Brad: Team building, you know, my thought would be, focus on the culture and make sure that your expectations are clear, and that your core values are clear, and make sure that you use those as your magnet. Because again, if you are the leader and you lay out your core values, let’s say you have someone that’s going to be great on the team, but their core values aren’t aligned. Well then, they’re not gonna be great on that team and here’s what I’ve learned about team, building a team. Don’t worry about those who don’t fit. Rip the band-aid off early and get them the hell away from your team, because a real team, dude, it boils down to the culture and the culture is so important. I used to think that was a corporate buzzword, you know, oh your culture, whatever, you know, everybody has a culture. The question is, is it good or bad? So, if you don’t pay attention to your culture and you’re trying to build a team, you’re gonna be struggling for years and you’re never gonna realize what’s wrong and why it isn’t really clicking the way you think a team should click, because if you build a real team, a good team, it’s not gonna be everybody that you are, you know, extremely fond of, and are similar to. Why? Well, because dude, if I’m going to build a team, I don’t need another Brad Lea. Okay?
Rod: Right.
Brad: I need someone who’s organized and can execute, like, I’ve got all the ideas, I just need someone who can execute. So, too many people, they want to build a team full of friends and people that are like them. So, at the end of the day I would say focus on the culture. Hold everybody accountable to that culture, and that is a good foundation to the team, and then don’t be afraid to let people leave and/or push people away.
Rod: Yeah, yeah. Very standard advice.
Brad: You know, yeah. Like, you have to take those core values very seriously and everybody has to live by them. And when you do that, you know, you’re gonna lose some people you wish you had, you know, your top sales people, oh, they would have made me a bunch of money. If you have a crystal ball, man, they’re going to cost you a bunch of money, trust me. You know, I’ve gotten rid of top sales people before because they, you know, they were pissing off all the other people and everyone’s like, so what? He’s the best salesperson. Well, guess what? The best sales person pissed off six pretty good sales people and collectively, the top salesperson didn’t out produce the loss of the brain damage that they were causing. I got rid of the top salesperson. Why? Because that’s not our core values. We’re building a team here, there’s a team sport and guess what? Boom! The sales went up, we sold more than we ever have just by getting rid of the top salesperson.
Rod: Yeah. Sorry, sorry. Guys listening, I recognize, he’s talking about a company team and you might be building your own inner little team where or maybe, you’re even on the same level with these people that are doing different aspects of the multifamily business, but the same things still apply. If you’re in, maybe instead of your core values, well, instead of your business core values, it’s your personal core values, and you make sure you’re aligned there. And like he said, you definitely don’t want, you know, two Brad Leas’. You don’t want two of you. You need complementing skill sets where you’re strong and they’re strong in different things. That’s what you need to be looking for. We’re talking about great advice, which you’re giving here. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received, buddy?
Brad: Best advice I’ve ever received.
Rod: A couple of maybe, a couple might be more than one but just, like, wow, that’s really insightful.
Brad: Well, I mean, I was thinking more like, you know, don’t eat there, trust me. But, as far as life advice goes, I think my best advice is, ultimately, “Don’t worry about other people’s opinion.”
Rod: Yeah.
Brad: You know, I forgot who said it but somebody said, other people’s opinion of me is none of my business.
Rod: You know, I love it. Yeah, that’s a good one. Yeah, that’s a good one.
Brad: Too many people are worried about other people’s judgment. They fear the judgment of others and I think the best advice I’ve ever received is, you know, don’t worry about the judgment of others. Like, focus more on the judgment of yourself. Like, dude, self-worth and self-value is so important if you actually want to succeed and build anything. It’s unbelievably important. And I got that advice, you know, a long time ago and ultimately, I would say it’s the single best piece of advice ever.
Rod: I have to agree, actually. I have to agree. You know, people really don’t care that much about you anyway. So, worrying about what they think is just a waste of your time, frankly. They care about themselves and, you know, people think that they care but they don’t. Do you have a favorite quote?
Brad: Yep. My own. “You can’t get rich making poor choices.”
Rod: I like it. I like it. So, why do you think most people fail? At business, at life, at sales, at anything. Why do you think they fail?
Brad: Well, I think there’s a combination of reasons, but mostly, they fail because they don’t do it long enough.
Rod: They give up, three feet from the gold. Yeah.
Brad: They don’t do it long enough, man. Consistency. Listen, when I started lightspeed, which does, you know, eight figures, soon to be nine.
Rod: Nice.
Brad: It was eight years before I started making any money. And I believed the entire time that things were turning around in 90 days. If I hadn’t believed every 90 days that man, I’m three months away from blowing up. I probably wouldn’t have lasted eight years but, I went eight years with no money. I was way ahead of our time, you know, an interactive online training system, Rod, in 99’? The internet just came out. Nobody was training online. Nobody thought it would work. I spent eight years convincing people that it would work before I really started making any money. Most people would have given up. The reason most people fail is because they don’t put any consistent belief and effort. Now, if that’s not the reason, the only other reason would be the lack of their mindset. I mean, ultimately.
Rod: Yeah. The mindset.
Brad: Well, the mindset’s so important, dude. I developed these gauges that I drive it through life with, you know, just like the gauges on your car. When your car starts sputtering and doing crazy crap, the first thing people do is look at the gauges. What’s going on? Am I out of gas? What’s happening? So, anytime I’m having trouble in my life I look at my gauges. Well, my gauges, number one, is mindset. Because, if you don’t believe, there’s the problem. So, the mindset’s always core. Okay? The mindset leads to the map. The map is, do you have clarity on where you’re going and what you’re doing? If you’re buzzing around and there’s issues, ask yourself, do I know where I’m going? A lot of times people like not really, there’s not really much clarity. Okay. Get clear. There’s your problem. Okay? The third one is motions. The actions that you take. the habits that you form. What are they? Because, if you have a clear picture of where you’re going? Every day, your motions? The actions you take? Will tell you if you’re moving towards or away. Well, if you’re moving away, change course, you know, change. But at the end of the day, most people aren’t doing that which leads to the fourth one, which is measurement, you know, that gauge to me tells me, am I measuring the right things? Because what doesn’t get measured, doesn’t get managed. You know, performance measured is performance improved. So, at the end of the day, what am I measuring? Am I measuring the right elements? And then, the last one is my money. Where’s my money going? Because once you get those four gauges all working, you totally believe it. You’re totally clear. You’re doing the right things. You’re measuring the right things. You’re gonna make money. Well, what are you doing with that money? Because I spent years making and spending millions of dollars that you cannot get back. And let me tell you something, there’s a lot of people, Rod. You know more about this than most as well. And I’m not saying this about you, even though you have your own story on that. People have made millions of dollars and then lost it somehow, and that’s my money gauge. Like, you wouldn’t have lost your money if you knew then what you know now, correct?
Rod: No question. No question. Yeah.
Brad: So that’s my money gauge. Like, if I’m having a problem, I’m gonna look through those gauges. Is it my mindset? Am I clear? Am I making the right motion? Am I taking the right actions? Am I measuring the right things? And where am I putting my money? If you monitor those things and get them all, you know, going good, dude, your cruise through life is going to be amazing.
Rod: Wow! That was incredible clarity, brother. Incredible clarity. I really am impressed with what you just articulated, because that really applies to anything. Any business, certainly, this multifamily business, you’re gonna have KPIs and things you need to be measuring. All of that you need to know where it is you’re headed. That was very, very clear. I didn’t have a chance to write it down, but I will make sure that that’s in the show notes, guys. So, you know, a couple last final questions. What did you have to give up to get what you have today? Did you have to sacrifice anything? Did you have to give anything up?
Brad: Yeah. I’m certain, you know, yeah. But I can’t really tell you what it is in other than in general, because I don’t look at it that way. I mean, I believe.
Rod: Did your family, were you away from them a lot?
Brad: Absolutely.
Rod: Were you distant? Were you not present? You know, any regret about any of that? I mean, just maybe, you know, go down. Yeah.
Brad: Yeah. I mean, all that. You know, I have three sets of kids.
Rod: Wow!
Brad: You know, the first set, I wasn’t even around at all. I, you know, had them very young, 17 years old. The second set, you know, I was building a business and, you know, it cost me a marriage and, you know, I was stupid young, immature, stuff like that. And, you know, my third set, now I’m home and I’m doing the right thing. So, I got three tries of being a good parent and I think I finally got it. However, you know, I don’t regret it to a point where it’s like, oh I’m depressed, but yeah. I mean, if I could go back and spend more time with my boys or more time with my older girls, a 100% I would have changed it.
Rod: Yeah.
Brad: The problem is, you can’t change the past. I don’t look backwards. I don’t say boo-hoo. I say, moving forward, what can I do to improve? So, when it comes to, you know, sacrifices, remember this, if you don’t sacrifice for what you want, what you want becomes the sacrifice.
Rod: Yeah. Great.
Brad: You’re gonna sacrifice no matter what. The question is, can you navigate what’s most important? So, if you get your priorities straight, yes, you’re going to sacrifice. Of course, you’re gonna sacrifice. The question is, to what degree? You’re the one that gets to decide. That’s the beautiful part.
Rod: Yeah. No, that’s awesome and I’ve seen some pictures and videos of you with your kids now and is it a daughter, I think is it? Or.
Brad: I have two little girls.
Rod: Two little girls, that’s it. Yeah, beautiful. Love it. So, last question. This has really been awesome, by the way. Really enjoyed this personally. Knowing what you know now, what would you, if you went back to your 18-20-year-old self, what might you do differently?
Brad: Invest money more wisely, and seek knowledge.
Rod: Yeah, okay.
Brad: Well, because when I was young, like I said, I just started really engaging in self-development and learning like, three, four, five years ago, Rod. Like, dude, I didn’t read a book for my entire life. You know what I’m saying? Like, I was, I don’t need you to tell me anything. Like, I can figure it out. Like, I’m not interested.
Rod: How old are you now?
Brad: 51.
Rod: Oh, you’re 51. Wow! you look great man. I was kind of thought you were in your 30s. Seriously, I’m not exaggerating. Well listen, don’t feel bad. I was 40. I was 40 when I finally got the memo that there were other people in life besides Rod, you know, it’s all focused on Rod. Show the world I’m good enough. Show the world I matter, you know, and so, don’t feel bad, brother. I’m right there with you. Well listen, I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge today, buddy. It’s been a lot of fun for me, because this is a topic that, you know, the things you’ve talked about are just like crack cocaine for me, man. So, really appreciate having you on and it’s been a lot of fun and I look forward to, you know, getting to know you more and seeing you again and I know you’re in Vegas, so definitely, be coming out to hang out one of these days.
Brad: Well, Rod, I can’t wait to have you on my podcast.
Rod: Thank you. Oh, that’s right. Guys, check out his dropping bombs podcast. It really is dropping bombs. So, check it out. Also, he’s got, what’s the closing? What is it, closer school?
Brad: Yeah. closerschool.com, man.
Rod: closerschool.com
Brad: That’s where I can show anybody how to be persuasive.
Rod: Yeah. By the way, guys, it’s very, very reasonable. I was very impressed from what I saw on the website. In fact, I’m probably gonna get it myself and because you just can’t know too much about sales and influence. So, I don’t really promote stuff on this podcast but I’m very, very impressed with what Brad’s doing and what he’s got going. So, you know, I would highly recommend you check it out.
Brad: Thanks, Rod.
Rod: My pleasure, brother. It was very, very much. Yeah.
Brad: And just so you know, it doesn’t only teach you how to close and sell and persuade it, it teaches you, believe it or not, how to be a better human. We work on the self a lot in closer school because I think if you’re really truly trying to be, you know, excellent at something and you’re not really, you don’t value yourself, it makes it ten times more difficult. So, believe it or not, we don’t just make better closers, we make better humans.
Rod: Love it. Love it. Love it. Completely agree. All right, brother. Well listen, I enjoyed it very much and I’m sure we’ll talk again real soon.
Brad: Likewise. Thanks, Rod. See you.
Rod: Thanks.
