The below article was featured in The Petra Post. To read the full magazine, visit The Petra Post’s website.
If you miss the Daily Huddle at The Kirkland Company (TKC), you miss hearing about someone’s kid winning a championship, another person on the team getting engaged, another hitting a goal they have been working toward for years, a bucket list item checked off, laughter, smiles, and even hardships. It’s where lives and stories are shared and where culture shines. It’s where the Ohio team shares what’s coming that day so the Jacksonville team knows how to help them. It’s where the team holds one another accountable for the priorities they need to achieve for the quarter. It’s the heartbeat of the day and the rhythm of the community built at the company. There is serious FOMO when you miss it. But there wasn’t always a huddle.
“Ten years ago, it was difficult to pin down what was going on with each team member. I might have a breakfast meeting, get to the office, and realize one guy was in Chattanooga and another in Knoxville. You are just running so hard, there wasn’t time to stay as organized as we wanted. We were really good at selling apartments, but we didn’t have a structure with which to grow. We had numbers we wanted to hit and goals we wanted to achieve, but the planning detail wasn’t there,” William Kirkland explained. “We wanted to build a business where people could grow personally and professionally. A place where others pushed you to be a better version of yourself. Not just train people to do a job but help develop them into the person we knew they could become.”
That’s when Petra delivered exactly what The Kirkland Company needed. Petra showed them how to implement an effective platform for growth, and that’s how they scaled. “I remember the first time we met as a team with our coach, we were writing out our Core Values, large Post-it notes all over the conference room. I couldn’t believe we were taking so much time for this when we could be on the phones and talking about how we were wired the way we were. When we finished, it was like we had taken the first step towards building a real business. Values we lived out in our work but had never been verbalized were right there in front of us. I always thought when other companies talked about their Core Values, they were fake or just sounded forced. Today, the values we came up with all the way back then are the fabric of who we are. It’s the lens through which we see everything we do,” William shared.
Core values were just the first building block. “From there, we started dreaming about what the next 3–5 years looked like and wrote down how to get there,” William continued. “It wasn’t just a plan; it was a playbook. Every day, there was a company huddle about what was being done that day. Every week, a huddle focused on weekly progress, and every quarter, we took an entire day to set the individual and company priorities for the next quarter. But we needed A players to execute the 3–5-year plans. Our coach suggested implementing what is commonly known as the Topgrading system, a structured approach to recruiting, interviewing, hiring, and reviewing our team. It was a total game-changer in how we found the right talent. People always say that A players want to be around A players. Topgrading allows this to happen. Match that with the training, development, communication, and collaboration, and it’s a snowball of achievement and activity. We really started winning and seeing success that was difficult to achieve before. It’s unbelievable how far we have come.”
Petra also taught them how to learn and study other businesses. “Our coach was sending me what seemed like a book a week—not kidding—and he still is,” William relates. “AP Calculus was easier. He was just feeding us information on what was working at other businesses and helping us study so we could pick something up here and implement it there. Most nights and every weekend, I have a podcast or book going. It’s the only way to keep up. When you are building a business, it often feels like you are on an island by yourself just hoping to figure it out. With Petra, you’re not alone anymore. Not that you won’t still make mistakes. Fast forward to today, the feel of the team is incredible. The talent is here. The confidence to achieve the results is driven by a culture of winning that you can watch grow every quarter. That culture is created with our daily habits. It really is an unstoppable system that is changing the family trees of those on our team.”
The Uncommon Pillars
Along with implementing Daily Huddles, revamping communication channels, and nailing down their clients’ Core Purpose and Values, Petra’s teachings helped William and his team develop the concept of Uncommon Trust. At TKC, the idea of Uncommon Trust represents collaboration among every broker within the organization. Although brokerage roles—even within the same companies—are traditionally structured around competition, TKC’s brokers share market research and industry contacts with one another to ensure that every customer is getting the best deal outcome possible.
For Jake Higgins, Chief Operating Officer at TKC, witnessing Uncommon Trust evolve into something bigger has been eye-opening and empowering. “One of the things that everyone now knows is the company’s core differentiators,” he said. “Our difference is Uncommon Trust, which has actually become our 5 Uncommon Pillars that sit at the center of everything TKC does on a daily basis.” Here are those five pillars:
- Uncommon People
“Everybody that we’ve hired has something really eye-popping about their backgrounds,” Jake said of his colleagues. With unique perspectives and a wide variety of skills, the internal talent at TKC is unmatched. - Uncommon Culture
Brokers are encouraged to bring themselves to work, focus on personal goals, and share their lives with one another. “It’s a very collaborative environment. It’s a culture that wants to see everyone succeed,” said Jake. - Uncommon Database
The organization has a database of over 23 million apartment units that all brokers share. With all market research and analytical data in a central database, brokers at TKC have more streamlined communication than other firms in the industry. This pillar provides the opportunity for more efficient and, ultimately, more successful deals for everyone. - Uncommon Focus
To Jake, the pillar of Uncommon Focus is the biggest differentiator when it comes to how TKC operates. TKC’s operations team, known internally as the Wolfpack, handles everything for the organization besides sales. “The Wolfpack manages all of the underwriting, packaging, and administrative work,” says Jake, “so that our brokers can focus on calling owners, building relationships, setting up meetings, and selling properties.” The Wolfpack is a reference to Winston Wolf in Pulp Fiction, who shows up at the door and “solves problems.” And that’s what this highly talented group does—anchors the company’s operation, improves business processes, and most importantly, keeps brokers on the phones. - Uncommon Sense
TKC is not going to overpromise and underdeliver. They tell their clients the truth, not just what they want to hear.
At TKC, the 5 Uncommon Pillars are what sit underneath the idea of Uncommon Trust. “There’s an Uncommon Trust that permeates our organization, and we hear that back from other people more than we talk about it internally. Without the early lessons from Petra, our business wouldn’t be where it is today,” the firm’s founder shared.
“More Personal Than Professional”
When Petra starts coaching a new member, there’s a lot to be done in terms of implementing new processes and systems. Petra’s founder, Andy Bailey, is well-known for being a master calendar manager and getting more done in a day than most people can dream of. Of course, he helps all Petra’s member clients adopt the same processes he uses to impact productivity, but outside of Petra Coach, many coaches would stop after sharing processes. With help from Petra Coach, TKC discovered—as did many other member clients—that it’s the personal dynamics within a workplace that can really transform things.
The process of Daily Huddles helps drive alignment, ensures everyone knows where everyone is at for the day, and highlights roadblocks that other team members might be able to help with. But even more importantly, they offer a chance for brokers and staff at TKC to connect with one another on a personal level. “I think it’s more personal than professional,” William admitted. “Everyone has personal goals that help them move forward as an individual, and by supporting those personal goals, we’ve created a culture of constant improvement.”
One team member just finished a marathon in Greece, another purchased their first real estate property, and a third hit a hard-to-reach recurring revenue target. By staying in tune with the goals—big and small—that are making a difference in each other’s lives, everyone at TKC feels that sense of Uncommon Trust that is so vital.
Feeling the Difference
“Petra is—without question—the single best business decision we’ve made,” William said. “Without Petra, our Petra coaches, and their leadership, we wouldn’t be where we are today.”
