By Kat Szymanski, RLI Marketing Manager
While the start of a New Year often has people looking for ways to make change and improve their situations, anytime is the right time to look for inspiration.
On a recent podcast recording, RLI member and Accredited Land Consultant Jonathan Goode from Alabama shared how three books helped shift his perspective on business and client relationships which led him to make bold changes this year.
If you’re looking for ways to make better business decisions, build deeper connections with clients, and break yourself of bad habits, here are the top three books Jonathan recommends RLI members read now and why.
- Necessary Endings: The Employees, Businesses, and Relationships That All of Us Have to Give Up in Order to Move Forward by Dr. Henry Cloud
Kat: Jonathan, on the podcast you mentioned this book led you to the life-changing decision to launch a new land brokerage, Farm and Forest Brokers, ending 17 years at the brokerage where you started your career. How did Dr. Cloud’s book help you make that discovery? Why should RLI members read this?
Jonathan: I was reading this book because I live in a small rural community, and several organizations that I am involved with are not flourishing. This book was recommended as a resource for knowing when it is time to close an organization or end a relationship. To paraphrase some of the principles in the book, Dr. Cloud recommends that it may be time to end a relationship, a career, or close an organization when there is no clear or logical pathway to improving a situation. This proved to be the case in my career also; in order to pursue my vision of the career that I want for me and my family, it was necessary to leave the company where I had been my entire 17 year real estate career, and help found a new one.
- Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
Kat: One of my favorite parts of Atomic Habits is its practicality. James Clear not only explains habit formation and human programming, but gives you strategies to break bad habits, form better ones, and shows how small, incremental changes add up to big results. You talked about breaking some bad habits from the crazy Covid market. What habits did this book help you break? Any good ones it helped you put in place?
Jonathan: The most impactful sentence in this book was “You should be far more concerned about your current trajectory than your current results.” This thought resonated with me profoundly. I was having great results, but my trajectory was not lining up with what I want my career and life to look like. “People can’t change their futures. People can change their habits, and their habits shape their futures.” This thought has helped me be more intentional about making the most of my time when I am at work, prospecting for new business, and how I am serving my clients and teammates.
- Servant Selling: The Handbook for Closing More Deals and Giving Your Customers Exactly What They Need by Dave Brown
Kat: You shared a philosophy on the podcast that really struck me: By prioritizing other’s needs, you’ll meet your own, that the most successful people in business are focused on helping others achieve what they want. How did that philosophy in Brown’s book change how you work with clients? How will RLI members benefit from reading this?
Jonathan: This book is a must read if you really want to build your business by caring for and meeting the needs of your clients. Zig Ziglar shared a quote that I try to live by. “You can have everything you want in life if you are willing to help enough other people get what they want.” I view my job as a land broker as serving customers and clients, helping them accomplish their objectives with a land sale or purchase. My role as the CEO of our company is to help my co-workers define and achieve whatever their vision of success is for their lives. Our goal as leaders is to understand and serve our people- to help them get to where they want to go. The vision my partners and I shared when building Farm and Forest Brokers was to create an environment where land professionals of the strongest character and proven sales careers would want to cooperate and flourish. Dave Brown’s book is the sales book I would write if I had the skill and ability to communicate these ideas and principles as effectively. He captures the essence of what it means to sell from a client-focused and servant’s mindset.
Kat: Jonathan, any last thoughts or recommendations you’d like to share?
Jonathan: The Voices of Land and Dirt Debacles podcasts are fantastic resources for land brokers. The practical, real-life stories and lessons are applicable to each of us as we encounter unusual situations in our line of work. Thanks to our RLI Staff and Justin Osborn, ALC for continually producing this for us. I look forward to seeing everyone in Tucson at the National Conference in a few weeks.
Look for Jonathan’s upcoming Dirt Debacles podcast episode in February 2025.
Jonathan Goode is an Accredited Land Consultant with Farm and Forest Brokers out of Centreville, Alabama. Jonathan has been a land broker for 17 years, serving Alabama and Mississippi. He has recently partnered with several of his long-time co-workers to found Farm and Forest Brokers, which is focused on helping people buy and sell farms and ranches, timberland, and quality recreational and hunting properties. Jonathan serves as Responsible Broker and CEO for the new company.