When it comes to building a successful real estate business, John Cunningham and Chris Hanley agree that trust starts with the people an agency recruits and the behavior its leaders reward. During an interview, John Cunningham asks candidates to look beyond their financial goals and explain the life they want to build.
This approach is put to the test when Samantha McLean plays the role of an eager new recruit, telling John Cunningham about her plan to make a million dollars in GCI. Instead of focusing on the ambitious goal, John Cunningham turns the conversation towards the life the person wants to build.
Developing Trustworthiness
Chris Hanley believes that trust starts with recruitment and the reasons a business chooses its people. John Cunningham allows room for development, provided there is a solid foundation to build on. He says, “The trust levels and that character can be developed,” but notes that there has to be a foundation of goodness in someone.
Training and experience can build on that foundation, but a leader needs to understand what a person falls back on when things become difficult. John Cunningham describes an agent’s role as helping people move from uncertainty to informed decisions, and argues that a leader’s primary objective is to bring people from the unknown to the known so they can make decisions.
Chris Hanley picks up on the word guidance, arguing that replacing the familiar language of seller feedback with guidance changes how an agent approaches the conversation. It asks the agent to contribute experience and interpretation, rather than simply passing on what someone else has said.
Recruitment and Trust
John Cunningham also describes his OIC rule: observation, initiative, and creativity. The sequence starts with noticing what is changing, then deciding what to do about it. He applies it to client conversations, the work the agency takes on, and how the team uses its time.
When recruiting, John Cunningham asks candidates whether they have considered writing a business plan for themselves, with a life plan as part of it. He is also watching for rehearsed answers designed to please him, and values a candidate who can explain their own direction.
Chris Hanley challenges the idea that one personality type has a monopoly on success in real estate, pointing to people who combine strong sales performance with a willingness to share their time and energy with others. He sees people who give to others as valuable contributors to culture and to a business over time.
Neither John Cunningham nor Chris Hanley suggests that experience makes a leader immune to a poor hire. Both acknowledge mistakes, and the lesson is to examine the person carefully and remain willing to recognize when the fit is wrong.
Chris Hanley adds that persistence and evidence of overcoming challenges are key qualities he looks for in a salesperson. He calls it their motor: the capacity to keep going through the years of work that sit behind a successful sales career. For John Cunningham, the foundation of trust matters before development and training begin, and a business-and-life-plan discussion can reveal more than an income target.
In practice, this means that principals should prioritize finding candidates who are not only driven to succeed but also willing to contribute to the team and learn from others. By doing so, they can build a strong foundation of trust and create a positive, supportive work environment. This approach can lead to a more cohesive and effective team, where individuals feel valued and motivated to work together towards a common goal.
For John Cunningham, the next step in the recruitment process is to ask candidates to describe both what they want to achieve and what they want to contribute. The useful part is the conversation that follows the target, where principals can gain a deeper understanding of the candidate’s values, goals, and motivations.
Guidance Shifts Client Dialogue
The shift from simple seller feedback to genuine guidance redefines how agents interact with clients. By framing conversations around interpretation and experience, agents move beyond relaying information to offering strategic insight. This method encourages clients to see options more clearly, aligning decisions with their long-term objectives.
