Hunter Marckwardt - CrossCountry Mortgage

08/22/2023

The client experience in this market is more important than ever.

08/09/2022

2.5 years ago, we had a great interview with Realtors Dana Green, Renee White, & David Gunderman to discuss COVID and how they were dealing with it. With the current market conditions, I thought it would be a great opportunity to redo the interview with a different set of circumstances.

We'll be doing another zoom call on Wednesday, August 10th at 10:00AM and I've included the registration link below.

Registration Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9R1wyxAzQGO2FpIHvR7GPw
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Video - August 8, 2022

05/02/2022

04/13/2022

I’m going to be interviewing an appraiser on Friday, 4/15 at 10:00AM. I think more so than ever we need to understand the mindset of an appraiser as well as some of the rules/guidelines they need to adhere to.

If you are able to attend, please use this link to register for the call: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ZfdVggxQTBmzOXH5tuTS6w

Looking forward to this!

More so than ever we need to understand the mindset of an appraiser as well as some of the rules/guidelines they need to adhere to. I’m going to be interviewing an appraiser on 4/15/22 at 10:00AM PST and would love to have you there.

11/19/2021

We’ve never pushed for client reviews for pure marketing purposes so this is extra special for our team. 100 organic & intentional reviews from our amazing clients!

07/27/2020

Sunday Thoughts from yesterday:

I've been working on a little mental project for myself which is to be aware of cause and effect of different activities. To be aware of an emotion that is being created by an activity I'm doing. Goal for this activity for me is to "hopefully" get in a position where I'm doing more things that I love doing, and stop doing things I don't...Pretty simple, and I don't think I'm the first to try to tackle this subject. With that said, I would question how many of us understand the concept of a project like this but actually do nothing with it. I keep this in my Evernote, notebook is called "personal growth", and note is called "head check".

As an example, and the only reason Sunday Thoughts are going out today, an old coaching student texted me a bit ago to say he's on day 208 of the push up challenge I did last year. He took a picture of a text string with his group doing the challenge. On the string is a buddy I work with in San Diego. They didn't know each other before I connected them, one is in Seattle, one in San Diego, and they're now doing this challenge together because of me. Might not sound like a big deal but I realize for me, I love connecting people. I love the way it feels to sit back and see relationships grow because of seeds I helped plant. Doesn't mean these guys are best friends but they are in this together, and they're accomplishing something together that is really hard to do, and I had something to do with it, that feels amazing to me. Note to self, be purposeful in connecting people.

For me, all of this has to do with the need to find and gain more clarity in everything I do, and help those around me do the same. I love the saying; If everything is important, then nothing is important. It takes clarity to understand what is important, and for me what is important is finding things that I love to do, and do more of them. Bringing people together is something I love doing. I'm in a position to do that, so I need to do more of it, I need to scale bringing people together. Recognize that and make it a priority. The "how" is a different thought for a different day, but the clarity of it is liberating. Like I've got the cake mix, now I just need to put it all together, but I know I'm not fighting an uphill battle, I'm actually sitting in my sweet spot. Sweet spot= recognition of something you're good at + brings you joy + you're doing something to bring it to reality (yes I just made this up).

As a side note: I wrote the first paragraph and then stared at my computer for 30 minutes. I then got up, went for long run, came back and finished this up in 5 minutes. Cause and effect of different activities, running gets my brain firing, always.

Hunter

07/20/2020

Sunday Thoughts from yesterday:

I had someone I'm very close with at work pull me aside on Wednesday and tell me I lack empathy. My initial stance was pure defense. Me? lack empathy? Are you kidding me? I'm Mr. Empathetic. This person didn't tell me this to hurt my feelings, this person told me this because they believed it was important and I needed to know. So I come home and ask Kim "Do you think of me as empathetic?"....she starts laughing. So I'm realizing there is a problem here. Proof once again, reality and what is in our own heads is not always the same. We talked about it a bit and then as we're going to bed she he hits me with "we need to finish our conversation about you being empathetic"....60 minutes later, turns out I "might" need to work on my version of what I think it means to be empathetic.

Definition of Empathy: The ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

My initial reaction to this definition is "soft". Perhaps this is why someone close to me might suggest I lack empathy? could it be? I have always believed one of my strengths is a natural understanding of emotional intelligence. Realizing now having emotional intelligence and being empathetic are not the same. I didn't think of them to be the same but I did believe having emotional intelligence automatically put me in the category of having empathy toward others, not so much.

I'd like to believe my team would tell you I care a great deal about them. This also is where it gets confusing for me. Caring and being empathetic are not the same. I care about Tina (on my team), but being empathetic is understanding that I come home to a dinner, she comes home to a daughter who needs her mom to make dinner for the two of them. When I think through this lens I have a greater appreciation and understanding of the importance on finding more people for our team to balance the current workload vs. throwing overtime pay at my existing team with the assumption that this is okay with them and solves the problem. Overtime is a band aid, not a solution. Side note-Tina wasn't the one that talked to me.

So a few take aways for me:
1. Taking a practical approach to being empathetic will make me a better leader.
2. Not being empathetic is an Achilles heel and will cause issues down the road if I don’t take note of it today. Noted.
3. Actionable and tactical processes with an empathetic mindset is how you retain great people. i.e. what do they in fact need vs. what I think they need. You can only truly know by having "the ability to understand and share the feelings of another".
4. Being more empathetic around the house might be beneficial to my marriage and fatherhood.
5.
Being empathetic is like chocolate. It’s not always sweet, it has a lot of practical uses outside of the warm and fuzzies of the word itself. I will not underestimate the importance of empathy moving forward. This was a wakeup call for me, and as I think through it, I totally get it. It’s not a fun exercise to realize where you're lacking but it is necessary at times, a little self-reflection never hurts.

07/06/2020

Sunday Thoughts from yesterday:

Rob, my CEO, and I were talking on Wednesday after a call with our executive team. We were talking about my personal responsibilities inside the company, which includes being in charge of production. One question we discussed is my metrics i.e. how are we measuring my role? As an example, we're currently locking/funding more loans than any time in our history. I'd love to take responsibility for this but there is also a little thing called rates being at an all time low, a global pandemic, and the craziest housing market I've seen since being in this business. To take credit for our current volume/production would be misleading, arrogant, and insane. So one item we discussed that is absolutely measurable, and something I care a great deal about is the retention of our people.
Fast forward to Friday, my buddy, Dave Savage, CEO of Mortgage Coach, kindly asked me to be a guest on a webinar he does. We were talking about leadership, what it means, why we do what we do, etc...It was a great call. Right after the call I went for a run and thought about me being measured by the retention of our people and how leadership pertains to all of it. I then thought about the concept we've discussed before which is that people don't leave companies, they leave people. I think it's best said to say that employees don't leave a company, people leave people. When you say it like this you take total responsibility and accountability for the people that work with you. People will still get fired, and people will still get laid off, but if the right person leaves you, that's on you. If an entire company of people embrace that mindset, the chance of success sky rockets.
People also have to believe they have the ability and need to lead, including me. If someone reports to you, at the lowest level you have a professional obligation to lead them, at the highest level, you have a moral obligation to lead them. Pretty sure it was Henry Ford that said "whether you think you can or you can't, you're right". The same works for leadership. If you believe you're a leader you're right, if you don't believe you're a leader, you're right, it’s a belief. It’s not a title on your card, it's how you treat your people and vice versa. I lead my own team, and at times, my own team leads me.
I was going to talk to our executive team about a leadership test I created for our last summit. Unfortunately because of Covid we cancelled the trip and I never walked through the exercise. The questions below were things I think about as it relates to leadership and a tactical approach to determine how you're doing in your role as leader. Please note, I created the test because of what I want to be, not necessarily what I am today, but it gives me a foundation to follow. It's a baseline. This is for direct reports.

• Do you have a daily, or weekly, team meeting with a set agenda and set time?
• Do you have purposeful annual reviews with your team members?
• Do you have roles/responsibilities/metrics for each team member?
• Does your team understand your vision?
• Do your team members know what their roles/responsibilities/metrics are?
• Do you review your teams metrics on a consistent basis?
• Do you have a set interview process to ensure you're hiring the right people i.e. personality type, tests for skill set, detailed reference check?
• Do you have a set disciplinary process i.e. verbal warning, written warning, and termination?
• Do you know the names of your team members spouses/partners and children?
• Do you celebrate/acknowledge your team members birthday?
• Do you know and understand the personal goals of your team members i.e. what they want to be doing in 1-3 years?
• Do you delegate to your team with who/what/why/when/where/how instructions?
• Do you do charity work with your team consistently i.e. once every six months minimum?
• Do you proactively offer compensation increases for team members who are deserving of them i.e. do you offer or do they need to ask?
• Do you train your employees consistently with purpose? i.e. here is how you do it, now you try, critique without judgment, repeat until mastered?
• Do you eat with your team members at least once a month?

How many yeses did you have?

Create your own list if you want but in the end, the right people want clarity, responsibility, accountability, growth, and leadership. You have to ask yourself if that's what you're giving them. If you are, retention shouldn't be an issue.

06/16/2020

Sunday Thoughts from yesterday:

Happy Sunday Everyone:

About a month ago I wrote about my good friend, Ian. Reminder, played professional basketball in Europe for 10 years, back here now starting new career w/ his wife and 3 kids. He's taken a liking to Jack/Thomas and has been kind enough to meet them at 6:15AM at a park Tuesdays/Thursdays and work them out. I've done it a few times, it’s not easy, nor is he.

Tuesday Morning, I'm downstairs working after doing my morning routine, its 6:05 and I’m barely hearing rumblings upstairs. Finally boys both come down at 6:10. I'm telling them they're going to be late of which they are, and it’s not cool. After arriving late and leaving Ian solo for 10 minutes at the park he tells them "you can show up on time from here on out or we can run until the first guy pukes". I of course, LOVE THIS. All of you parents know there is nothing better than a little co-parenting from a trusted/admired friend to help instill some important life lessons. Fast forward to Thursday, I'm heading back from a run, and loop around the street only to see Jack's truck in the driveway at 6:00 AM. I call him and ask what they're doing. He tells me "relax dad, its 8 minutes away, we're fine". Without flipping out (which would be my normal response), I simply tell them both as they're walking out the door "I'll tell you what boys, if I had the choice of setting my alarm 5 minutes earlier vs. the risk of running until I puked, I’m going with 5 minutes on the alarm all day". Those little monsters made it. Ian called me laughing basically saying they rolled up at 6:14, sprinted to the field and were moving at 6:15.

Truth be told, I’m incredibly impressed with both of my boys for doing this. As Ian tells them every time "You see anyone else your age out here right now getting it done", no....except for 1 other kid who is a sophomore playing football at Stanford (hmmmm). This is a different lesson for a different day. For me, this funny, but real story, is an opportunity to remind myself of a few things around time and commitment.

1. When people are willing to invest their time in us we have a responsibility to respect that time. Not just by being on time but what we actually do with the time they've given us. I think about my friend Don (81). He's been meeting with me every Tuesday for 13 years. It’s easy to lose the appreciation of what he's done for me with the time that he's given me. How do I pay that back? just thinking about it changes my perspective of the time I get to spend with him, especially when I’m "too busy". I "get" to spend time with him.
2. Would serve us all well to ask ourselves "is this on my time or theirs?". Kind of like "Is this on my dime or yours?". If someone is offering you their time, you better show up on time, physically and mentally. You're either the teacher or the student, the client or provider of services, the friend that needs help or the friend that's helping, in either position you're an asset or a liability to the situation depending on how you show up. Show up on time and be all in.
3. Showing up late or not at all is sloppy, it suggests you don’t care, it suggests your time is more valuable than mine, it suggests you don’t take yourself seriously, it’s highly unprofessional. If you work with me and show up late, that's what I’m thinking about you.
4. Think of 5 or 10 people you respect/trust/like. I can guarantee you 90% of the time they show up, and they show up on time.
5. The biggest picture of all is that we're on a short and depleting tank of time. How we use it for ourselves, and those around us matters. One thing I love about writing this stuff out is it brings so much more clarity to me as to the "why" I’m doing what I’m doing and if my calendar and the people I’m spending my time with are in alignment with my "why". Don't be offended if I cancel on you this week:)

My boys are awesome kids. I love them both a great deal and they can read this one when they're in their 20's. I'm not pounding this into them at this stage...they're young and learning but I will remember 5 minutes early or puke for the rest of my life.