Today begins a series of discussions titled “Best Practices.” We’ll be exploring in detail what that means in the coming weeks and how these practices are incorporated into our daily work.
I believe we’ll find that as we focus on these practices, we’ll become clearer about how we conduct our business for the “long-haul.”
Though I can not put my hands on the source of this data, I’ll go ahead and give the quote; “Less than 2% of companies make it to their 10 year anniversary and those that do are supported by a strong corporate culture guided by first be its values.”
Alethes’ corporate values of Trustworthy, Respectfulness, Uncompromising, Teamwork, and Healthy form the acrostic Truth. Hopefully, since you are all employees, you are all aware that Alethes is the Greek word for Truth and have read and agree with our Core Values Statement. When we were forming the corporation in 2001 and choosing the name, there was a serious “uh-oh” when I realized how convicted I was about this name. I was convicted to the point that I knew if I was serious about being grounded in values that I had to go with such a name.
Mortgage fraud is the #1 white-collar crime in America. It is my determination that we uphold the truth in all of our endeavors, small and large, and we can stay above this stigma.
There are many resources for how values play out, but the bottom-line is we should follow values because they are right, not because they make us money. David Moore, in his book “The Last Men’s Book You’ll Ever Need,” talks about this issue. I invite you to pick up a copy and read the two chapters about work; great lessons titled “Loose Your Job Everyday,” and “Be More Impractical.”
Best practices start with values. Obviously I can not know all of your personal values, yet hopefully, you have all paid attention to Alethes’ corporate values and know how important it is to keep those values in mind as you practice your work.
Let’s be the best in the business together,
Danny
Remembering the trip, learning by changing, and striving for the vision.
The Theology of Work: Moving From Study to Practice
What in the world is Inside-the-Box Success?
Remember the scene in Apollo 13, after the infamous Houston - we've had a problem!, when the group of scientists and techs were in a room with a very large table and they had a bunch of stuff thrown on the table to FIX the problem with?
That is Inside-the-Box Success at its best. Knowing the problem and what you have to work with. Wishing you had something else, but succeeding with what you have!
It is about never giving up, and about succeeding with where you are. It is also about not wishing for something to be better, or about having a think outside the box - the grass is greener on the other side of the fence - if only I had.....
Actually, and you can read more about this herein, this is all about being more of a good follower, than a good leader. Leadership is way over rated and this is from experience, not just an opinion. Yet, the better follower I am, the more I find that I'm getting better results.
When I began this blog in early 2008 I had a simple agenda; let people within our company know more about what was going on. The agenda has changed and it is now a means for me to reflect on those changes and what I've learned and continue to learn. We, along with the rest of the mortgage industry have had our "whoes;" some due to what's been imposed on us, other self-inflicted.
Hopefully, I've learned a lot and will use this knowledge to change. I'm patiently working each day to learn where I'm going with my life, and my business. Still plenty of hurdles and slamming doors to deal with, but what doesn't kill you, will make you stronger. There are alot of opportunities out there for the survivors and I just need to remember that changes need to be s l o w .
Besides, if it does kill me, I'll be in heaven!
To that end....
God Bless, Danny
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A bit more about the blog.......These postings are not very well edited, so please be gracious in the critique.
In the beginning, many of the postings build from, or are a continuation of, a previous posting. At times a scenario I am discussing in one is not played out in another due to some event that has happened. So, to get the best flow, insure you are reading in chronological order, yet please understand this is not meant to be a journal of events.
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10 comments:
>>Let’s be the best in the business together.<<
We have the potential already. Just being here at this stage of the game means speaks loudly of Alethes. Hey, I'm one of those guys who maybe does 1-2 loans a month, but I have been around the mortgage block more than once.
How many people do you know are looking for work in this business? I know plenty, and plenty that have tons of experience yet there's no place for them. Why?
The industry started drawing outside the lines and got busted for it. But those whose bedrock is lending on conventional and government programs...especially like us...will thrive.
Many loan officers who lived on Alt-A and Subprime are gone and those who are left are trying to find a market in a "tightened" credit environment.
FHA automated is going to be huge...already is by many calculations with the MBAA saying FHA is approaching 20% market share.
And ya just can't fall off a turnip truck and originate FHA loans. Most individual mortgage brokers can't even qualify to originate them.
Credit is less "tightened"... than going back to the basics which made mortgage banking the key to the American Dream.
I for one am thankful for being guided by God to Alethes.
Big, big things are in store.
How can Alethes as a whole be the best in the market when you get rid of some of the best people we have on our team.
Very concerned team member
I would need more clarity in your question, but let's please stay neutral in the person or persons you are referring to; unless of course, there is permission given to discuss names.
Hopefully you realize though that I don't want to get rid of the best people. So, 1. we'd have to define "best" people and 2. we'd have to define "get rid of."
I'd like to better understand though what you are really saying, because I could go down numerous paths.
Thanks, Danny
How are we to improve our company and be the best place to work when management continues to take its lead and information from the same sources. This obviously isn't working because we continue to have the same problems over and over. Perhaps Alethes should or needs to listen to the little people who want their jobs and not the same people who know they have a job. How can we extend trust to the little people here in the company but we don’t listen to their ideas or take them into account. You yourself have stated that you can only control so much, but we can control more, by the service we provide and our performance. But yet our ideas are not taken into account. It is hard for me to trust my manager when I know that if I have a concern or legit solution, and he/she is not going to do anything about it, whether negative or positive. And just maybe there is some need for robust evaluation and correction in who you believe has your, Alethes, best interests in mind. Sometimes the people you least expect, are the ones actually looking out for your company’s best interests the most.
Wow. I appreciate your comments and the bluntness.
While I hope you, nor anyone else, has ever been called "little" people, you obviously have been led to think you are and I sincerely apologize if I have ever done anything to make you think such a thought.
I'll think through your comments over the weekend, but I have to say that I strongly disagree with much of what you have to say.
Sincerely, Danny
Well, after a few days of consideration, my reply is in (parenthesis)…
How are we to improve our company and be the best place to work when management continues to take its lead and information from the same sources. (DLS: we, meaning management and particularly me, does not get its information from the same sources). This obviously isn't working because we continue to have the same problems over and over. (DS: we do have some problems over and over, but we have also improved in many aspects. I look back through the Customer Service complaint notebook from last summer and fall and we have made many improvements since that time. Yet, we have not arrived and that is why we continue to work through the problems. I’ll point specifically at the training aspects we have today that were not enforce a year ago; the HUD-1 problems we had a year ago; we were in a manual underwrite world and made some extreme changes that we are now having to back away from in order to provide the level of service needed to achieve good results in a “post manual market.) Perhaps Alethes should or needs to listen to the little people who want their jobs and not the same people who know they have a job. (I’ll step it up a notch from my previous comment and just say that your head is in the sand. There are some secure in there job because of performance, but the tone of your comment leads me to believe that you mean position and not performance. If you are referring to my direct reports – secure in their job – I remind you that they have spent time in the past 2 weeks having to “evaluate forward” their ability to perform their jobs.) How can we extend trust to the little people here in the company but we don’t listen to their ideas or take them into account. (DS: if you’d learned from QBQ, you’d know this is not a good question. If you have read Speed of Trust and applied what you read, you’d know the answer to this accusation.) You yourself have stated that you can only control so much, but we can control more, by the service we provide and our performance. (DS: it starts with you. I can’t control what you do or say.) But yet our ideas are not taken into account. It is hard for me to trust my manager when I know that if I have a concern or legit solution, and he/she is not going to do anything about it, whether negative or positive. (DS: I have to ask how well you know this? Are you following back up? Have you asked your manager if he/she has considered the actions you suggested? I’ve had conversations with everyone of my direct reports and he/she has told me about conversations with others and why things would work, or not work. Many of the changes we’ve brought about have come from non-managers.) And just maybe there is some need for robust evaluation and correction in who you believe has your, Alethes, best interests in mind. Sometimes the people you least expect, are the ones actually looking out for your company’s best interests the most. (DS: many times I’ve asked for comments; We’ve had previous discussion boards; yet, very little comments, much less true suggestions. If you aren’t getting the results you want, stand up and declare it. Fight for it. I expect you too. We had round table discussions last year to discuss this exact issue. We've had QBQ classes that should help handling this exact problem. Hit someone over the head. Make a difference. You are a leader. You influence too. This is about all of us.)
Hit someone over the head? Guess I thought that was what I was doing but, still not heard. I will try to find another way to stand up, as you say, but for now just do my job. Thanks.
We are obviously not connecting and I apologize for my part.
If you'd like to talk/write on specifics, I'll listen.
Danny
I think some of the problems have to do with a Knee Jerk Reaction you have when it comes to a problem.Instead of actually finding out what happened you jump right in and accuse somebody of a bad deed. This sounds alot like a dictatorship, even if you are the president this does not sit well with the mases that have to deal with the fall out. I think there is too much good ol' boy politics going on in Austin. If I was a manager in austin and a family member needed a job I can rest assured I could hire them at alethes, because thats the way it looks and feels down there. Instead of hiring family to fill jobs that need experienced people, spend that money and find some experienced closers and funders and headhunt others companies and Alethes will be at the top of its game. Another thing id nobody knows what the rules are and what guidelines Alethes decides to implement today. We, the loan officers/managers, don't find out alethes changed something until we try to do it and it comes back. Guidelines are not being enforced between the departments and this is coming from someone who has been with alethes for almost 10 years and not planning on moving. I personally know of 10 higher producing branch managers and brokers who wouldnt send a loan to alethes if it was the last place just because guidelines change and noone is told.
I’ll address your comments specifically:
1. Knee Jerk Reaction: I’ve got 20 plus years in this business and a pay an incredible amount of attention to historical events. It is rare that I come across something that I have not experience before. That gives me the right to respond based upon the past. A recent event happened in which I did respond with incorrectly and apologized within 10 minutes; I had not checked the data, but instead, I assumed the accusation was correct because of recent events and timelines on files. If the event had of happened two days previous, or three weeks, I would have been correct in my response.
2. Dictatorship and Fall-Out: well, it is my signature on the line and I ultimately have to deal with the fall out. I find it strange that you say dictatorship because I’m told by many people that I don’t think enough about myself, thus the reason I’ve had so many direct reports. Hmmm. …interesting that you have that opinion of me. I’d like to know if others have the same.
3. Hiring family members: I love this subject. By family member, I’m assuming you are referring to people kin to another employee, not just my family. To think that we would not hire someone because they are a family member is sad. To think that we don’t hold family members and others (non-family members) to the same standard tells me that you have your head in the sand. I’ve worked for two companies that did not allow family members to be hired and there were just as many people problems.
4. Head-hunt others: we’ve run adds and we’ve searched out others; recent months include Gina and Tori. We’ve turned others down because we don’t want the prima donna and/or they did not do well on the assessments. One note is how some don’t want to take the assessments; hence, prima donna. Ben Brookshire came to us through his brother and it appears he is an excellent hire.
5, Qualified people: surely you are not saying that some of the people working here that are family members are not the best employees we have. There are various ways to determine “best,” but if you are considering the hours put in, it is many of those family members that are here early and/or stay late.
6. Another comment about family members: No problem at all about hiring a family member for a position at Alethes, or at a branch. Again, many of our best employees have come through family, and friends. And the accountability is typically higher, and the family member typically will work harder at becoming a better employee. And….if a problem comes to my level and it is a family member of mine or anyone else’s, I’m much blunter. Ask Austen, or Sunne, or Craig. Ask Curtis what I said to him when he applied with us. Ask Gabe if he’s gotten any slack. Ask Gail, she’s left my office crying! Ha, ask my wife. Ask a couple some of the others around the office with family members and what I’ve told them about straightening out a problem; it is typically dealt with much quicker and I, for one, don’t pay as much attention to the legalities of what I “can and can’t say” when it comes to a family member.
One more thing, I don’t have the scripture to back it up, but I believe it is unbiblical to have rules against hiring family members. Bring me more family members; hopefully we are growing and will have some more entry level positions opening up if they are not trained.
The mortgage business typically trains up its own, and Alethes will be the best in that also.
7. Guidelines not being enforced: you’ll need to assume personally responsibility to insure this is being taken care of properly. I assume you heard the 1006 meeting this morning.
8. Changes in guidelines not being communicated and 10 producers not sending loans because of it: that’s sad, because as fast as guidelines have changed recently, I can’t imagine that anyone has kept up with it that well…….except to say, we do some pretty vanilla product at Alethes Wholesale and these guidelines don’t really change that much. Sure, the manual underwrites changed, but I thought we communicated that extremely well. Obviously not for everyone.
Thanks for your comments,
Danny
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