Bill Madder, who has been in the real estate industry for over 40 years, never thought he’d be the one giving his dog fleas. Now, instead of hosting fleas, Bill has lessons from a diverse background in real estate – and is excited to share and continue contributing positively to the industry. Bill put in the work and knows the value of a quality sphere of influence, necessary change, strong leadership, and compassion. Listen in to learn what Bill did in response to a budget-cut solution - and hear about the time his association president was asked how he liked to be spooned.  Please subscribe to this podcast in iTunes or in the Podcasts App on your phone, and never miss a beat from Leigh by visiting leighbrown.com. If you’re tired of doing real estate alone, enroll in  Leigh Brown University and be sure to use your special “CSIRE” discount code at checkout for $10 off your subscription. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:30 – Introducing Bill; he’s been in the business for over 40 years in Manitoba, Canada 03:00 - He’s been in real estate since he left college, struggled at the beginning as a young REALTORⓇ, and moved into management, partnership, and Presidency 04:26 - He went to the association side in 1993 and excelled from there as CEO; he’s happily not working there anymore due to a merger 05:50 - He’s looking for a job and is happy to find a position on a board 07:10 – What Bill learned in his first tough years of real estate 07:17 - Your sphere of influence is critical for your success; he didn’t have one when he first started out, as his network was only young college-aged people  07:45 - He went to his friend’s parents and family friends; at that time, interest rates were at 17-21% and they found other ways to put deals together 08:30 - He cold-called and door-knocked; he did listing presentations and did the daily work 10:10 – What he thinks about moving people past the resistance to change 10:30 - Trust in leadership is necessary; a strong orientation at the beginning is important 12:15 – Bill’s answer to life 12:45 - You have to be able to get along with people, and not everyone is the same in the way they react and think 13:50 - Think of your board of directors and leadership as a team; members or clients are who you work for 16:10 – Bill’s CSIRE story 16:35 - He was showing a rental property that was a referral from his boss; a highly-respected couple needed to rent a place while theirs was being built 17:25 - He walked into the rental property and the couple started saying that there was something wrong 17:50 - They looked down, and from feet to ankles they were covered in fleas; fleas had taken over the house 18:05 - They ended up invading his house and they needed an exterminator; he still sometimes sees the man who had toured the house with him 20:00 – Lessons learned and takeaways 20:20 - He did the right thing at the time and helped the people find a rental property despite the fact that there’s not much profit in rentals 20:50 - The man who toured is an elected official now, but he was in a different place then; he was treated with compassion regardless 21:00 – Another CSIRE story 21:05 - He listed a property for $12,900; it was a house with appliances that needed work 12:38 - Less than 6 months later, the couple that bought the house referred him to their friend with a $150,000 house 22:00 – Lessons learned and takeaways 22:07 - Especially when first starting out, you should take every listing and not worry about the value; you don’t know what can become of it 22:20 – Another CSIRE story 22:45 - Volunteers put in a lot of travel time; there were two cases where the president and vice president became a couple 23:30 - One of the two couples is still together today; Bill said he wishes he would’ve known so they could save money on the room reimbursement 24:10 – Another CSIRE story 24:24 - The association was looking at expenses and looking to cut costs; he considered having people share rooms for travel 25:00 - H