"People management starts with managing yourself." I said that on a call with our longest-tenured team member, and I haven't been able to shake it since.
Tony's Take: Five Mistakes, One Plan
This week on the Reborn Podcast I did a solo episode on the five biggest mistakes I made leading Reborn Homes in 2025 — and how I'm building differently now. I'm not afraid to share what went wrong, because I've done the work to build a plan for what I'm doing about it.
Mistake one was over-committing. I spread my attention, burned out, and got lots of activity but very little progress on the things that actually move us forward. Worse, I'd be "working" while checking Slack, texts, email, Facebook — busy work instead of deep work. The fix is Gary Keller's ONE Thing: what's the one thing today that makes everything else easier or unnecessary? The first two to six hours go there, undisturbed. Mistake two was operating without full systems — I respected everyone else's calendar and ignored my own. Now, when a recurring question comes up, it becomes an SOP instead of a one-off answer, and we run a daily huddle, weekly one-on-ones, and a weekly team meeting.
Mistake three: I hired too fast and onboarded too slow, with goals that were optimistic but not realistic. Unrealistic goals feel motivating up front and demoralizing when they're missed. Mistake four: neglecting rest and spiritual health. So now there's a real Sabbath every week, plus recovery time every month, quarter, and year — rest when I'm supposed to rest, run when I'm supposed to run. My vision going forward is three words: systems, Sabbath, simplicity. Because to be a good leader, I must first be led by the Lord. My routine might look boring to most people. That consistency is the point.
Deal Spotlight: Don't Hire Fast and Onboard Slow — With Deals Either
The same mistake shows up in deals. A purchase agreement getting signed is the "hire." What happens in the next 48 hours is the "onboarding" — and that's where paperwork lag, missed documents, and surprises at title creep in.
So the fixes we use with people, we use with deals:
Warm pass-off, not a cold forward. One of our team members proposed a mandatory warm hand-off to transaction coordination the moment a purchase agreement is locked — so required documents start moving immediately instead of waiting in someone's inbox.
1-3-1 for every problem. When an issue comes up on a file, it comes with one clearly stated problem, three possible solutions, and one recommendation. It makes decisions faster and turns team members into decision makers.
A clear Definition of Done. Every deal has an explicit owner and next step, and nothing is marked complete without a document behind it. No proof = open.
No profit claims here — just process. Systems don't eliminate problems. They make sure the right person sees the problem early enough to solve it.
Indy Market Pulse
Rates climbed again: The 30-year fixed averaged 7.40% (Freddie Mac, Oct. 8) — up from 7.28% the week before and 6.30% a year ago. That's the seventh straight weekly increase and the highest level since November 2023.
Prices are steady: Central Indiana's latest monthly median sale price was $317,000 (September), up 2% year over year (MIBOR area, IAR MLS data).
Supply is building, buyers are pacing themselves: roughly 2.9 months of inventory, median days to pending at 30 (up 30% YoY), and new pending contracts down 13% year over year.
What it means: In a slower, higher-rate market, simple and reliable beats clever. Sellers who need certainty need a team that runs on systems, not guesswork.
Join Us
🎓 Join Reborn Leadership: https://www.skool.com/reborn-leadership-7682
It's where we talk about leading ourselves first — faith, focus, rest, and the systems that let a business grow without burning out the people building it.
And if you're a young leader who loves structure, wants clear expectations, and wants to grow inside a mission-driven real estate company, hit reply. We're building the onboarding we wish we'd had.
Keep it simple this week.
— Tony