The OSHA Instructor

I’ve been back in real estate now for a couple of years. I guess somewhere deep down I knew that I would end up back here, and to at least to some extent, I never left. I didn’t actively list property and take out buyers, but I tried to keep up with values and with market activity. When I think of it this way…I never left.

The years I spent working with the University Of Georgia were unlike any other I’ve experienced. I basically had two jobs; work and class. Toward the end I had an office in Milledgeville and Athens, but I spent just as much time studying (both in class and online) as I did working. And I liked it! I felt like I was moving in a positive direction and I was always thinking. I’m not so sure that in today’s world this training is something that I will base my career upon, but I use snippets of what I learned every day.

It may come as a surprise to some that one of the certifications I earned was through OSHA (The Occupational Safety and Health Administration). To some…the bad guys! I’m actually an authorized instructor and I can issue ten and thirty hour safety certifications! I know you’re probably wondering what a real estate agent does as an OSHA instructor, and quite frankly I’ve wondered the same thing for quite some time. I have never taught the classes (and probably never will), but this morning as I made my morning stop at Animal Rescue I had my chance!

Before your mind drifts off in to frayed electrical cords and unsafe ladders, I’ll explain. One of our best employees cornered me and asked for help. With a safety violation you ask? Well no, this was (in my mind) much worse. This worker told me that when they were first hired, every day was filled with mystery and training. She had gone from feeling the euphoria of learning new things to the drudgery of every day work! That was when one sentence I learned in the OSHA class popped in my head. “Watch one, do one, teach one”. The surgeon’s axiom! It is our duty as her employer to train her, and it is her duty as a manager to train others. Keep it alive! Sharing of knowledge is, if not the circle of life, the spice of life.

We all have much to share. If your friends see you as a “know-it-all”, the only problem is your delivery…or possibly your audience. When you feel as though you have hit the ceiling of you job, your hobby or even your personal life, I think you would be surprised how renewed you will feel by simply sharing with others what you know.