I get monthly mailings from John Burns on national real estate trends and forecasts. His newsletter is very good, however I got one that was what I would expect from a recruiter instead. But it has some good advice so I’m sharing it anyway.

Sadly, most of our builder clients are ending 2006 with fewer employees than they started. However, they also believe they are far better positioned to succeed in 2007 than they were several months ago, and they continue to search for even better people (but not more people).

As you fine-tune your business plans for 2007, I thought I’d share with you the acronym that we use to help with personnel decisions. I look for PALS – people who are Passionate, Articulate, Likable and Smart. If I have a team of PALS, we’ll be more successful than anyone else. Here is what I mean:

Passionate For me, this is the most important characteristic. Passionate people are infectious. They come up with great ideas. They are not satisfied with just being good – they want to be great. They motivate others on the team to be even greater. They want to be much better than the competition.
Articulate Articulate people get to the point quickly. Their empathy and tone of voice allow for open, productive dialogue. They are equally as good at listening as they are at speaking. Their written words are brief and leave little room for misunderstanding.
Likable Likable people are the ones you look forward to seeing. They smile and laugh a lot. They are willing to help wherever needed. Their ethics are uncompromised. You would trust them with your checkbook.
Smart Smart people make the right decisions quickly. They have experience to draw from, but don’t rely on “rules of thumb” that may no longer apply. They are often highly educated and well-respected. They understand and appreciate the importance of all aspects of the business.

Some may argue that the most important acronym in 2007 will be CASH. If you have the right people, I believe you are likely to generate the most cash.