Episode 6: Why Some Agents Burn Out… and Others Thrive

What if the key to better leadership, stronger relationships, and bigger success in real estate starts with understanding yourself first?

In this episode, KT Temple sits down with Michelle Bippus, a respected Central Texas broker, educator, and business leader, to break down how DISC, KPA, and personality-driven leadership can transform the way you hire, communicate, lead, and grow your business. From avoiding burnout to building stronger teams and winning more clients, this conversation is packed with practical insights every agent can use.

 Listen now and tag a fellow agent who needs to hear this. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Episode of One on One with Austin Wine. I'm your host, KT Temple, and I'm here to talk about the discs, the KPA, and I don't use them enough. So I brought in someone way better at it who uh actually uses it on a day-to-day basis. We've got Michelle Bippus in here.

SPEAKER_02 0:16

Hey everyone.

SPEAKER_00 0:17

Is that right? Bippus?

SPEAKER_02 0:18

Bippus.

SPEAKER_00 0:19

Bippus? Cool. Awesome. And so um, we always want to learn a little bit about the person before we start the show. And since my cover was blown with my dad showing up yesterday for a class, we've got to blow your cover. So talk to us about how you got into Keller Williams and what your role is now here.

SPEAKER_02 0:37

Yeah, so the uh the standing joke is that I was born under a desk at Keller Williams. Yeah, so it's not quite that, but pretty close. So um my mom was Gary Keller's first employee. So her, Joe Williams, and Gary all broke off of JB Goodwin and started Keller Williams back in 1983.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

Great. So you you you're just like me.

SPEAKER_02 1:00

Yeah, just caught up here. Yeah, we don't know any different. I took my first uh disc test actually at 12, but I took my first uh quantum leap at uh 13.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

So and we'll get into this, but I took it too, and boy, it changed throughout the years, you know.

SPEAKER_02 1:19

Big time, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

It was like 27, 28 before mine was like, okay, now you're a person now. You're a legitimate, yeah. That's who you are now.

SPEAKER_02 1:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:26

So um, what is your role here at the office?

SPEAKER_02 1:29

So I'm currently the team leader at Southwest. Awesome. Yeah, the flagship office.

SPEAKER_00 1:34

That sounds like a role that is terrifying.

SPEAKER_02 1:37

It is so much fun. The agents make it amazing.

SPEAKER_00 1:40

What is the team leader? What is your job?

SPEAKER_02 1:41

Yeah, so we um help to attract new talent to the office, and we consult all the current talent that we have and um just keep the ship moving in the right direction, really.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

Awesome. And so uh we're gonna talk about the KPA and the disc. What is a KPA? What is a disk? Yeah, what's the difference between the two of them?

SPEAKER_02 2:02

Oh, good question. So the disc is actually what we used for years and years and years, and it's because we didn't really have anything better. And um it is a personality profile. It takes about five minutes maybe to complete the disc, super quick, super easy. Uh, and I think that it's gotten exponentially better over the years, but the one that we did back in the day, you could absolutely kind of pick and choose your answers to get a certain outcome. And the KPA is like that on steroids. So it is something that Keller Williams had commissioned and um had somebody create for them that takes all of the roles within Keller Williams and allows you to take a test that is about 45 minutes long and it's very involved, and it will place you in one of the roles and tell you what you're gonna be best at. So that's the Keller Personality Assessment or the KPA.

SPEAKER_00 2:59

So, from your perspective, how do tools like the disk and the KPA help us move past just using a gut feeling to bring someone into our life, into our team?

SPEAKER_02 3:09

Oh, yeah. Um, if I had a dollar for every time my gut feeling was absolutely wrong, oh my goodness. So I've meet with people and I'm like, oh, this agent is just gonna be amazing. They're gonna kill it within the first week. They're gonna have nine contracts. I mean, just watch out, world. Here they come. And they crash and burn. And then I meet with somebody and we can barely hold a conversation. And all of a sudden, they're like the next mega agent rookie of the year. And so you really can't use your own, your own devices, I guess I should say, to help dictate that because there's a place for everyone in real estate. What we can do with the disc and KPA is say, here's where you're gonna feel the most comfortable. And yeah, you have to do some of this uncomfortable stuff, but here's ways that you can work around that and resources that you can have within the Keller Williams system to help you to move through those quickest, fastest, and with the least amount of discomfort that you can. So, yeah, they really do help. Um, and not just for yourself and knowing where you're best to fit in, but really I think they help for you to acknowledge where someone else is coming from a different place. And so one of the best um I have a really bad story, but it turns out to be a good story. So I'll tell you my story. So I just become a team leader at the Northwest office, and this is back in 2007, and I was sitting at my desk, and somebody walked in and didn't have a scheduled appointment, and started talking to me, and I was like, Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I'm talking to them, but I'm I'm still doing what I'm doing.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:51

And answered his question, everything's great. He leaves and goes directly into the big team leader's office, because I was an assistant team leader at the time, and came in and said, uh, that person is horrible. You should fire her immediately. Oh no. I mean, I I'll never talk to her again, and just whatever. And so the team leader comes into my office and is like, What have you done? Yeah, what have you done to this person? And why is he so pissed off? And I was like, I don't even know what I did. And you know, after a little bit of back and forth, we realized that his personality style was one that needed me to stop what I was doing, turn and face him, slow down what I was saying, and have a real connected moment with him.

SPEAKER_01 5:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:36

And I didn't do any of that, right? I was like blowing and going, just you know, trying to get through the day. And it took me two years of concerted effort to win him back over. And the good thing is that I ended up being really close with him, and we're still friends and Facebook and all of this stuff these days, but yeah, it took a long time. So knowing what somebody else needs from you is huge in all of real estate. So I talk about you, you know, the golden rule, treat other pay other way, other people the way you want to be treated. Well, I think in real estate, you have to have the platinum role, which is treat other people the way they want to be treated. Because for me, if I walk in your office and you're blowing and going and I say something and you answer my question, I'm golden. Yeah, like I don't need anything else. I'm gonna go on my way and I'm gonna keep going. However, if I was a hit, you know, Mike's personality, he would need you to turn around and have the conversation. So it's not, I can't treat people the way that is okay for me to be treated. I need to treat them the way they want to be treated. And we have to do that for our clients, and we have to do that as leadership for our agents. So it's important.

SPEAKER_00 6:45

Gary Keller often says that talent is what you are naturally inclined to do. How do these assessments help an agent identify their natural lane versus a role they might be forcing?

SPEAKER_02 6:55

Oh, so good. Okay, so if you have ever worked in a place, and most of us have, that's why we're in real estate, where you did it for a couple of years, and then every day you dreaded coming to work, and every day you were less energized at the end of your workday than you were beforehand. That is because you're in the wrong role. You're right, you're absolutely in the wrong role. They say that you can take two years in the wrong role before you'll completely burn out, and that's what the KPA and the disc are trying to help us alleviate is hey, get in where you fit in and understand that you're gonna have times within your career, you know, where you might have to do something that's outside of your comfort zone, but you should not have your lead generation efforts or your business ever revolve around something that is not in your KPA lane because you're just gonna burn out or you're gonna be stressed. And if you really need to do whatever burns you out, then what you do is you hire somebody for that role as fast as you can. So get to a point in your business where you're making enough money to where you can then leverage that piece of what you're not good at or what takes your energy from you.

SPEAKER_00 8:08

Once a Rainmaker has the KPA results for a new hire, how should they use the report to tailor their leadership and communication style to that specific person?

SPEAKER_02 8:16

Yeah, oh man, I have a hats off moment to. I know at least a couple of our large teams have dialed in their needs for the KPA so much so that they're they at the Large Team Mastermind, we talked about this and we found out that, oh, if they're not over a five in this area or they're not over a six in this area, then we don't even continue with the interview process because they're not gonna fit in with what we require on the team. So you can dial this in so much so that you are hiring the right people. Um, and that's that's really how you want to use it is just go through. One of the things that my um actually my mom taught me is that when you get a KPA, especially for a staff member, so somebody, your your assistant or your marketing director, whoever you have on your team as a rang maker, you can even do it for your agents depending on how many you're hiring. But what you do is you will really want to go through that with a fine-tooth comb and highlight anything that you think might be something that would trigger you as the leader. And so I would go through and I would highlight, oh, you know, can burn out if this if in this kind of role too long or whatever. And then I'm like, okay, how would that play out in my actual team? And all too often, if you have people who come on your team and then leave and it wasn't a good parting or it wasn't a good fit to begin with, you can go back through the KPA and you can pinpoint where the KPA told you that it was gonna end that way. And you're like, I didn't want to listen, but I should have listened, you know, and all of that to say when you are hiring, the KPA is but supposed to hold about a 25% um weight in the hiring process. So not every yeah, not every KPA is gonna be perfect, and but you want to ask a lot more questions, and really, if they're far off of what you're looking for, you really want to ask some questions and find out and dig deep.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

So, so I'm I'm an agent, I get my disk, I get my KPA, whichever one I've got, how do I use that to then go to my listing appointment and crush it? What what what am I what am I pulling from that?

SPEAKER_02 10:27

Yeah, so especially with the disc and learning the KPA and learning the different personalities that you're going to face when out there, um, what you want to do is what are the triggers for those people? What how does that show up in a in an interview? So you can immediately get to it. So one of the things that I tell people is send this is why the pre-listing packet is so dang important. You send over a pre-listing packet, and based upon what their reaction to that pre-listing packet is when you first meet them, hey, did you get that packet that I sent over? Whatever their response to that question is will dictate whether they are uh D, I, S, or C or what personality style they are. And if they're like, Yeah, no, I didn't have time to read it, obviously I have to do it.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

They're what I mean.

SPEAKER_02 11:14

Yeah. High ID, no time, ain't got time for that. Um, if they're like, oh my goodness, and the yes, I did, and the picture of you and your dog, it's so good and high I, right? If you can't tell, they're most likely a C. They're the hardest to read because they don't really they they're gonna fit in wherever you go because they wanted everything to be copacetic. And then um copacetic, good good words, and then the high C's are gonna be like, yeah, I got it. I filled everything out. Here's the paperwork you needed me to fill out. And by the way, um the graph on period or on uh page two has a misspelling, you know, they're gonna they're gonna be a lot more details focused in there, and you can really decide right then from that conversation. All right, I need to pull out all my extra graphs, I need to have all the extra information if they're a C, I need to make this quick and to the point if they're a high D. Um, and by the way, no one is all one. Well, I mean, maybe a few people are, but those are not normal people.

SPEAKER_00 12:14

But they have a conglomerate of all of the different yeah, you're you when you take it, they give you levels of like that's why we say high D and high I or low, you know, low one of the other letters.

SPEAKER_01 12:25

So exactly.

SPEAKER_00 12:26

Um, and I feel like you can just ask. People love to talk about themselves.

SPEAKER_01 12:30

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:31

And it's one of those things where if they know, they'll tell you. You know, like God, if you've been to a KW event, you know, you know, oh, I'm high-d. Like you they'll let you know exactly what they are doing.

SPEAKER_02 12:41

Yeah, oh, and something else about that. No one personality is better than the others. Um, I'll to find C's and D's both feel like, well, I'm right, so I'm better. And D's are like, I'm getting it done, so I'm better, you know. And so I think that you really do have to um understand that everybody has a color on the beach ball. Yeah, and you have to appreciate the fact and what they bring to that table. So um, yeah, just know that in when interacting. Because a lot of times it's like, oh, that's my D. I'm so sorry. It's like keep it, keep it under wraps, like figure it out. You can't, you know, you being a certain way does not mean anyone else should have to endure any undue stress because of it, right? So um I don't like using whatever you are as an excuse. You just want to say, okay, uh, I can do better, be better. And again, platinum roll. You know, you shouldn't deal over someone, right? It's not a feel good. And you're definitely not gonna win any clients if you're a high D and both of them are C's or S's. If you just go um, you know, and and roll over them, they're not gonna feel heard.

SPEAKER_00 13:52

So so let's take business out of it. And how do I use this in my personal life? Like, how could I take this and and create a five-year roadmap to really better myself?

SPEAKER_02 14:01

Oh if you're a parent, you need this so bad. Um, you need to know what your kids are, most likely you already do, but that's why you study it so that you know how to best interact with them. I have um I have five kids. Um, I have two girls that are probably uh really high D's, and then I have a son who's a really high S, and then I have a daughter who's like probably an S C. And so if I go and I speak to my son the way I do to my two daughters, he's gonna cry. He's just gonna break down and be like shut down and completely disengage. But I have to like fight and like with these two in order to get anything across, in order for our relationship to move forward, there's yelling involved, yeah, you know, but for him that would not work, that would not get through to him. So I think that's really important. And then I think that you need to look at your KPA, your disk, and say, how, oh, and another cool thing would be to enter all of your KPA and your disc into uh hey KW Austin and say, what is the uh what is the best team for me, team structure for me, what is the best lead generation plan for me? Um, how should I show up for my clients? What are the best clients that are gonna get along and appreciate my natural talents? Like you could absolutely find out a lot from doing the uh Hey KW Austin upload.

SPEAKER_00 15:29

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 15:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:30

So in like and by the way, uh we mentioned at the beginning, but for your kids, probably multiple times. Oh as the years go on, because it really does change as you're developing as a young adult. Yeah, and it could be anywhere.

SPEAKER_02 15:44

But even having that foresight stops you as a young adult from just you know, just making an excuse for it, yeah, right? It did for me too, like big time. And then I still did it to Mike and had to, you know, eat crow. And so you still you learn all the time you're learning and all the time you're growing.

SPEAKER_00 16:00

So I feel like we have to mention because you brought it up at the beginning, quantum leap.

SPEAKER_02 16:04

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:04

And and explain what quantum leap is for anyone who doesn't know.

SPEAKER_02 16:08

Yeah, so quantum leap, you actually think that's like a big leap. That's actually opposite. It's small little adjustments in what you do every day in order in order to do better, be better. And so Quantum Leap is just a framework and a goal setting of how to understand yourself better, how to set goals for yourself in a real way, and then how to in small increments reach that. And so if you haven't taken Quantum Leap, you have to. It's fantastic. We actually are having one for young adults, but I think we're actually going to have a watch party here at the office. Oh yeah. Um, and it is June 5th and 6th, and it um is all for KW Nextgen. So um, if you're interested in that, definitely let us know and we can get you into that.

SPEAKER_00 16:53

So I went when I was 21. I got my mom flew me here to uh Austin to take it with Gary Keller. It was the first time they did the kids one. Yeah, and I was in that group, and uh my dad started teaching it later on, and they gave him the flyers, and he goes, This is a show. Yeah, and I'm on the flyer, and he goes, Oh, oh, okay, cool. Um big deal. So anything I didn't ask you that you wish I had?

SPEAKER_02 17:16

Um, let's see. If you want, one of the big things that I think um is an underutilized resource that we have here is coming to us as your leadership and utilizing us. We can run a KPA on somebody. We can also um validate a KPA on somebody. If you personally have not had a KPA or have it validated by somebody, come to us, let us do that for you because just it's such a great experience for self-growth.

SPEAKER_00 17:49

Yeah, it's not you're you're being interviewed, it's it's you're getting to just explore yourself a little bit more and just talk about, you know, it's one of those things where until you say it out loud, it's not real.

SPEAKER_01 18:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:01

And then you say it out loud and you're like, oh, oh, I do like that, or I don't like that. You know, you really start to feel yourself out a little bit when you get to have the conversation about it.

SPEAKER_02 18:11

Yeah, that's those hierarchy of needs. The first the top one is self-actualization. You can't do that if you don't know enough about yourself.

SPEAKER_00 18:18

If I want to get my KPA validated by you, how do I get a hold of you?

SPEAKER_02 18:21

Yeah, call me, broker bought me. No, we uh yeah, just call me or shoot me. Actually, the best thing would be to shoot me an email so I can immediately order the KPA, it's gonna send it to you, and then we'll set an appointment. Um, my Calendlies on all of my emails, and so then we can set an appointment for about uh an hour. It takes about 30 minutes to an hour, depending on which version you do, and then we can move forward with that.

SPEAKER_00 18:47

Awesome. We'd love to. Thank you, Michelle.

SPEAKER_02 18:49

Yeah, thank you guys.

SPEAKER_00 18:50

Guys, thank you for listening. Uh, if you're watching this on YouTube or you're seeing a short right now and you're like, the camera's off-center. Does this guy know what he's doing? We're it's in construction. At least we're not on a webcam anymore. We were finally building it out. We'll have all this pretty here soon. If you're an agent at the office and you're like, man, I want to do a podcast too, we're gonna make that really easy for you. Uh, and if you're an agent who has a great story, we're gonna start interviewing you guys as well and sharing your stories with the office. So look out for that. Um, if you found this interesting, you learned something, please share it. Please uh leave us a review rating on there. Helps out uh the podcast a lot, getting in front of more agents. And we'll be back again next week. Oh, and red day is next week. So this or sorry, this will come out Monday. So red day is just in a few days. If you're listening to this on Monday, that'll be on Thursday.

SPEAKER_02 19:40

Sign up and come hang out with us. It's so much fun.

SPEAKER_00 19:43

Sign up. Uh, there are uh we are in the Northwest office. We're going around Ladybird Lake. I'm still learning my learned words in uh Austin. So Ladybird Lake, we're gonna clean up around there. Southwest, we have like 18 options or something like that. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:58

Whatever, wherever you want to give back, we have an option for you. So it's gonna be fun.

SPEAKER_00 20:04

Awesome. And um, yeah, we'll see you guys next week. Thanks for listening.