Lessons in Building Something of Value From a 30-Year Real Estate Veteran
Treat people like humans instead of property and watch what happens
A few years ago, one of my freelance jobs was to transcribe podcasts for a top real estate professional in the Toronto market.
Each week, he’d record a new podcast about a topic that had been on his mind lately. Sometimes it was a rant about something in the industry that made him angry, like journalists reporting incorrect information about the real estate market. Sometimes it was an idea he wanted to share with the public and others in the industry, or information to help realtors excel in their business.
No matter what the topic was, after a couple of months, I realized that there were some underlying themes running through everything he created. He lived his life and ran his business based on these values or beliefs, and everything always came back to being of service.
He believed in treating people how you would like to be treated and always operating from a place of shared humanity.
This worldview and way of moving through the world resonated strongly with me, and I always looked forward to what he would share next, or what new ideas he’d spark in me.
Stop acting as if everyone’s out to get you
There was one episode that really spoke to me, though.
It was all about lead generation in today’s real estate world, and how the best way to find people you want to work with, or “your tribe” is just to go out and meet new people.
His stance was that if you put yourself out there and let the world know about whatever business you’re in, or whatever it is that you do, the right people (usually those similar to you) will be drawn to you.
The problem is, most people are approaching their business (and their potential clients) all wrong.
Rather than putting good service first and trying to be helpful to others, many of us have fallen into the mindset of trying to help ourselves first. We’ve resorted to treating the other person like property rather…
