March Madness tournament and real estate success...How to win!
Learning how to win in the NCAA Tournament is not so different from winning in real estate
March Madness is in the air, the upsets are happening, and your local sports bar is dominated by the crowd watching college basketball games non-stop. It’s fun, it’s exciting, and it is a fantastic display of teamwork. The group of men and women playing in the tournaments this year is often a collection of people from various backgrounds who have found a way to put any differences aside and work toward the common goal of winning it all.
I cannot help but notice the similarities in real estate.
Yes, brokerage is a team sport, but you could argue that everyone in brokerage is in a bit of a sink-or-swim situation.
“You eat what you kill,” they say. That is true, but it is also true that there are lots of people supporting and working with you as allies.
Those who are most successful in real estate always look to build alliances and support others.
The five most important elements for success in basketball and in real estate are:
Be consistent. Show up every day, put the work in.
Exercise discipline. Do what others won’t do. Work harder and you will succeed.
Build a team. Find your team (your tribe, if you will), work together as allies, and help each other win.
Define roles. Everyone has a role on the team. They are good at something; otherwise, they wouldn’t be there. Put the right people in the right places and win together.
Identify the weakest link. Every team has a weak link. You must support that person, cover for them, help them get better, or find someone new. Otherwise, this weakness will cause you to lose.
Be consistent.
Being consistent is critical to success at basketball and really anything.
In real estate, if you show up and work your hardest every day, you will learn, you will meet people (allies), and you will expand your influence over time.
Those who just keep showing up become real players, and those who show up a few times then quit. Well, they don’t get very far, do they?
The other key to consistency is to create regular habits and then practice those habits.
Habits like discussing the market and challenging the assumptions of those you respect and who respect you help you develop a position in the market.
Once you have that, you can build a platform from which to build your influence in the industry.
When people wonder how another person got so good at one thing, whether basketball, playing the piano, or doing math in their head, it all starts with just doing it.
Start doing it, then learn to love the process, embrace it, and enjoy the journey. Don’t focus too much on the outcome you are seeking way out in the future because sometimes that goal just feels too far away and can be discouraging.
Just like a marathon, put one foot in front of the other. The next thing you know, you have run 26.3 miles.
Remember, the key here is, “Just Do It!”
Exercise discipline.
Discipline is the focused, consistent application of yourself towards a goal. This regular constant work results in a massive amount of goodwill and equity over time. But you have to keep at it long enough to get there.
Discipline is best learned with a coach, a mentor, or an adviser of some sort. I know those who have learned discipline in the military, in sports, or through consistent practice in something like music.
Success in any discipline requires awareness and focused practice.
Focused practice is a concept in which you repeatedly practice a skill and reflect on your progress and how it fits into the bigger picture of your long-term goal. Focused practice is a requirement to building confidence and an industry skills toolbox.
Everyone needs a set of tools, so they are useful on their team. The foundation of those skills is both discipline and consistency.
Build a team.
Most of my real estate experience is related to development.
On a development team, there are various teammates who all play different roles. The architect leads the design team, and the civil engineer leads the design of the horizontal improvements.
Then there is the legal team, the land use attorney, the transaction attorney, the leasing attorney—and any of these can be plural, given the size of the deal.
Of course, you have the banker, the brokers, the capital markets team, and the leasing team. Additionally, you have the property management team to manage the lease-up and the property after it is stabilized.
I’m sure I am leaving someone out, but you get the point. There are teammates every step of the way in development.
So, what is excellent teamwork all about?
It’s about relationships and trust.
More specifically, I am looking to build long-term relationships with people who are A-Players. You don’t want to work with B or C players.
Why? Because the weakest player on your team is always the biggest risk. And if you’re the weakest player on the team, it is likely you’ll be gone before you know it.
Define roles.
Defining roles and who’s on the team is important in basketball and real estate.
Whether you’re picking players for a pick-up game or a complex real estate projects, you need people you can count on to deliver on their role.
When defining roles, you have to ask…Who is the leader? Who is a junior person learning the ropes? Who knows the land-use piece you need to get your approval?
Clearly defined roles help teams perform at their peak. Without clearly specified roles, teams tend to break down into disorganized chaos.
With roles very starkly outlined groups of people with different skills and backgrounds can come together to create something beautiful.
A great example of this is an orchestra performing a complex piece of music or a basketball team who might not have the best individual players, but when they come together, they are the best team that wins. They win because of how they play together and complement each other.
Identify the weakest link.
In basketball, you always look to take the ball at the player who is the worst at defense. The weakest link is the object of focus because the team on offense always looks to exploit the weaknesses to score and win.
In development, the weakest link can cost you time and money and potentially sink the entire project if you aren’t careful.
For example, you are developing a ground-up industrial building with an awesome team. You are new to the municipality and choose a land use attorney based on his price instead of his reputation.
This situation is extremely dangerous. Yes, if you know what you’re doing, you should have a good design and plan that can get approved.
But the wrong land-use attorney may lead you down the wrong path. They may cause you to get into a confrontation with the municipality’s government when you could have avoided such a situation by taking another approach.
These types of situations happen all the time in development.
As soon as you see them arise, you must move decisively and remove that person from your team. Similarly, if you are playing basketball and you have a weak player, you either have to cover for them or find someone who is stronger and can fill the void.
To recap, if you are starting a new real estate venture or beginning your career in real estate, don’t forget to focus on these 5 items:
Be consistent.
Exercise discipline.
Build a team.
Define roles.
Identify the weakest link.
See you next week! John
P.S. Let’s go UConn!!! They are my pick to win it all. What’s yours?
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What we are reading:
The Wall Street Journal: Location (Data) Is Everything for Retailers Opening Stores
The Washington Post: We’ll soon find out the true value of real estate agents
Commercial Observer - Industrial’s Biggest Operators Add Space Despite Slowdown
Well the tournament is underway and we are psyched to follow all the action. My top bracket, I’ve done two has University of Houston winning with a 74% correct ratio. My favorite bracket has UConn winning, but is ranked a bit lower. And of course, my son is beating me again this year with his pick’s, but that’s ok…I keep telling myself that.
The upsets last week were fantastic as always, somehow my son picked Yale to upset Auburn and Grand Canyon to beat St. Mary’s…where do people get these inside tips? He won’t tell me.
As of this writing the tournament is down to the Sweet 16. I favorite teams are NC State, UConn, Clemson, Tennessee, and Houston…. Who did you pick to win? I want to hear about it! Send me your favorites.
Inside NBA basketball, watching the Celtics lose to the Atlanta Hawks last night, after being down up 30 points was a bit disappointing. The Timberwolves continue to ignite and burn through the West while Anthony Edwards dunks over/on people.
Jontay Porter of the Toronto Raptors is being investigated for “betting irregularities”. Big surprise players are betting on their own games…that’s the logical outcome when ESPN and all the media outlets advertise and promote betting. Not a good look.
Inside Half-Court - What we are reading: