Colleagues vs. Competitors

As I've been teaching more and more I often find myself in a conversation about the "colleague" perspective in Real Estate.

You see, so many professionals in our industry look at one another as competitors. I remember back in pre license school, I was sitting next to a woman (we'll call her Jane) who was going to go work with her mom. Jane's mom built her own business when Jane was growing up, so she had lots of insight and ideas that many of us had not had the opportunity to gain.

Jane started to talk about some of the things she was going to do to build her real estate career....then she paused, looked at me, and said "well, I shouldn't tell you any more because then you'll steal my ideas." I can play this video back in my brain like it happened yesterday.

I think when we look at each other as competitors, it causes us to be less than kind, less than professional, and sometimes, less than honest. One of the things I always share in my classes is that if I'm sharing something that I do that has worked for me, and a participant in the class would like to try it too, I'll give them everything I have to help them be successful.

Why? Because I think it's the right thing to do. There's plenty of business to go around. And let's be honest...is it really reasonable to think that my list of 250 contacts that I regularly stay in touch with has that much (or any) overlap with anyone else's list?

Real Estate is much bigger than me, it's much bigger than you, and it's much bigger than Austin. What we do as professionals in this industry impacts so many people and so many professions it is hard to wrap your brain all the way around it. Wouldn't it be great if more of us worked from the "colleague perspective" and helped support one another as we provide amazing service to our clients?

Imagine what that would be like..... And then work to help make it a reality!