The Secret to Success

  

I don't know about you but I either immediately dismiss or am totally drawn in when I see something about the secrets on how to do anything.  I'm not crazy enough to believe, particularly at my age, that there are any uncovered secrets about most anything that I am going to have within my sights, but I stay curious enough so that just the word "secrets" generally makes me stop and check something out. 

 

Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to be a part of two industry events that once again proved to me that one of the biggest secrets of all in our business is doing what you like with people you like. The first event was a ground breaking in downtown within a mixed used community known as the Encore. The secret to this exciting project (full disclosure our firm is a broker for the project) is that the people involved don't just like the roles they play in making this project a success, they passionately "work it" every single day.  It's a well-oiled effort led by people who recognize that getting this development right is the only important thing to be done.  Then the day culminated with a commercial real estate awards event put on by CREW- Commercial Real Estate Woman. The secret here is that the organizers, those recognized and the commercial real estate community at large all came together in a night of glitz and glam to share in each other's accomplishments.  Coming together the way everyone did is another example of a well-oiled community.  Hmm.  The same words describe both successes.  Of course they do.  The secret is a sense of community.

 

People do their best when they belong to something.  When we're very young it's family, as we mature that becomes an extended family and as we enter into the business world, if we're smart we continue to replicate all kinds of "family" situations, but of course we don't call them that.  We could.  We could call them communities.  We could and do call them networks.  And of course, with all our electronic connections, we're pretty comfortable with the "social" communities we build.  So in my mind the social networks we all operate in are just "families" of sorts.

 

So the secret of success in my mind is the secret of family.  There are so many definitions of "family" because in that single word are social, historical and cultural values.  There are decrees about what's socially normal or acceptable behavior.  That one word tells people who are in and who is out.  It describes what counts as a family and what doesn't.  Families can have timelines of long genealogy or not.  But no matter how it's defined, family is a body of people who are connected in some way and great accomplishments are made though "family" connections when used properly.  And make no mistake; part of the secret of family lies in the uncontrollable part of being part of it because the only thing a family can't be is a family of one.  It takes at least two people and the minute there's more than one person, it's clear to see that there has to be compromise to be a family. 

 

I am on the side of the argument that families, communities, networks - whatever we call them are getting better.  I believe they are getting better because of all of the technology marvels that have occurred over centuries, not just the rapid fire ones of the last 20 years.  Further, I truly believe that part of the secret of having personal success based on the "families" we build is by using every opportunity to rely on available technology to bring us closer together.  Faster travel.  Faster communications.  It's all fantastic for helping us come together to do more.  And doing more also includes spending time apart and taking time to slow down - two things that a good community supports.

 

So as we get closer and closer to the "holiday season" I hope you will have opportunity to spend time with all the families you're fortunate to be a part of.  I know I saw the secret of doing so yesterday pay off in big ways!

 

Come join our discussion on our blog or I welcome your feedback through email.