Entertainment value aside the Olympic Games brings into sharp relief the many personal qualities required to make it to the top of any endeavour. Hard work, perseverance, natural aptitude and above all a willingness to take risk.
To become an elite athlete or reach the pinnacle in any field you need to break through the comfort zone, the place where life is predictable and certain.
Every athlete at Rio has taken a risk of some kind. In devoting the hours needed to lead the field they had to set aside other ambitions; career, family, financial security. That’s a risk in itself, especially when the outcome can never be a certain thing.
The gymnasts who seem to fly across the beam or the floor would have taken innumerable risks before perfecting some of those gravity defying twists and somersaults.
There’s a difference between rash behaviour and carefully calculated risk-taking but what they have in common is an acceptance of the possibility of failure. If you never take a chance it’s unlikely you’ll taste the bitterness of failure but equally life will be full of missed opportunities and the eternal question – what if?
Across our network we have any number of brilliant individuals who chose to back themselves and put their abilities to the test. Each one of them had to weigh financial risk against the potential reward of being master of their own destiny.
Real estate is a business that comes with enormous risk largely because the external forces that determine the level of business activity and profit are outside our control. A downturn in economic sentiment can cause transaction levels to fall away, shifts in international money markets can cause a drop in values, encroachment by new competitors can affect market share.
But the rewards for the risk-takers are immense although of course that depends on how you measure success. On the winners’ podium at the Olympics, the body language of the silver and bronze medallist is an interesting study. For some it’s obviously the pinnacle to have metal of any colour slung around their neck; to others anything less than gold is a fail.
And then there are those who will never step up to the podium yet on every measure come away from these Olympics winners in the best sense of the word. Runners Nikki Hamblin and Abbey D’Agostino, whose inspiring display of sportsmanship after a tumble during the 5000 metre heat, go home as national heroes. Their actions, in helping and supporting each other, demonstrated that it is possible to be competitive and kind.
They were worthy winners of the Pierre de Coubertin medal awarded only rarely for demonstrations of the Olympic spirit. Few people can win an Olympic medal but we all have it within us to follow in the footsteps of Hamblin and D’Agostino.
Agent 4.0 – the Corporate Athlete – conducts themselves with integrity, enthusiasm and a humble and grounded approach. They are fit, they are driven and they are client focused. They prospect and build relationships to sustain a consistently high level of activity, regardless of market forces. Ultimately though, it all comes down to people. Agents who go beyond the transaction and nurture their clients will win the gold every time.
In today’s modern real estate game it’s not just about winning the business, it’s about how you run the race.