Great can come from anywhere

I think I have shared this before, but it bears repeating.

“Great can come from anywhere.” - Jimmy Iovine, The Defiant Ones

When Dr. Dre found Eminem, they were both in a dark place. Hard to believe now, given their success, but at the time, both faced overwhelming obstacles. Eminem had just been evicted from his home; Dr. Dre faced his own challenges within the record company after a recent string of failures.

If you watch this clip, it is absolutely crazy how they created the “My Name Is” song. Out of nothing. In a moment. 

You do not have to like Eminem or his music. You don’t have to like anything he stands for. Still, he is a professional at his craft. 

In an old 60 Minutes interview, he talks about how he has boxes and boxes of scribbles. He was always writing lyrics, continuously looking for ways to make words rhyme. At one point, he demonstrates to Anderson Cooper how many words he can rhyme with orange, even though it seems impossible at first glance.

Then there’s Akon's story about making “Smack That.” Akon shows up in Detroit, gets to the studio, and says, “Where’s Em?” The staff says, “He went home.”

Eminem comes back the next morning at 9 am. He works until his lunch break. Right in the middle of the hook, he walks out and goes home for lunch. He comes back an hour later, finishes the hook, and goes home at 5 pm. Akon is like WTF? (I have heard multiple versions of the same story, but the consistent theme was that Eminem worked from 9-5, with a lunch break.)

But on reflection, Akon realizes that what Eminem got done working on a set schedule was incredibly more productive than what he and many other artists do when they try to cram, stay up all night, etc.

A professional.

Eminem worked hard at his craft. Most real estate agents think they need to work hard - to grind - on generating and doing the business. And that is where the big disconnect is. You have to work hard to build better relationships, and better relationships are a function of the conversations you have - or don’t have.

This week I was in Wisconsin and Texas, while also on the phone with high-producing agents from LA and NYC. Great real estate agents can come from anywhere, and it has nothing to do with their market. Steve Shull once said to me, “Don’t mistake real estate IQ for a high average sales price.” I think he meant that many producing agents in big markets benefit from a high average sales price, but that doesn’t make them great agents. Neither from a real estate IQ (competence) part, nor from a conversation-to-relationship craft that actually matters.

Eminem is great because he worked at his craft of writing, not necessarily working long hours. If you think he is terrible, or you don’t like his music, that’s no problem, and irrelevant to this discussion. Almost every rapper, or MC, will say that Eminem is the GOAT because of his craft - which, you could say, is knowing what to say in the right moment. He was a battle MC - his ability to freestyle - use the right words in the right moment - is unmatched. 

My point is, in real estate, or in the domain of being a great professional, there is no one “GOAT”. However, there is being the GOAT for your clients. For the people in your database/sphere/world, you are THAT person for your people. But not because you say it. It’s because that is who you are, and the proof of it is what your clients say about you. It’s the conversations you have with your clients, and the relationship you create with them. Do they say, “Oh, they are really nice and give great service,” or do they say, “I trust them implicitly to handle our business”? In a transaction, it’s you and them - together - against the market. Like Dre and Eminem, you might say.

It’s not your competence that makes a difference. I know a lot of competent agents. I know a lot of agents who give “great service.” 

I am absolutely committed to the distinction of Being a Professional Worth Hiring™, and having it make a significant difference in how business relationships move forward. 

I also know that the Marketplace, or the Industry, radiates something else. The Marketplace pushes zero-sum games with winners and losers: competition, fear, scarcity, anxiety, ego, and jealousy. By the way, Charlie Munger said the most evil force in the world isn’t greed - it’s envy. The Marketplace is practically fueled by envy.

Being a Professional Worth Hiring™ is available to everyone, yet only a small portion of people will have the courage to adopt it. Breaking from the Marketplace, breaking away from the herd, is risky. 

What I know for sure is that, among producing agents, the predominant experience is soul-sucking frustration, exhaustion, and burnout. Many high-producing agents, the very ones you may look up to, have about had it with this transactional game of real estate. Competing for ranking or identity. Having your sales volume define you: totally unsatisfying. But mostly it’s the lack of Authentic Trusting Relationships that gets them. Working with people when authentic trust is absent is the real killer of energy, time, and... satisfaction.

If you go back and watch the clip from The Defiant Ones, what you can see is a relationship. You might call it an Authentic Trusting Relationship between Dre and Eminem. 

I am suggesting that your success will be unsatisfying if you focus only on making sales; i.e., being transactional. You might make some money, but for the most part, it will be unfulfilling. You are defined not by your production, but by the quality of your relationships. 

The quality of your business will never exceed the quality of your relationships, and the quality of your relationships will never exceed the quality of your conversations.

Being a Professional Worth Hiring™ is fundamental to the conversations you are having and the quality of your relationships. 

You can pretend this is not the case. You don’t have to take my word for it. You can keep operating at your current pace, avoiding the real work of creating Authentic Trusting Relationships. But if you want to be the best, you gotta do the work that the best do. Not all at once, and not perfectly - but you can’t be static. Being your best means staying actively engaged in something that challenges you and pulls you to be better.