Bringing Out the Best in You

The most important choices I've made in my life center around those I have chosen to partner with - personally and professionally. People often don't give enough weight to the seriousness of this decision. Fear, guilt, and ultimatums lead to lousy business partnerships and even worse marriages. While shared goals, respect, and mutual support will lead you to heights you could have never achieved alone. ?Making the right or wrong decision about how we build our lives is the single greatest driver of our future. It's either a bad idea or a great idea - rarely is it somewhere in between.

The first new development project I worked on in the '90s came from a cold call I made to the property's new owner. He was converting a building in Soho, and I convinced him I would represent him. The only problem was that he'd already committed to working with another agent. So, he insisted that the other agent and I partner up on the deal. Example 1 of a bad idea.?I did every showing, negotiated every deal, and then gave away half the commission. I wish I could say this was the worst partnership in my career, but it wasn't. But more about this in my upcoming book,?The 10,000 Ways I Got Fucked Over in Real Estate by Shaun Osher.?(In all seriousness, this book may be my retirement project!)

As a brokerage owner, agents often ask me if partnering is better than being a solo agent. Sometimes, I feel like Tinder for Agents. I usually make matches for newer agents who could use the guidance and experience, but I've also supported agents joining together when I feel that their skill sets complement each other so that they will be more effective as a team than alone.

In real estate, the team concept has grown exponentially since I've been in the industry. Now, some teams are larger than entire firms —essentially running a firm within a firm. Great teams are like a well-oiled machine and bad teams are just - well, bad.? You can tell not a lot of thought went into putting this team together.

You need to answer some critical questions when picking the perfect partner.?

Are your goals and aspirations aligned?

Do you have the same set of core values?

?Do you care about the same outcome??

Are you equally vested in that outcome and willing to make endless sacrifices to make your team successful??

What does it look like if you want to move on from each other?

This past week, Scott Galloway interviewed Tyler Denk, the co-founder and CEO of Beehiiv, a startup newsletter publishing and monetizing platform. They discussed the challenges, highs, and lows of entrepreneurship and partnership.?Entrepreneurs, by nature, have lonely existences. Every decision is yours—the good, the?bad, the?easy, and the hard. Every dollar is your responsibility - to save, spend, and lose. With every success, there is only a solo celebration; with every loss, there is no one to have your back.

While having the right partner may help you feel less alone, having the?perfect?partner will bring out the best in you and allow you to go further than you ever imagined possible.

Side Bar: Life partners: "Behind every great man is a powerful woman." I've long been a fan of Winston Churchill. I've read many biographies of him, but the most eye-opening perspective on him and his life is about his wife, Clementine.??

Clementine - The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill?by Sonia Purnell is a must-read!?

One of my takeaways was that Clementine was a better wife than mother. As?we get ready to honor and celebrate our mothers this week, I hope that you’re as fortunate as me, Debbie and Glynnis were to have Minnie to bring out the very best in us.?

Let’s do this!?

Shaun