Recently I attended a dinner at a local restaurant which McShea put on for the top-producing brokers in the first two quarters of this year. While we were there Tim McShea asked a surprising question which got this group of competitive, hard-charging brokers to open up and share in an unexpected way.
As the evening was winding down, Tim addressed the group and said that he wanted to reference two of his favorite blog posts from his favorite blog – Ro’s Words of Encouragement. The first blog post he referenced was “When You Get the Chance, Dance.” He recommended it for all those who had sons who were coming of age because he had shared it with his own son and found that it was very meaningful for him.
Next he spoke about the post “Any Birdies Today,” and asked each of us to share with the group any birdies that we had in our lives over the past year. The response was amazing.
One member of the group spoke of how he had been through a difficult year as his wife left a longtime job for another job with a long commute and a difficult boss. By the time he shared this story his wife was moving on to a new job with a shorter commute and a better work environment, but the experience still put a ton of stress on their family. He told us that his 7-year-old son had bluntly commented, when he learned that his mother was getting a new job, “Does this mean you’re not going to be so mean?” We all laughed and agreed that, as the saying goes, “Happy wife, happy life.”
Another of the top producers spoke about finally making the move from a townhouse to a bigger house closer to where his parents live and where he grew up. The added space and proximity to family has greatly improved his life.
A younger broker spoke about how tough things had been for him and how he had thought about quitting. However, he said that the “Don’t Quit” post reminded him how often people quit because they don’t realize how close they are to succeeding. He persevered and eventually closed a deal that had seemed like it would never happen.
The session closed with one of our senior producers sharing a story about discussing with his wife the possibility of selling their big house and moving to a smaller one in Annapolis. His biggest concern was that his wife, who is a prominent attorney, would want to quit her job if they decided to move. When they talked about the move she said that she would be up for it on one condition, and he held his breath. But she said that the condition was that she could keep her job, since she loved it.
We all laughed and cheered him, agreeing that his was an eagle, not a birdie!
Have a great weekend,
Ro