Good morning!
Most of my best thoughts come to me while walking with Apollo in the early mornings. Dogs have this uncanny knack of being the best therapists money can buy.
Today, I released the leash and let Apollo RUN through a veritable herd of ducks . . . Tumultuous to say the least. He returned with a big, victorious smile on his face.
I’ve been thinking about what happens to people and organizations as they taste success and grow, and what it is that separates the long term players from the flashes in the pan.
The wheat from the chaff
The real cowboys from “big hat – no cattle”
We all see it around us every day. Very successful people and organizations creating their own demise giving rise to comments like:
The bigger they are, the harder they fall!
What goes up must come down!
They forgot who brung’m here – The “little people”!
and then the philosophers amongst us who say sage things like:
Be nice to geeks – They might be your boss one day.
Be careful about stepping on people on your way up the ladder, you may need them on your way back down.
Churn and burn is not a great long term strategy.
Why would a person or organization get too big for their britches?
Fame and fortune?
Riches and bling?
Perhaps yes to all of the above.
Here’s what I think . . . “Too big for your britches” means:
Amnesia . . . forgetting of the original vision.
I believe most all people are innately good people and do not intend to hurt other people as they get more successful. I think they just forget the things that created their success.
I’ve heard REALTORS say they don’t want to share their best vendors with other REALTORS because then their best vendors will get too busy to serve THEM . . . Like your favorite little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that gets discovered by the food channel . . . and subsequently too busy to serve you the same quality food and atmosphere.
Often as folks approach success, everything gets BIGGER . . . Suddenly, they have “friends” coming out of the woodwork. EVERYONE wants to be friends with successful people. It’s easy to fall into the trap of getting caught up in the excitement . . . and as the pond grows larger, the culture that “brung ya here” gets diluted . . . and suddenly the vision shifts from “excellence in all we do” to “We are NUMBER ONE with the MOST sales – The HIGHEST volume”.
So . . . Pay attention . . . Remember your real friends . . . and be wary of getting too big for your britches.
Oh! Be a good friend and pinch any of your friends who appear to developing “Vision amnesia”!
I’m just sayin’
Best,
b
PS: Pareto Realty is growing . . . Last week was a good week. We now have 7 agents committed to join us (this week) . . . and we are diligently working on developing the vision all the while keeping a close eye on the market trends. Give us a call if you have any Family, friends, or work associates in need of real estate services . . . or any REALTOR friends of yours considering a move to a firm that supports pure performance in life.