Coated in Confidence

"Surround yourself with people you wish to become." This advice came to me from Dan, 20 years ago, during a deeply-rooted philosophical conversation over a college drinking game of quarters.

Looking back 20 years later, I think I am starting to master this. In some ways, this has been the most challenging aspect of what I do. I have known for a long time, I cannot work with people who aren't assertive. If I do, I run over them. I need those who can not only give me useful guidance, but tell me when I am dead wrong. I have a strong personality, and I tend to scare those who confuse my opinions as correct instead of as just my opinions.

I don't want yes-men. I want reality-check men.

For example, my agent is selling one of our homes. I had my optimistic seller hat on. The hat controlled my vocal chords, saying things like, "it is a great house. Let's go ahead and raise the price $10,000 more." My agent ripped off my optimistic seller hat and pointed out the obvious. "It isn't worth $10,000 more." He knows what he is talking about. He knows how to bring me back to Earth--even if it is to fine-tune my line of thinking.

On a more menial level (but just as valuable), I have someone over in Birmingham now handling some of what Trusted did. And, she doesn't need to be empowered. She is already driving around, checking into my two deadbeats. She is taking down license plate numbers of cars parked in the parking lot, taking pictures of how the homes look today and reporting back. She even cleaned up the house in Leeds, and staged with a bit of wall decorations and furniture. She is the first to tell me she is loving this. Handling the general clean-up and some landlord duties I am not there to do is really is up her alley. She told me the other day she is now trying to figure out ways to take what I have hired her to do and make it a full-time business. How's that for empowering?

I am surrounding myself with people who aren't afraid of what they are doing. They are confident. That is what I want to achieve.