Multifamily #trust30: Courage

Day 20 in the #trust30 challenge –

Men imagine that they communicate their virtue or vice only by overt actions, and do not see that virtue or vice emit a breath every moment. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Who is one person that you’ve been dying to connect with, but just haven’t had the courage to reach out to? First, reflect on why you want to get in touch with them. Then, reach out and set up a meeting.

(Author: David Spinks)

Multifamily NAA – In the spirit of #NAAeduconf

The year was 1996 and the NAA conference was being hosted in Las Vegas at the Las Vegas Hilton just off the strip. I was fresh into the multifamily industry and right out of residential sales. And, I was excited. It was that kind of excitement where you wanted to read everything, try everything, meet everybody and learn all that one could about the industry and what made it tick.

I’ve told this story a couple times outside of this blog and it seems appropriate to memorialize it in light of today’s prompt. Lisa Trosien was an industry hero of mine and I just so happened to run into her in the hotel gift shop. I recall standing in the aisle looking for something I did not need just waiting for the moment to say – “hey, I think you are great.” At that time, I was star struck as I had a great deal of admiration for what she was doing for the industry. And, I felt like a clumsy child trying to navigate a new found task.

It took awhile but I worked up the courage to talk to her. My icebreaker? Michael Jordan [Also, a person I would love to meet]. Lisa was picking off every magazine that had Michael Jordan on the cover. I started by asking if she was a Michael fan, she replied that her husband was a huge fan. I shot back with some remarks about how great I thought her afternoon session was and she took the time to prod me on what I was going to take back and apply. And, that was that. I had conquered the courage dragon and she made it worth the work up.

People are people and they want to connect

Fast forward a to the year of social media – I recall asking Lisa a question on her blog and three minutes later my phone rang. And, it was Lisa. Ha! I was speechless.

The fact is that everyone in the world wants to connect. And, more times that not with just a bit of wherewithal and mild assertiveness; you can talk to anyone. And, they will talk back.

Your encouraging you to reach out to your hero contributor,

M