Each of us looks at things through a different lens...our perspective, our viewpoint. And at times even several different lenses.
Those of us who are parents look at our children's behavior through a different lens than does our child. We might wonder "why did they do that?" Or we make assumptions about their behavior, or ignore it. The child, of course, has a very different view on the situation - they are upset, or scared, or something else.
If you have been employed in the corporate world you have likely had a variety of lenses to look through in different situations...as an employee, a manager, the person in charge of finances, the company owner. Which perspective takes precedence, or guides the behavior, or makes the decision? It depends.
So often we don't know what the other person's lens is, so we may not understand why they are responding as they do, or why they say what they say. Sometimes we don't care about their perspective, or prefer to not acknowledge the other viewpoint. And maybe we are not even aware of the lens that we are looking through ourselves. (photo courtesy of Lex in the Cityon Flickr.)
The same is true, of course, in real estate.
We work with buyers, sellers, prospects (expireds, unrepresented sellers), mortgage officers, escrow officers, title personnel, attorneys, inspectors, stagers, and others. Each has a different lens, or perhaps several, that they look through.
- Do you know what that is?
- Or do you only see your perspective, your vision, your opinion
- Can you look at the situation you are in (the buyer or seller side of the transaction, for example) through more than one lens? Theirs, perhaps, as well as yours?
- Can you see your seller's perspective, or that of your buyer? Or only your own?
- Are you able to view the problem you are confronted with in several ways? And offer alternate solutions as opposed to telling someone what they need to do? Or suggest other perspectives that they can consider.
- Do you find that your lens is the one that is most important to you?
Sometimes situations deteriorate because of the opposing perspectives of the people involved, when they aren't able to look through the lens of the other party or parties. Or refuse to.
We have all had situations that fell apart, for one reason or another. Perhaps these could have been prevented. But not always. Some scenarios cannot be fixed because of the perspectives the opposing parties take.
The challenge is to be open to other perspectives, and aware of our own at the same time, when confronted with situations involving others in the real estate transaction. Our role is heavily consultative and advisory. There is not just one lens to look through.
What lens are YOU looking through?
All content copyright © 2007 by Jeff Dowler ~ Carlsbad Homes and Real Estate Tidbits
Posted by
My lens are:
I guess my lens are different :)