I was recently asked to Guest Write the President's Message for our Grand Rapids Association of Realtors' Newsletter.  As I read it, it seems that there could be a nugget or two that applies beyond my market area, so I offer it here for your 'for what it's worth file'.

As you read it, feel free to substitute the name of your Association, Your Company or even Your Name.  We can choose to grow and adapt so that we will thrive and survive.  Or we can make other choices that may lead to less grand outcomes. 

Please join me on the high road.

GRAR President's Message
Guest written by
Eric Webster
Board Secretary

I was honored and surprised when our Association President Jim Fase  invited me to write this President's Message.  Then as the month rolled by and I considered the message to share with you, some remarkable things happened.  I've learned that if I'm listening, the answers to my questions are generally provided.

 I have had the pleasure for the last three years of serving you as a member of the GRAR Board of Directors.  I've discovered this opportunity of service to be a wonderful gift FOR ME!  To sit at the table with professionals who have committed to sit with their competitors in search of that which is for the highest good for our Association and EVERY MEMBER is a wonderful thing to behold.  Know that every issue is carefully examined and has undergone thorough and passionate discussion before any action is undertaken.

 Whether you realize it or not, your professional life is much better than it would be, were it not for these volunteer leaders who collectively donate THOUSANDS of hours every year in a sincere attempt to make life better, easier and more profitable for YOU.  You are also blessed with an Association Staff who are hard-working, professional and the envy of most Associations far and wide. 

 Recently at our Annual Planning Retreat, where the Directors set the GRAR course for the following year, incoming President Greg Carlson invited a variety of non-Director Realtor members to join the process.  These brokers represented small, medium and large firms and shared their experience and wisdom generously. Their participation helped us greatly as we charted our new and exciting course.

 In preparation for the retreat we read a thought provoking book entitled A Whole New Mind- Why the Right Brainers Will Rule the Future by Daniel H. Pink.  (If you've not read it, I highly recommend it) Then, Jeremy Conaway, a consultant who works with Realtor Associations and brokers nationally helped to facilitate our retreat.  Over the next two days we worked to draw the concepts of this book into the real estate industry to discern how GRAR can best help keep Realtors essential to the real estate transaction and relevant to their clients in a rapidly changing world.

 The image that Jeremy used to describe our current situation as an industry was that of a boat at sea in a heavy storm.  We are on that boat and are concentrating on the waves that are crashing over the bow, worrying that we will be swamped and sink in the storm.  This is certainly a valid concern.  But he suggests that we may not be noticing that in addition to those waves, there are strong currents washing us into unfamiliar waters.  If our focus is ONLY on the crashing waves of the storm, we may find ourselves in seas we don't know how to navigate once the storm subsides.  Know that this storm like every other will subside.

So the challenge we face as an industry, as an Association and as individual members is to look at the big picture to see where the currents are taking us and to define the environment we will likely find when the storm subsides. Then to go about doing the work to make certain that when the skies are blue again, we're not washed up on shore as irrelevant driftwood or storm savaged debris.

 It is with that image in our heads that we looked at the BIG PICTURE of the industry and to find the best direction for GRAR.  Step by step we identified the services and functions that GRAR can undertake to be of greatest support and to make it easier and more profitable for you and your broker to do business in West Michigan.  I'm confident that as the implementation plan is developed, you will be hearing much more about the exciting steps that we are undertaking.  Much of what we discussed may require you to stretch out of your comfort zone a bit.  I encourage each of you to do just that!

 I suspect that you will see many changes within your Association in the months to come.  I would strongly encourage you to view them with an open mind, to embrace them and whole heartedly support them!  Human nature sometimes has us preferring ‘the way it's always been' to anything new and different, even if our very survival requires something new and different. 

 The old rule was "If you keep doing what you are doing, you'll keep getting what you have been getting."  I would suggest to you that this model is no longer valid in real estate (and likely in every other area of our lives).  The new rule might be: "Keep doing what you are doing and you will become irrelevant, invisible and extinct." 

 Make no mistake, we live in extraordinary times.  The advances that have been made and the challenges we currently face will impact us as individuals and as an industry for years to come. 

 Much of what we deal with today is more difficult, stressful and frustrating than any time I remember, and I've been a GRAR member since 1989.  For some, hardest of all is how much of it is seemingly beyond their control.  If find, that if I allowed myself to, I can become a seething ball of rage most days.  But I discovered that to be very counterproductive and probably dangerous.  I believe that it's only a minor adjustment within my brain to get to a point where I focus on the things I can control or positively impact, and to let the rest go.  Each day I ask: "Please don't let me be the problem today, let me be part of the solution!"  When I'm faced with a frustrating situation, I strive to remember that there is NO situation that cannot be made worse by behaving badly about it.  While there are many things I don't control, the one thing that I CAN CHOOSE TO CONTROL is my response. Several times a day, I'm reminded of a Sai Baba quote that helps me remember how I can choose a better outcome.   "Before you speak, ask yourself, is it kind, is it necessary, is it true, does it improve upon the silence."   I share it, in case it can help you as you go through your week.

 I would encourage you to look in the mirror each day and ask yourself if you made the situations you encountered that day better or worse by your reaction. Then remember how your choices impact you outcomes.

 While part of your focus will likely need to be on the waves that are crashing over your bow, if you can, try to pull back and look at where the currents are sweeping you in your life.  I believe that this storm could require mid-course adjustments not only in business life, but also in broader life course adjustments.  If there are actions you can undertake now that will reduce the damage, or put you on a more scenic course, I hope you'll embrace them.  Are there ways that you can improve/update/upgrade your approach to your real estate business?  I would encourage you to spend some time each week working ON your business rather than IN your business.  Just as a serious storm leaves uprooted trees and damaged homes, the market we are experiencing has already caused many Realtors to leave the business in search of calmer, more profitable waters.  I hope that with a new focus and renewed commitment to excellence, those of us who have made it this far, can ride out the storm and enjoy the beautiful sunrise and calm seas that lie ahead.  May we all be able to one day look back on these times as times that helped us grow in ways we never knew we could!