A wise person once said to me there should be a cap on the amount of time a police officer serves. This person suggested a time limit of five years for working the streets of a major city. The reason is that after five years a police officer would become jaded, perhaps frustrated and not as effective as a fresh recruit who would take on the daily challenges of police work with a greater passion and vigour than a hardened veteran.
I also recall a conversation I once had with a person in the teaching profession who suggested a limit for classroom teaching to perhaps 10 years, rather than teaching until retirement age. The argument is that a young teacher would bring a greater energy to match the enthusiasm of students and new developments in teaching that use ever-changing technology.
There are opposing arguments to all that are plain to see. Without the presence of veteran police officers or teachers, new recruits would have no one to turn to for advice and mentoring. Energy and youthful passion are wonderful but without the tempering calming advice of experience, youth could go flying off in the wrong direction.
The best way to run any service or work environment is to have a good combination of youth and elders. To be honest I would find it comforting to see a police car with a young person and an old person working the unit. The trick is to find the right combination to make it work. Too many times we are bogged down with politics and resentment.
The most annoying thing in the world for a veteran in any business is to have some young person come along and show them up by doing something faster; or worse, doing something better. The most annoying thing for a young whippersnapper is to have some old fart show them slowly and methodically how to do something properly so it doesn’t have to be done over again later.
For many years I have heard the laments about how real estate is an aging business. The average age of a Realtor is 50-something. That may be so but I do not think that it is the result of aging in the business. It occurs to me that the majority of recruits have been those who began in real estate in their 30s and 40s. I may be wrong on this because I have met a lot of great stars in this business who started in their 20s, but the majority I know began in their 30s and 40s.
It seems this business almost demands maturity in a recruit before they even begin to learn the craft. I will wager that is why so many successful Realtors began their careers in real estate after they blew the stink off their crazy years of youth. I always remember the conversation I had with a broker I highly respected, who told me, “The perfect recruit is someone in their mid-40s, who has had some success in banking or marketing and is looking for a career change that is rewarding and stimulating.”
That was many years ago. In many respects, real estate and all sales for that matter have not changed one iota. It is service, service, service! Just like it always was. But there are new twists and most are driven by technology. In this area, youth has it over veterans. But the maddening thing is that youth generally lacks the savvy to fully apply these new tools the way a veteran could.
The answer to it all is respect both ways. Work together but leave out the smugness of a veteran and leave out the smirking of a youth. This would be a perfect combination.
I often hear of Realtors teaming up and combining their strengths. I recall hearing about two successful Realtors teaming up who were opposites and openly made sport of their differences. One enjoyed getting up early and jogging and getting things done with high energy. The other was more laid back and enjoyed the late nights chatting quietly with clients through the evening. It was brilliant!
There are teams in real estate that work exceptionally well together and serve their clients extremely well. As an observer in this business, however, I rarely see a team with a wily veteran combined with a passionate young person. We see many successful family teams like a father/daughter combination, but a team with a 20-something youngster fresh out of school, BA in hand, combined with a 60-something veteran brimming with experience, is something I don’t see.
But I couldn’t think of a better combination.
Heino Mills is publisher of REM. Email [email protected].
