Gratitude

As I have mentioned before in these blogs, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Last week 30 of our closest family and friends gathered at the house in Connecticut to eat, drink, commune, and play with the tiny members of the fourth generation. As we do every year, we went around the table offering each guest the opportunity to express what they are thankful for.

Here is my professional gratitude list:

* I am thankful that the United States, for all their differences, are still fundamentally united. I am grateful that my tax dollars can be used to support education programs in New Mexico, or provide food to children in Missouri. Would the European Union be in its current critical state if France and Germany felt that way about the poor in Greece?

* I am thankful that New York City remains enough of an international center to retain a vibrant residential real estate market. International buyers and wealthy non-Wall Streeters buoyed Warburg’s success this year, as did a record number of $15-million-plus home sales.

* I am thankful that every day of my life here, there is a fascinating museum exhibit to see, a beautiful concert to hear, a transformative reading to attend, a wonderful friend to meet. It is a privilege to sell the city and the unique lifestyle it offers.

* I am thankful that the transparency ushered in by the Internet has redefined the way residential brokers do business. With information so readily available, we have had to create a new value proposition which depends on expertise, and in the process make ourselves more conscious of what services we provide to consumers.

* I am thankful for the high level of professionalism in most of the colleagues with whom I interact. That said, I would be even MORE thankful if New York State raised the bar on its requirements for real estate licensees. It is just too easy for anyone to get a license in this state. Ours is a complex and profoundly important job and the barriers for entry here are just too low.

* I am thankful for the transformative power of social media, which allows me and the company to reach so many with this blog, through Facebook and Linked In, or on Warburg’s Twitter account. I love the way the notion of advertising which was prevalent when I came into the market 30 years ago has been incorporated into the far larger and more embracing concept of viral marketing.

Above all, I am thankful for change. The way we sell, the way we disseminate information, the way we interact with each other – all of it has evolved SO much in the last ten years; can we even imagine a business world without e-mail today? Although I often resist it, and resent it, the rapidly altering landscape of the post-technological world has kept me on my toes, both frustrated and exhilarated as I strive to integrate apps and links and SEO into Warburg’s overall strategy, while maintaining our fundamental values of integrity and strong interpersonal interaction which make our organization flourish. After twenty years, running a business is still a voyage of discovery. And I still love the view from the prow of the ship.