I am blessed to be around remarkable people. There are always Takeaways to learn. That is what I am sharing on this podcast.
Takeaways – Life. Lessons. Learned. explores learning from the wisdom of others.
Rick Myers is the President of Thomas & Mack Development Group – a commercial real estate development company with projects throughout Las Vegas, Nevada. I always envisioned Rick would be my first guest for this podcast. He was the one who taught me to consider “what are you going to say when you get the microphone.” He also taught me about “stature” and how “it matters”… how technical proficiency matters. We revisit those concepts in this episode.
What amazed me is how much more I learned from Rick during this conversation. Like, what does Rick mean when he says “dealing from the middle”? And most surprising was how Rick was coached in high school basketball by John Wooden and college football by John McKay!! These are legendary coaches!! There are so many more Takeaways in the Episode. I don’t want to spoil the fun. I hope you enjoy!!
In 2009 I was 2 years into a new career as a commercial real estate broker in Las Vegas. The Global Great Recession brought the everyone to their knees. Including me.
I have always sought out learning and best practices. There was a 12 month program organized by NAIOP (a commercial real estate development association) that I enrolled in. It was called the Developing Leader Institute. I put the registration on my credit card. I didn’t have that kind of money back then. The truth is I didn’t even know if commercial real estate would be a viable career. I don’t want to say things were going badly. Things just weren’t going at all.
Rick Myers was the first instructor in the DLI program. He taught a 3-hour course titled Introduction to Commercial Real Estate and Personal Development.
After the class Rick joined the students for a drink and a chat.
For some reason I was expressing my frustrations with Rick. From all the studying I’ve done, from all the continuing education I’ve put myself thru, I knew that the pathway to success was to focus on a product type and be the best at it. The problem was… there was simply nothing to focus on!
“Hey, I get it.” That was Rick’s reply. But how could he possibly get it? He was the President of a well-known development company. When I finally looked up (I realized the whole time I spoke to Rick my head was down) I saw it in his face… I saw it in the knowing smile… Rick has been there before too.
Then he said, “Pick a deal. Any deal. Underwrite it and call me next week. Or call me next month. Come to my office. We’ll review it together and see what we both learn.”
I never did call Rick with the hypothetical deal. I regret it. But, I also didn’t feel like I had to take him up on that. At one of the most vulnerable professional moments of my life Rick threw me a life vest of hope. He showed me that there will be prosperity after the Global Great Recession. And he extended his hand of guidance, care and attention
I have called Rick plenty since 2009. He either always answers the phone or calls me back within a day. We’ve had several more discussions. Mostly over breakfast at Cracked Egg.
Just one more illustration of what Rick has done for me and we’ll get into the Takeaways.
Not long after my mother passed away I received an email from Rick. “Hey bud. Let’s go to breakfast. We can talk about our moms.”
Rick probably doesn’t even know how much that impacted me. Then again, he probably knows exactly how much it helped at another vulnerable time.
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