Learning Business lessons from listening to our Children

Over the holidays I always try to take some time to recap the prior year and to think about the changes that will occur in new year. I also contemplate strategically how these changes will impact the overall real estate environment and particularly the lending environment. This time, I was working up to the clock to get a number of last-minute transactions closed, so I didn’t have any time to plan for 2014.

On Dec. 31, I had to go to Winter Park first thing in the morning to look at a multifamily property. I had been so busy with work that I had completely forgotten it was New Year’s Eve until on my way home, my wife asked if I would like to go to our cabin for the holiday. When I got home from my inspection in Winter Park, the family headed down to our property southwest of Breckenridge to take a couple days off.
On our way down, it started snowing and we got about 10 inches that evening. Even though we live in Colorado and both of our kids were born here (in snowstorms), you would think the kids were from Florida. Just the sight of snow set them in a whirlwind of eagerness to play. My 4-year-old daughter woke up at the crack of dawn to get in a day’s worth of sledding on a big hill, which is about a quarter-mile walk from the house. My daughter insisted that she wanted to take the sled and also the two dogs and didn’t need any help (we have one of the old school wooden sleds). She tried holding onto the rope for the sled with one hand and the dogs in the other hand. She couldn’t handle all three as the sled sunk into the deep powder. She then dropped the sled and the dog leashes (we have two 100-pound shepherds). I asked again if she wanted a hand. She proclaimed that she could do it. I’m a big believer in letting my kids figure things out. Fortunately we were in no hurry, so I sat down on the porch to give her some time to experiment.
After about 20 minutes of trying out different strategies (the dogs were good sports with everything), she devised a pretty innovative solution to allow her to bring the two leashes, the sled and herself. Once she figured out that the dogs could help her with the sled in the deep snow, she looped the handle of one dog leash through the other dog leash and then hooked the second dog leash onto the sled. She basically made an improvised dog sled (although she has never seen a mushing team before). She hopped in and yelled at the dogs – she was off. To my amazement, the solution actually worked; she stayed on and didn’t hit a tree or any other object (although she didn’t go very quickly or in a straight line).
After reading the above, you are probably thinking that is an interesting story, but what it has to do with real estate. I am a big believer that as a parent we learn more than we could ever imagine from our kids. I’ve read number of motivational books recently on what makes someone successful, but ironically my 4-year-old laid it out perfectly. Read More:

By Glen Weinberg

COO/Partner Fairview Commercial Lending

Full Article that was published in the Colorado Real Estate Journal: Learning Business Lessons from listening to our kids: published 1/15/14