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What the heck is philosophy anyway?
And why is it so important in real estate?
By Michelle Shelton

Since philosophy is something you can't feel and touch, defining and explaining it is no easy task. There is nothing to define it, "in a nutshell". It is one of those words we all like to think we know what it means, but it seems to be something we connect to at a college level. It seems to be one of those words that eludes us. Most of us don't give it much thought, right?

Early in my career, I managed the in-store marketing program for 14 Sears stores in Arizona. Hiring and keeping quality employees was a challenge. I would select someone with a high level of people skills thinking they would be
great at marketing. Only to later be disappointed when I found out they had
gone home early or not showed up for work at all. Or perhaps they would
take home items from the store without paying for them, because, after all, they were entitled as an employee, right? Some of these employees even had
attitude problems that created low moral for the entire team. Gossip, slander, and an underlying selfishness would quickly emerge.

I realized early on that some of these issues had little to do with skill.
Attitudes were important. Goals were important. Have you ever attempted
to motivate an unmotivated person?  Character was also a major key.
Lastly, I realized the philosophies a person had were important! How did they see and respond to the world around them? Did they think they were "more special" than everyone else? Are they a Princess in their own mind? Do they feel as though the world "owes" them a living?

Hmmmmmmm. These powerful thoughts, changed the way I did my hiring.
When hiring from a resume alone, I was only seeing about 10% of who a person was. I was only seeing the "tip" of the iceberg. Well, we all know it wasn't the "tip" of the iceberg that sunk the Titanic, right? It was the 90% they lay beneath the surface that was a real threat to the great ship.

In real estate, we cannot say that philosophy is the same as “life” — that would be too broad. On the other hand, any other definition would seem to narrow. So just how are we supposed to approach the subject?

Let's look at the root form of the word philosophy. It is Greek for "love of wisdom".
Love (passion) and wisdom (understanding and knowledge). This gives us a love of understanding and a passion for knowledge. WOW! Pretty powerful when you break it down to the basics, isn't it?

On a more basic level, philosophy is learning why things are the way they are. If you simply tell a child not to do something, he might listen, at least until you are not looking and then the temptation may become too strong to resist. When you give him the "why" behind the training or the reason you don't want him to do something, he gains understanding and is more likely to embrace the training.

When you love something, you seek it out. A love for understanding requires a person to ask difficult questions, apply critical thinking and communicate flawlessly. It also requires the application of these things to one's life. Talking about philosophy is not enough. You actually have to do something with it.

Applying philosophy, like defining it, is something you can't put your finger on easily. One of the reasons we promote the ant philosophy on this site is because it is a great way to communicate how we approach business and life.