Bruce’s Wealth Blog

Last night, I watched the two hour special Celebrity Apprentice.  I don’t watch much TV, but Trump’s Apprentice has captured my attention.  There are some good nuggets in there for those who are willing to look for them.  But the episode last night was very unique.

For those of you who didn’t see it, Vincent (Vinny) Pastore was asked by Piers Morgan (the project manager) to infiltrate the other team.  He did it and passed some information back to his team.  But, part way through Vinny had a change of heart.  He explained what he was supposed to do there and started helping the team he was sent to infiltrate.  Ultimately, Piers started teasing the other team about their slogan, and they fired Vinny.  Ultimately, Vinny became what he called, “a man without a country.”

This illustrates several lessons that reflect what is going on in the foreclosure industry:

1. Your word is critical to your success in everything.  We do not live in a vacuum.  Everything we do impacts others.  As independent as we want to be, our lives are intertwined with the lives of others.  If we want to be successful, we need to have a reputation of being honest.
2. We have all heard that good guys finish last.  That is only because we look at the battles, and not the war.  The truth of the matter is that the good guy always wins in the end.  Part of being the good guy is being ethical in your business dealings.  Being ethical may mean making decisions that negatively impact your business for the short term, but it buys you much more in dividends in the long term. Do you want more business? Earn a reputation for being ethical.  Piers’ decision to be unethical not only undermined the project, but it broke a previously unbroken and winning team.  His decision will negatively impact the rest of the team and the team’s cohesiveness for the rest of the season unless another event brings them back together. 
3. If real estate investors specializing in foreclosures had learned these lessons early, we would not have the legislative backlash we have been experiencing over the last three years and will experience for the foreseeable future.

We don’t really own much in this world.  The only thing we own is what we can take with us when we die.  Our “things” are simply borrowed while we are alive.  Our reputation will last forever.

Bruce..