What Can Today’s Real Estate Broker Learn From Steve Jobs’ Legacy?

Earlier this year Walter Isaacson, the CEO of the Aspen Institute, published Steve Jobs, a book that has become the definitive history of one of America's most admired business executives. The book became an immediate bestseller. However, interestingly enough, based upon reviews, blogs, and columns about the book, it quickly became clear that few readers had captured the correct message of the book. In this social media focused world, more readers found value in criticizing the book (not Steve Jobs) than in learning from it.

Enter, The Harvard Business Review (HBR). The HBR, recognizing that Mr. Jobs was obviously going to make his mark on American business history, decided that some clarity was appropriate. Therefore, they requested that Mr. Isaacson draft an article that specifically set forth the exact lessons that the American culture could learn from Mr. Jobs. The result was excellent and every American business executive and leader should spend 30 minutes studying the wisdom offered through the article.

The idea behind this column came together after one such review, when that wisdom was applied to the current real estate industry. Despite the fact that Jobs fought his battles in an industry that some might think could not be more different than real estate, the fact is that many of the challenges were exactly the same. The relevance of Steve Jobs' story becomes even greater when one realizes that much of his success occurred in a business environment not that much different than the one that real estate brokers find themselves in today.

A couple of cautionary comments are in order. The purpose of this article is not to suggest that Steve Jobs was the world's greatest executive, nor that everything he did was great, nor that everyone should strive to be a Steve Jobs.