Like many, I became an unabashed fan of Ray Dalio after reading his 2017 memoir, Principles, and learning about his principles of radical truth and radical transparency. In fact, I have kept a hard copy of this book in my office with me at all times since I first read it in 2018. I lean on that book for advice on work and life the way one might lean on a trusted mentor, and over the last 4.5 years, it has never once steered me wrong.
The Revision team has just rounded the corner on an incredible first year in business and are gearing up to grow the team in 2022 (more about that here). There are exciting times and important decisions in front of us as we look ahead.
I suppose with that in mind, it’s not at all surprising that I’ve been spending a lot of quality time with ol’ Ray and his Work Principles 7 & 8.
Work Principle #7:
“Remember that the WHO is More important than the WHAT”
Work Principle #8:
“Hire Right Because the Penalties for Hiring Wrong are Huge”
(*…and I would add, the rewards for hiring well are equally huge)
In our situation, this translates roughly into: it’s not enough to bring on highly experienced commercial real estate professionals, we have to find the right people. Said differently, it’s values first, technical background second in terms of priorities.
What values are we looking for? Glad you asked. We think the right people will exhibit the following values in addition to a relevant technical background:
- Enthusiasm. At Revision, we are beyond excited about the future of the commercial real estate industry. In fact, we think it’s hard not to be. With new technology coming online daily and service providers innovating at increasing speeds, there are more options than ever before for providers of capital to the CRE market. Whether we are implementing a new piece of technology, helping our clients develop an insource / outsource strategy to take their platform to the next lever or are delivering practical solutions to longstanding pain points through our new DevOps platform, we get the chance to deliver meaningful outcomes to our clients. What’s not to love about that?
- Curiosity. Each assignment we take at Revision is a first. It’s like embarking on a new adventure over and over again. Our experience may act as a compass to provide directional guidance, but there are no paved roads or GPS systems to give us step by step path instructions. Besides, at the rate of change we are seeing in the market, there’s no guarantee that what worked for someone yesterday is the right solution today. As such, we must maintain a strong sense of curiosity and an open mind about the best path forward. It’s the only way to navigate unchartered territories.
- Courage. Courage might feel like a controversial value to highlight in a teambuilding context, but I would argue that courage, as a core value, is a fundamental ingredient for success in most organizations. We just don’t always have the courage to own up to it as leaders. In our organization, courage looks like being willing to surface new ideas or unpopular opinions in the name of better serving our clients. It looks like taking on challenging assignments without a clear solution set, and it looks like stepping up to help shape the future of a young company with big aspirations.
- Integrity. I love what my friend Tim Milazzo, Co-Founder at StackSource, wrote about Integrity here. He paints a beautiful vision of integrity as something existing below the surface but providing the very foundation upon which the visible is built. At Revision, we are motivated by more than our bottom line. We believe in bringing the whole self to work, in doing the right things for our clients and by each other and in operating with the kind of radical truth and transparency that would make Ray proud.
By: Christie Calhoun
