YOU SHOULD DO IT BECAUSE I’M DOING IT

Belief. Vision. Skin in the game. That’s the Golden Rule of Leadership.

There’s a rare kind of conviction that doesn’t need a script, comes without pressure and doesn’t sell, it shows.

It says this:

Do it because I’m doing it.

Do it because I believe in it.

Do it because I’m walking the path first.

That’s been my story since before Realty ONE Group ever existed.

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BACK IN MY REALTOR DAYS

When I started out as a real estate professional, I wasn’t very polished. I had no formal coaching, no scripts and no shiny presentation decks.

But what I did have was a hunger for more, burning curiosity and a work ethic I got from my parents. I also believed strongly that I wouldn’t personally invest in something I had no business advising my clients to invest in.

I remember working with amateur investors from California and they would ask, “Kuba, why should we do what you’re recommending? Why this deal?”

They didn’t ask because they didn’t trust me. I had worked hard to earn their trust. They simply wanted a reason beyond the numbers and the pitch.

Without hesitation, I would answer, “You should do it because I’m doing it.”

And we were off. We bought together. We flipped together. We held together. We cash-flowed and built equity based on their goals together.

This proved a theory that wasn’t built on hype but based on action. Because leadership means stepping into the arena first.

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FAST FORWARD TO 2012

In 2012, I wasn’t even thinking about franchising yet. I was grateful for what I had already built and the success we were having helping our real estate pros be more successful.

An amazing woman named Barbara Baker left me a string of five voicemails. Something about her persistence really spoke to me

So, I finally called her back.

Together with her husband Clarke, we sat down in Laguna Hills, CA, for what was supposed to be a short conversation. Instead, it was a three-hour meeting, heart-to-heart, vision-to-vision. There were no contracts and no pressure and certainly no selling.

At the end she hugged me and said, “I believe in your vision. I want to be your first franchisee.”

Most people would’ve taken her check right there but I wouldn’t and wasn’t ready to award her a franchise because I wouldn’t buy ONE myself yet. I asked her to be patient with me and promised her that when I was ready, to support her and her agents, she would be No. ONE.

Nine months later, she became Franchise No. ONE and I will be eternally grateful for her faith and confidence.

Today, Realty ONE Group is ONE of the fastest growing brands in the world with nearly 500 locations in the U.S. and in nearly 30 countries. 

We are ONE COOLTURE and ONE BIG movement with a ONE Family that believes in our collective purpose to open more doors around the globe. We went from ONE belief and ONE believer to tens of thousands and they did it for the same reason as I did – not because someONE sold them but because someONE led them.

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TO YOU THE READER – ENTREPRENEURS, AGENTS AND LEADERS

You should do it because I’m doing it.

You should believe because I believe.

You should move because I’m already moving.

When you really do have skin in the game, it becomes the greatest way to a sale and without the pitch. Leadership is modeling the behavior you hope others follow and trust is earned quietly, consistently, and by example.

If your conviction can’t pass the mirror test, don’t sell it. But if it lights you up and pushes you out of bed before sunrise… If you’d bet on it with your own sweat, money, and time…

Then stand up and say it boldly, “Do it because I’m doing it and here’s why.”

The world follows certainty, not perfection. And certainty is built through action you’re willing to take yourself.