Would You Rather Be Right or Rich?

Would You Rather Be Right or Rich?
I was amazed today when my appointment for an interview didn’t show. I am in the process of hiring one exceptional agent to handle my real estate business in Cape Coral. I thought I had found that person when a lady who had owned a boutique brokerage up north for 12 years responded to my ad. She explained to me that she had lots of experience but her license here in Florida was currently inactive. If she went to work anywhere, because of the state of the economy and her current financial situation, the new company would have to cover or at least advance her dues to the local real estate board. I understood. We have all been through tough times financially, and those dues are about $1200. We had a really nice conversation on the phone, and I thought she might be the one. I did not give her all of the specifics because I wanted to get to know her some in person and make sure she was going to be a good fit for our company. None of that happened.
I had sent her an e-mail confirming the time and location: 1 pm at a model home for a builder who is affiliated with our company. I specifically picked this location because it was the closest meeting place to her home to which I had access. I arranged my day and schedule around this appointment because our phone conversation and her reply to my e-mail, saying that she was looking forward to the meeting, made me hopeful. There was only one problem: she thought the meeting was at 10 am. I double- checked my e-mails to her, and she had obviously misread them. They clearly stated 1 pm.
When she didn’t show, I was really surprised. I waited until about 1:15, then called her, thinking maybe she had gotten lost. She answered and was angry with me because she had been there at 10 am, “like she wrote down.” She was sure she was right about the time. However, although I didn’t bring it to her attention, the time was there in black and white in the e-mail to which she responded. I also know I had other commitments this morning that would have precluded me from making another appointment.
However, in good faith, I changed other plans and met her later. Regardless, she went off on me because the construction guys who work in the model home failed to acknowledge her and she was left waiting for ten minutes. She was in the “right” that they should have greeted her, but I wondered why she hadn’t politely asked one of them where I was. She started blaming me for their rudeness, and I found myself trying to explain and apologize for something that was completely out of my control. She was angry with me for standing her up (which I didn’t), for the guys in the model home not giving her the time of day (I can’t be responsible for anyone other than myself.) and for driving all the way there (when I had picked a place as close to her as possible). She was dead set on letting me know she was “right.”
I knew then that she was not the one. You see, I needed a partner, someone to handle the day-to-day operations of a real estate business, someone who would be customer oriented and get along with all of us. This woman was more intent on being right. She was argumentative and confrontational. She didn’t take the time to check the correctness of her information (by rereading my e-mail) and did not seem inclined to admit mistakes or express humility. She would rather be right than “rich,” rich being relative, especially for someone who needed to borrow $1200 to renew her license.
I am not immune to wanting to be right, but I’ve learned it is not all important. In fact, it has cost me in my life: jobs, friendships, business partnerships, personal relationships. I am writing this today to remind myself and others that no one has to always be right. The only person anyone has to prove anything to is himself. Remember we are 100% responsible for ourselves only. Being right can cost you a lot in life. It cost this lady one heck of an opportunity.

Erik Elsea
www.erikelsea.com
Quote of the Day! – “Whether you think that you can, or that you can’t, you are usually right.” –Henry Ford