How to Overcome Your Own Ego as a Real Estate Wholesaler

Ego. The thing we say when talking about self-esteem or our self-importance.

In psychology, the ego is explained as the part of the mind that mediates between the conscious and the unconscious and is responsible for reality testing and a sense of personal identity.

We all have egos and when it comes to building up your self-esteem, your ego can be a good thing. It allows you to feel confident about the things you do and how you go about doing them.

In most cases, there’s nothing wrong with having that self-esteem.

Now as you know, when someone thinks they’re all that and a big bag of chips, but don’t have the experience or skills to back that up, then having that ego is looked at negatively.

Egos can be a detriment to both your personal life and definitely your professional life because in order to be an effective and efficient leader, you can’t have an ego.

True Leadership Requires Honesty

I was asked recently how I was able to put my ego aside when it came to co-founding KeyGlee with my sister Rahima, Josiah Grimes, and Hunter Runyon.

You would think because I’m one of the co-founders that I would be the CEO of the company, but I’m not.

And I’m sure you’re asking, “What? Jamil, why are you not CEO of your own company?”

I actually get asked that question a lot because why would you start a company and then turn over control of it to someone else?

The simple answer is that I saw a skill set, valuable capabilities, and a vision that I, quite frankly, didn’t have. To have that level of self-awareness means that you have to have a lot of honesty about yourself.

That means knowing your shortcomings in certain areas and understanding that these aren’t failures on your part. It’s you not knowing how to do something and bringing in someone who does.

There is nothing wrong with that and something that I impart to many of my Astro student members – our motto of squading up is to fill in a part of ourselves – a skill set or experience – that we don’t naturally have.

Sometimes as people, we get caught up in ‘me, me, me’, and in this business, the thought of having to share throws up a lot of thoughts and feelings, but again, you have to have that honest talk with yourself.

You know what you can do, you know your capabilities, and you know your skill sets, but you also know what you can’t do. And it’s what you can’t do that opens the door for opportunity to partner, squad up, work with, etc to fill in those gaps so you become a better person and a better wholesaler.

So don’t be afraid to work with someone whose skill set is one that you need, because it’s better to have that help right out of the gate than for you to struggle because you’re trying to fill the shoes of a skill you don’t have or don’t have time to learn.

If you’re building up a team, then leadership should be what you can do and your team is what you can’t do.

And if you’re missing those skill sets, then stop wasting time trying to fill them by yourself – come and join AstroFlipping!