In the mortgage industry, as with any other industry, it can be easy to get stuck in a knowledge rut. Once you start your job, you tend to feel like you've arrived. You got your degree and you landed the job; now, you can take it easy. What many of us fail to realize is that, if we want to remain competitive in our field of expertise, graduation isn't the end of education—it's the beginning.
We often talk about "continuing education" as if it's a pain. It's just something we do in order to check off a box for our employers. We don't actually expect to learn anything; we just do it because we're told. Rather than viewing education as a drudgery, though, we ought to see the resources available to us for the wonderful opportunity that they are. Knowledge is power, and never in history have we had such great access to that knowledge.
On the Dec. 14 episode of my Lykken on Lending podcast, for example, we had the opportunity to discuss the mortgage industry with MBA president David Stevens. The MBA now has a catalogue of courses called "MBA Education," that can keep the mortgage professional informed on every aspect of the industry. More of us in the industry should be taking advantage of such offerings.
"Continuing education" courses aren't just boring seminars that we take in order to appease an employer or get some kind of impressive credential. They're real opportunities for learning and professional development—and it's only when we see them as such that we will truly grow to become competitive in the mortgage industry.
David Lykken, a 43-year veteran of the mortgage industry, is president of Transformational Mortgage Solutions (TMS), a management consulting firm that provides transformative business strategies to owners and “C-Level” executives via consulting, executive coaching and various communications strategies. He is a frequent guest on FOX Business News and hosts his own weekly podcast called “Lykken On Lending” heard Monday’s at 1:00 p.m. ET at LykkenOnLending.com. David’s phone number is (512) 759-0999 and his e-mail is [email protected].
