Why We Need to Embrace Uncertainty
In the mortgage industry, even hearing the very word "uncertainty" tends to sends shivers running down our spines. We don't like the be in the dark; we fear the unknown. If we don't have all of the information available to us, how are we supposed to make the right decisions? Uncertainty can be our worst enemy.
But, unfortunately, uncertainty is a reality. As much as I would love to have all the answers and possess my own crystal ball so that I could see where the market is going, that isn't going to happen. Although every industry has a certain measure of volatility, ours is certainly among the most unstable. We never know—from decade to decade, from year to year, from day to day—what we're going to be dealing with.
Great leaders embrace uncertainty. And, here's way: If you wait until you have all the answers to make a decisions, you will never get anything done. Great leaders have the courage to act in spite of having incomplete information. I would absolutely advise you to learn all you can about your situation, but never let what you don't know prevent you from acting on what you do know.
Uncertainty is a reality of doing business in our industry. Face it and embrace it, because you will never erase it.
David Lykken is 40-year mortgage industry veteran who has been an owner operator in three mortgage banking companies and a software company. As a former business owner/operator, today David loves helping C-Level executives and business owners achieve extraordinary results via consulting, coaching and communications, with the objective of eliminating corporate dysfunction, establishing and communicating a clear corporate strategy while focusing on process improvement and operational efficiencies resulting in increased profitability. David has been a regular contributor on CNBC and Fox Business News and currently hosts a successful weekly radio program, “Lykken on Lending,” that is heard each Monday at noon (Central Standard Time) by thousands of mortgage professionals. He produces a daily one-minute video called “Today’s Mortgage Minute” that appears on hundreds of television, radio and newspaper Web sites across America. He may be reached by phone at (512) 501-2810 or by e-mail at [email protected].