I was reading a newspaper story the other day in which the reporter was trying to sum up George Bush’s presidency in 10 words. I won’t tell you what they were since I would offend at least some portion of you! But what really struck me were the 10 words she closed with: “We can’t fully know the present while we’re in it.”

When we look back on 2008 and 2009 from the comfortable perspective of 2012, what will we be saying, and how will it differ from what we’re saying today? I know I’m at least a little embarrassed to review presentations I made in 2006 and 2007 asserting that even though the market was overheated in some areas, the fundamentals were strong and no “bubble” was looming ahead. Not!

So, in 2012, will we look back and remember all the naysayers and doom-and-gloomers who were wringing their hands about this terrible market, or will we focus on the ‘heroes’ who quietly succeeded against overwhelming odds to grow their business and emerge as industry leaders? Just as that amazing U.S. Airways pilot took an impossible situation and mastered it to save over 150 lives near the Manhattan skyline, we all have an opportunity to be heroes.

And because we know every broker in the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® network wants to not only survive but also thrive in this environment, we have created this ‘place’ called TheRealEstateBeat.com where we can opine about the market and the industry, share ideas and strategies that are working, pose ‘what if’ scenarios and how we might respond, offer suggestions for the network, vent when we need to vent, and use the collective brainpower of our industry leaders to develop innovative business models for the future.

Thought leadership is a powerful thing, and we hope TheRealEstateBeat.com will be the mecca for the best ideas from LeadingRE brokers, our industry partners and other participants in what is ultimately a public conversation. In 10 simple words: “All the things we achieve are things we first imagined.” Fostering that kind of game-changing imagination is what we hope TheRealEstateBeat.com will accomplish.

To get that conversation going (and we promise you don’t have to limit your thoughts to 10 words!), we’ve asked our brokers to write responses to some strategic questions about the market and the industry. Any that are submitted before February 6 and subsequently published here will receive a second registration to the LeadingRE conference in Scottsdale March 26-28 (THE EVENT OF THE YEAR!) free of charge. So if you have opinions on any of these topics – and we know you do! – please start blogging!

Posted By: Pam O'Connor