Real Leaders Take Responsibility When Others Fail
Read the full video transcript below:
In real estate, problems happen every day. Deals fall apart. Clients get upset. Team members make mistakes. Markets shift. Systems break. The agents and leaders who grow the fastest are not the ones who avoid problems. They are the ones who take responsibility and improve.
That mindset is one of the biggest keys to long term success in real estate leadership, team building, and business growth.
In this video, Anthony Lamacchia shares a simple but powerful lesson for Realtors, team leaders, and broker owners. If you want to grow your real estate business, stop looking for someone to blame and start looking for ways you can improve the situation.
The Best Real Estate Leaders Accept Responsibility
Most people react to problems by blaming others.
They blame the market.
They blame the client.
They blame the team.
They blame interest rates.
They blame the brokerage.
They blame Zillow.
They blame social media leads.
But strong leaders think differently.
When something goes wrong, they ask:
“What could I have done better?”
That question changes everything.
Anthony explains that every time there is a problem inside one of his companies, his first reaction is to look inward. He asks himself what he could improve, what training could be added, or what systems could be fixed.
That mindset is what separates top producing Realtors from average agents.
Real Estate Growth Starts With Self Awareness
If you want to become a better Realtor, real estate team leader, or broker owner, you need self awareness.
That means being honest with yourself.
Did you communicate clearly with the client?
Did you follow up enough?
Did you train your agents properly?
Did you create systems that help people succeed?
Did you avoid difficult conversations?
Top real estate agents understand that growth comes from ownership.
When agents constantly blame others, they stay stuck. They never improve because they never admit they have something to improve.
The Realtors who dominate their markets are always learning, adjusting, and improving.
Why Accountability Helps Real Estate Teams Grow Faster
One of the biggest lessons in this video is that accountability creates growth.
Anthony shares a story about reading a report about problems happening in one area of his company. Instead of blaming people, he immediately thought about what he could do differently as a leader.
He even called an unplanned meeting to discuss ways he could help fix the issue.
That is how strong real estate businesses operate.
The best real estate companies do not waste time blaming people. They focus on solutions.
This is especially important for:
- Real estate team leaders
- Broker owners
- Realtors growing teams
- Real estate managers
- New agents building systems
- Realtors using AI and automation
- Real estate recruiting leaders
If you want your business to scale, you must create a culture where people focus on improvement instead of excuses.
Realtors Must Stop Playing Defense
Anthony also points out something very important about leadership in real estate.
Experienced leaders usually do not become defensive during conflict.
When problems happen between agents, brokerages, or clients, strong leaders stay calm. They understand there is usually responsibility on both sides.
Newer leaders often react emotionally. They instantly defend themselves or their people instead of listening and solving the problem.
That creates bigger problems.
In today’s market, Realtors need emotional control more than ever.
The real estate market is shifting.
Inventory is changing.
Buyers are nervous.
Sellers are frustrated.
Transactions are harder.
The agents who stay calm and solution focused will win.
The Connection Between Mindset and Real Estate Success
Mindset matters in real estate.
You can have great leads, great technology, and great marketing, but if your mindset is weak, your business will struggle.
Anthony references the late Bob Proctor, who often taught that every problem contains an opportunity.
That lesson applies directly to real estate.
A bad transaction can teach you better communication.
A failed hire can teach you better recruiting.
A difficult client can teach you stronger systems.
A slow market can teach you better lead generation.
Every challenge gives you a chance to improve your real estate business.
How Realtors Can Apply This Today
If you want to grow your real estate career, start with these simple habits:
- Ask Better Questions
When something goes wrong, ask:
“What could I have done differently?”
- Focus on Solutions
Do not spend energy blaming people. Spend energy fixing systems.
- Improve Communication
Most real estate problems come from poor communication.
- Train Constantly
Top real estate teams never stop training.
- Stay Coachable
The best Realtors are always learning from mentors, coaches, and other top producers.
Real Estate Leaders Must Set the Example
Your team will follow your behavior.
If you blame others constantly, your agents will too.
If you stay calm, accountable, and focused on improvement, your team will become stronger.
That is how great real estate companies are built.
The market will always change. Technology will always change. AI in real estate will continue changing how agents work.
But leadership, accountability, and mindset will always matter.
Final Thoughts
The Realtors who grow the most over the next decade will not be the ones with the biggest excuses. They will be the ones willing to look in the mirror first.
If you want to grow your real estate business, increase production, improve leadership skills, and build a stronger team culture, start by taking ownership.
That simple shift can completely change your business and your future.
Anthony Lamacchia:
Look for a way that something is your fault. See, when you’re a leader, accepting blame and finding ways that you can somehow improve the situation, and accepting some responsibility for what happens, is what will make you successful. See, every single thing that goes wrong here in my companies, I’m always looking and searching for what could I have done better?
I just got out of a meeting upstairs where I, three days ago, had heard about some mistakes being made in a certain area of our company. I just called an impromptu meeting upstairs, and I said, “I want to talk about what I can do differently to help the situation.” I looked at our head of HR, Kim, and I said, “Kim, you’ve been telling me years to do XYZ training with XYZ people.” I said, “Now that we have this problem, and I read your whole report, it crystallized in my head some things that I can do to help us in that area.”
See, that’s how I react to problems. What do most human beings do? Most human beings look for ways that things aren’t their fault, and they look for ways to blame others. Those people never, ever, ever make it big. Ever make it big. Now, why is that? Why don’t they? It’s a personality, for one. If they’re always projecting outward, always blaming others, never having a willingness to look in a mirror, they’re never going to fix things because they’re not fixing the things that they’re doing wrong.
See, in every single situation you’re in life, every confrontation, every good thing that happens, every bad thing that happens, you are somewhat responsible for it. You are. You’re either in a small part or a large part responsible for it. The great Bob Proctor, the mindset trainer, he used to say, for every pro in life, there’s a con. For every con in life, there’s a pro. This reminds me of that. I will tell you, as someone who has 900 and something people, okay, in our companies, I observe human behavior every day. I hear stories every day, and I’m naturally exposed to more problems and more things that go on than the average person.
I’m also, because of all the business we do, in touch with others at other companies, okay? When I’m in touch with others at other companies, and I hear things about other companies, I always realize there’s some fault on both sides. It might be 5% one side, 95% the other side, but there’s always some blame to go around. One thing that I notice when I occasionally, I don’t get involved in these things that much anymore, but when I occasionally end up on the phone with a high-level leader at another company, when there’s an altercation between maybe one of our agents and theirs, or one of our staff members and theirs, or who knows, maybe our client and their client, you never know.
One thing I find when it’s a high-level leader on the other end, they’re usually not defensive. They usually say, “Hey, look, I’m sure our side had a little part in this too. We’ll talk to them. We’ll calm them down. That’s generally, most of the time, how I react as well because I know that’s the case. When I occasionally end up on the phone with someone who’s newer to management or newer to leadership, they tend to have their defense up, not only for themselves but maybe for the other person.
Folks, if you want to be successful, if you want to be a good leader, you always have to look in the mirror and say, “What can I do first?” I got news for you. Not only you always have to do that, but it can’t be your second, third, fourth reaction or second, third, fourth to do when you hear about it. It should be the first. That’s how it is with me, the story that I just told you when I spoke to our head of HR and some others.
I read a report when I was flying home on Friday night. Informal. This isn’t like police reports, but I read a report on a certain thing we’re having an issue with, and I said, “I can do better on that. There’s something that I can add to this situation to make it better. There’s something that I potentially could have done preemptively to make it better.” If you want to change your success level in life, change your mindset, change the way you look at things. When you see a problem, say to yourself first, “What could I have done differently?” Those of you that won’t do that, those of you that keep projecting outward, those of you that keep blaming, it’s okay. Stay where you are. That’s okay, too. Hope that makes sense. Good luck.
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