The Standard Just Got Higher

Someone commented on one of my posts this week:

“The best deserves the best. Game recognizes game.”

I read it a few times.

Not because I thought it was too much.

Because, for once, I allowed myself to believe it.

A younger version of me would have laughed it off.

I would have made a joke or immediately tried to make myself smaller so nobody thought I was full of myself.

I’m done doing that.

I know what I bring.

I’m a damn good recruiter.

And when I was given the opportunity to bring that experience to the number-one retail mortgage lender in America, the decision became clear.

If the Yankees offer you a uniform, you put it on.

Not because the pinstripes automatically make you great.

Because you want to discover what your best looks like surrounded by the best.

That is why I chose CrossCountry Mortgage.

And joining the number-one company doesn’t mean I’ve made it.

It means the standard just got higher.

For more than ten years, I’ve asked loan officers to consider what the right opportunity could unlock in them.

What would change with better leadership?

What could they build with greater resources?

How much better could they become surrounded by people who expect more from themselves?

I don’t believe people should move just to move.

Every company has a presentation.

Every recruiter has a pitch.

The grass isn’t automatically greener because someone tells you it is.

The right opportunity has to be right for the person.

The leadership.

The platform.

The culture.

The timing.

The vision.

It all has to make sense.

No company is right for everyone.

CCM is right for me.

It is the number-one retail mortgage lender in America for the third consecutive year.

The resources are there.

The platform is there.

The expectation to perform is real.

But this decision wasn’t only about joining a large, successful company.

It was also about who I would be working with.

Joe Macchione.

Todd Murphy.

Two leaders I respect.

Two people I believe I can learn from.

Two people who made it clear they weren’t looking for just another recruiter to fill a seat.

They wanted what I bring.

That matters to me.

I want leaders who value my experience but still expect me to grow.

I want to be challenged.

I want to be around people who are hungry.

I want to contribute immediately while learning how to operate at an even higher level.

I didn’t choose CCM because I wanted to hide inside a big company.

I chose CCM because I wanted to find out what my best looks like surrounded by the best.

There was a different energy from the moment I arrived.

You can feel it in the conversations.

You can feel it in the leadership.

You can feel it in the expectations.

People believe in what they’re building.

They expect to win.

That kind of belief is contagious.

But I also understand something important.

The jersey doesn’t make the player.

CCM doesn’t owe me success because I accepted the opportunity.

The logo won’t make the calls.

The number-one ranking won’t build relationships.

The size of the company won’t recruit a single loan officer for me.

That work is still mine.

Call after call.

Conversation after conversation.

Relationship after relationship.

There is a difference between confidence and entitlement.

Confidence says I belong in this room.

Entitlement says the room owes me something.

I believe I belong here.

I also know I have to prove it.

We see this in sports all the time.

LeBron James had already accomplished almost everything a basketball player could accomplish.

But when the opportunity came to join Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown, and a Philadelphia team capable of competing for a championship, he took it.

Some people will call it a superteam.

Some will say he stacked the deck.

I see a great competitor recognizing that certain opportunities don’t come around often.

Why wouldn’t you want to play beside people who can make you better?

Why wouldn’t you want greater resources?

Why wouldn’t you want to compete somewhere that expects to win?

The roster may improve your chances.

It still doesn’t play the game for you.

You still have to perform.

That is the opportunity in front of me.

CCM gives me an incredible platform.

Joe and Todd give me leaders I can learn from.

My new teammates bring experience, hunger, and belief.

Now I have to do something with it.

I want to recruit.

I want to produce.

I want to grow.

I want to pour into other people.

I want to earn more responsibility.

I want to help make an already successful organization even better.

And yes, I want to win.

I’ve spent too much of my life believing ambition and humility were opposites.

They aren’t.

Humility doesn’t mean pretending I’m not good at what I do.

It doesn’t require me to reject a compliment or shrink myself so other people remain comfortable.

Real humility is understanding that my abilities come with responsibility.

If I say I’m a great recruiter, I have to recruit.

If I say I’m a leader, I have to serve people.

If I say I belong with the best, I have to show up prepared to meet that standard.

I’ve spent years asking loan officers to bet on themselves.

This time, I did.

I put on the jersey.

Now I have to earn it every day.