But as for the mortgage industry, he was all in from the start: “I eventually bought the company from him and became CEO and helped grow the company with a lot of great people here.” There’s still a place for dad though. His father, Jeff Ishbia, now sits on the board of directors of the company he founded that his son would exponentially expand.
What makes Ishbia tick
It’s inevitable to draw parallels from the grit and drive Ishbia displayed on the basketball court to help explain his considerable corporate success. Without hesitation, he ticked off three personal traits he believes have helped fuel his mortgage industry career. Spoiler alert: That athletic drive figures prominently.
“First, I’m extremely competitive,” he said. “And being competitive, I want to win. My goal was to help the broker channel grow, so I want to win that. It drives my work ethic, because I hate to lose. My work ethic is the trait, but it’s because of my competitiveness. I come in early and stay late. I’m not the smartest guy in the room, but I’ll work harder than anybody. That’s kind of my mentality. It’s driven by not wanting to lose.”
It’s also important to accentuate the positive, he suggested. “The second one is that I’m extremely positive,” he said, a trait he said came in handy during the market challenges experienced industrywide last year. “I find the positive in everything; I focus on the positive. I deal with the negative but focus on the positive constantly. That keeps me in a good space along with my clients and team members here at UWM.”
Rounding out the attributes triumvirate: “I make quick decisions,” he said. “I decide fast and change often. I make the decision I think is the best thing and I’ll do it. If it’s not the best thing, I’ll change it. I’m not opposed to changing but I don’t sit there thinking over a decision for nine months to make it once. If it’s not right, I’ll go back and tweak it and modify it. The phrase I use is ‘don’t let perfect get in the way of good.’ I make it good and figure out how to make it perfect down the road.”
Source: mpamag.com