Yesterday, me and a friend/associate of mine went to a neighboring state to look at an industrial investment/development proposal. The lady who was heading the project met us and gave us a tour of the area and a rundown on the development proposal.

For every question we had, she had an answer that had been well researched. She also proffered answers to which we had not even formulated a question.

This lady had done her homework, and then some. I was impressed with what she had learned during her information gathering process, and how she confidently communicated this information.

Not only did she know all the nuances involving the land, owners, history of prices, local demographics and feasability of location for the intended development, she also know the politics, the players, the industries needs and wants, the trends of the industry and the local workforce capacity.

There was an x-factor in her presentation that is difficult to capture in a how-to manual. It comes from understanding the value of information and communication, and the extreme importance of comprehensive thinking. She had thought not only of all the positives, she had thought of the negatives, and she had put it all in a large context which gave a full perspective to the project, including possibilities that only someone dedicated to the project would imagine.

She wasn't a real estate agent, but I would love to have her on my team.