Gold Is a Choice

One of the privileges that comes with my role is the opportunity to learn from remarkable people. I am also incredibly fortunate to be part of the Parramatta Eels Women’s Executive Club, a role that is particularly special to me as a lifelong Eels supporter. At a recent lunch celebrating women in rugby league, we heard from NRLW player Layne Morgan and, while she spoke about football, what stayed with me had very little to do with the game itself.

Layne was everything you hope great leaders will be. Graceful, articulate, humble, warm and incredibly self-aware. There was no ego, only quiet confidence. When she shared the team’s mantra for the season, it gave me pause and stayed with me long after the lunch had ended.

“Don’t settle for silver. Be gold.”

At first glance, it sounds like a message about winning. But the more I have reflected on it, the more I have realised it is really about standards. It’s about the standard we choose for ourselves long before anyone else sees the outcome.

In real estate, we spend a lot of time talking about results. Market share, GCI, listings, auctions and awards all have their place, but they are outcomes. Gold is something much deeper than that. Gold is the standard you hold yourself to when no one is watching.

It is the decision to make the difficult phone call rather than convincing yourself it can wait until tomorrow. It is preparing thoroughly for a listing presentation you could probably win anyway. It is following up the buyer one more time, giving honest advice when it would be easier to tell a client what they want to hear, and choosing consistency over convenience every single day.

The reality is, silver often looks perfectly acceptable from the outside. It is doing enough. Meeting expectations. Being reliable. Most people would never question it.

Gold quietly asks a different question: What would excellence look like here?

That question has challenged me as a leader this year. In a market that has demanded adaptability, resilience and the courage to make difficult decisions, I have found myself reflecting less on whether we are achieving our targets and more on whether we are operating at the standard we say we believe in. Because organisations rarely outperform the standards they are willing to tolerate.

What struck me most about Layne wasn’t simply the mantra itself. It was the humility with which she spoke about it. There was no bravado, no talk of being better than anyone else, only a genuine commitment to becoming better alongside her teammates. It reminded me that having a gold mindset isn’t about believing you are superior. It is about refusing to become comfortable with anything less than your very best.

Whether you lead a sales team, manage a property portfolio or are simply striving to become a better version of yourself, I think there is something powerful in that lesson. We all have moments where it would be easier to settle for “good enough”. The challenge is recognising those moments and choosing a higher standard anyway.

As I left that lunch, I realised “Don’t settle for silver. Be gold.” isn’t just a sporting mantra. It’s a leadership philosophy. One that belongs just as much in a real estate office as it does in an NRLW dressing room. Because gold isn’t something you win. It’s something you choose, every single day.