COLUMNS
The Map Room Speaks: Fueling the Fire —How Michael Jordan Inspired My Next Chapter On February 14, 2024, I was fired by JLL. There is no elegant way to dress that up. After 40 years in the brokerage business, after thousands of transactions, after producing at the highest levels of the industry, I was told I was no longer wanted. Getting fired without cause is not something anyone aspires to experience. It does not feel good. It is not supposed to feel good.
Bob Knakal Chairman and CEO BKREA New York City (917)509-9501
For a day or two, it didn’t. The Story That Came Back to Me Then I remembered a story that has always resonated with me — the story of Michael Jordan after he was cut from his high school varsity basketball team. Jordan has said that moment put a permanent chip on his shoulder. He didn’t sulk. He didn’t complain. He didn’t blame the coach. He turned it into fuel. Every workout became personal. Every drill became purposeful. Every slight became motivation. Greatness is rarely built on comfort. It is built, instead, on response. The Unexpected Gift My deal at JLL was structured around my earnings from 2013 to 2017 — a five-year stretch of unprecedented sales volume in New York City. But markets change. The COVID-19 era changed everything. Deal volume contracted dramatically.
I would build a company that had the first-of-its-kind Policy & Zoning SWAT Team to fully understand all of the new laws and regulations that surround development. I would build a company that only sells properties in New York City. I would build a company that gives clients an information advantage no one else can replicate. I would build a company that uses unparalleled analog information with the most cutting-edge AI the industry has ever seen. That clarity became the foundation of BKREA. The Shift Getting fired did not diminish my confidence. It intensified it. There is a powerful psychological shift that occurs when you stop playing defense and start playing offense.
Objectively, it was a gift.
Instead of preserving a position and constantly having my entrepreneurial spirit suppressed, I began building something enduring. Instead of operating within a restrictive corporate structure that ran investment sales more like a mortgage business — which are fundamentally and profoundly different — I designed one from scratch. Instead of navigating internal politics, I focused entirely on client outcomes.
Emotionally, it still stung.
What felt like rejection became liberation.
The Decision I made a decision quickly: I would treat that moment the way Jordan treated getting cut. I would turn it into an advantage.
The Chip on My Shoulder I often tell younger brokers that adversity is an amplifier. It either magnifies your excuses or it magnifies your effort.
Within days, my disappointment turned into clarity. I asked myself a simple question: If I were starting over today with 40 years of experience and 2,331 transactions behind me (at that time), what would I want to build?
For me, February 14, 2024 was not an ending. It was a catalyst.
The answer was obvious.
I used getting fired as proof that I would never be constrained again.
When I was terminated, I was suddenly free of the handcuffs that those ill-advised long-term deals come with.
The Blueprint I would build a company with no conflicts of interest. I would build a company focused only on sellers. I would build a company that only works on an exclusive basis.
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I would build a company that only dealt with development sites, conversion properties and user deals (everything you can do with a vacant building).
Jordan used getting cut as proof he would never be outworked again.
And that mindset propelled me into the future. “Greatness is rarely built on comfort. It is built on response.”
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