Loyalty matters to me.
A lot.
I’ve seen its power up close – in policing, where trust isn’t abstract, it’s essential.
In pastoral environments, where loyalty isn’t convenient or transactional, but self-sacrificial – people showing up when there’s nothing to gain and often something to lose.
And in high-level sport – backs against the wall, lungs burning, digging deep not for yourself, but for the people beside you.
Those experiences stay with you.
Because loyalty shows up most clearly when something is required of you.
Not comfort.
Cost.
Real estate, by contrast, is often perceived as the opposite.
Hyper-competitive.
‘Me’ over ‘we’.
Largely self-oriented by design.
Talent is rarely left alone.
There’s almost always a carrot being dangled somewhere.
Opportunity follows performance.
That’s not a criticism.
It’s the landscape.
But that doesn’t mean loyalty can’t exist as an organisational strength.
It just means it won’t happen by accident.
In environments like ours, loyalty has to be led.
It looks like leaders who:
invest in people who aren’t obligated to stay
stand in front of pressure
and carry cost so others don’t have to
Those qualities are a big part of what drew me to Adam and Tom.
Not in words.
In actions, often unseen.
In how they care.
That kind of leadership is becoming rare.
Long-term commitment is rare.
Staying power is rare.
Leaders who build culture instead of just extracting performance are rare.
Which is why leaders who model loyalty under pressure stand out.
And one of the clearest modern examples sits well outside real estate.
Dana White.
The UFC.
The Iceberg Effect
What we see on TV is the tip of the iceberg.
Sold-out arenas.
Multi-million-dollar events.
Elite athletes at the peak of their powers.
Big personalities. Bigger moments.
That’s the UFC most people know.
But underneath the spectacle sits something far less visible – and far more instructive.
A company.
A culture.
And a leadership philosophy not built on polish.
It’s built on loyalty.
From the outside, the UFC looks chaotic.
Noise.
Conflict.
Ego.
Spectacle.
But chaos on the surface does not mean disorder underneath.
Behind every fight night is:
relentless operational discipline
clear lines of authority
repeated systems
leadership that values trust over approval
That distinction matters.
Because in business – and in real estate especially – people often confuse what’s visible with what’s valuable.
We celebrate the sales – the results.
But cultures are built in the unseen work.
Loyalty as a Leadership Discipline
Dana White has never hidden what he values.
He’s been explicit about it.
“Anybody who is with me, has been with me, knows: when you’re with me, you’re with me.”
That quote isn’t rhetoric.
It’s the through-line of what he’s built.
White frames leadership as standing in front of pressure, not hiding from it.
If you’re loyal to him – and to the organisation – he will back you hard.
Publicly.
Consistently.
Even when it costs him.
That loyalty isn’t sentimental.
And it isn’t soft.
It’s earned.
And once earned, it becomes cultural currency.
Loyalty Tested Is Loyalty Trusted
Talk is cheap.
Loyalty shows up in hard times.
In storms.
Or when the grass looks greener elsewhere (Note to self: Greener grass is often the artificial kind).
White’s loyalty to long-time UFC commentator Joe Rogan during periods of intense public scrutiny is well documented. Rogan has been part of the UFC fabric from the beginning. When criticism escalated around Joe’s COVID stance, White didn’t distance himself.
He doubled down.
White later said that if Rogan was forced out, he would have resigned himself.
That’s not symbolic loyalty.
That’s self-sacrificial leadership.
He was willing to lose power, status, and position rather than abandon his guy.
Powerful.
High-performance cultures are shaped by what leaders are willing to absorb on behalf of others.
Loyalty Does Not Mean Cutting Corners
White’s loyalty is not unconditional.
The UFC has clear lines:
you represent the organisation
you protect the brand
you don’t cross certain boundaries
When those lines are crossed, consequences follow – regardless of talent.
Because real loyalty is not permissiveness.
It’s clarity.
People feel safest when expectations are unambiguous.
Loyalty Cuts Both Ways
Loyalty isn’t blind.
And it isn’t one-directional.
Dana White’s loyalty works because it’s reciprocal.
You’re backed hard –
if you contribute.
If you align.
If you protect the organisation when it matters.
Loyalty in high-performance environments is not:
tolerance of poor behaviour
protection from accountability
immunity from consequences
It’s an agreement… the old-school kind.
When expectations are clear, loyalty stabilises culture instead of softening it.
Conviction Under Pressure
COVID exposed leadership everywhere.
Most organisations paused.
Some froze.
Many waited for certainty.
The UFC didn’t.
White pushed forward – absorbing criticism, risk, and reputational heat – to keep the organisation operating. He framed the decision around responsibility to others: staff, fighters, contractors.
The UFC did not lay off staff while many much larger organisations did.
That’s another form of loyalty.
Leadership that absorbs risk so others can keep moving.
Not self-preservation.
Service.
Conviction, in this sense, wasn’t bravado.
It was weight-bearing.
Loyalty Can’t Be Demanded
Like respect, loyalty cannot be forced into existence.
The moment it’s demanded, it stops being loyalty.
The environment becomes something else altogether.
Toxic.
Loyalty only exists where people are free to leave – and choose not to.
That’s why it’s rare.
You don’t earn loyalty through position.
Or titles.
Or charisma.
You earn it when people watch how you behave under pressure.
When they see who absorbs the hit.
Who takes responsibility.
And who disappears when things get hard.
Demanding loyalty reveals insecurity.
Earning it reveals leadership.
And in high-performance environments, people always know the difference.
What This Teaches Us
Loyalty is rare because it costs something.
It costs comfort.
It costs approval.
It costs optionality.
And that’s why it’s powerful.
Most people want the upside of loyalty – trust, commitment, discretionary effort –
without paying the price required to earn it.
High-performance cultures don’t work that way.
They’re built through work below the surface:
Standing firm when it would be easier to move.
Absorbing pressure so others don’t have to.
Consistency through highs and lows.
There’s a well-worn saying:
If you want to go fast, go alone.
If you want to go far, go together.
Nothing fosters togetherness like loyalty does. Dana’s story proves that.
Because loyalty turns groups into teams.
It turns effort into commitment.
And it turns performance into something sustainable.
That’s why loyalty becomes cultural currency.
Not because it’s demanded.
But because it’s earned – slowly, visibly, and at a cost.
That’s the iceberg.
Not the noise.
Not the spectacle.
But the uncelebrated decisions beneath the surface – the decisions that carry cost and reveal who we really are when it counts.