Thursday Thoughts on Leadership: Lessons from the Leadership Summit

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels found me in Costa Mesa, CA for Tom Ferry’s Leadership Summit. The event brought together hundreds of broker/owners, managers and top teams from across the nation and served as a forum to both hear and share ideas. Tom Ferry kicked the meeting off in his typical, high-energy fashion and as I later told him, being among so many industry peers felt like being among family. (Although I must admit, I always feel like family when I’m with Tom. After all, his wife, Kathy, is 100% Italian, so he really is family. I’ll also never forget the first time I spoke to Tom … he was 19 years old and cold called me to attend his Superstar Retreat. We’ve been friends ever since!)

After Tom’s introduction, it was off to the keynote races. I was up first, and gave a presentation on “Leading for Profits Fearlessly.”

My speech was followed by Laura Morton, bestselling author, who spoke about “Fearless Storytelling.” Morton is the embodiment of her message, having penned more than 50 books, including more than 20 New York Times bestsellers and titles written with such business visionaries as RE/MAX CEO, Chairman and co-Founder Dave Liniger and Tom Ferry himself.

In addition to Morton, the all-star lineup of speakers included Peter Hernandez, president and founder of Teles Properties, who spoke about “Fearless Recruiting” and how important it is to recruit to your company’s culture.

Steve Carney, CEO and founder of Keeping Current Matters, spoke as well, and highlighted the three attributes leaders must instill in their employees: Inform, instruct and inspire. Inform by creating clarity from confusion, instruct by creating confidence from fear and inspire by creating action from inaction. What a powerful presentation!

Additionally, CEO of Zillow Spencer Rascoff, addressed the crowd on the topic of “Fearless Online Lead Generation.” He began his talk with this question: “Who among real estate agents can be fearless in today’s environment?” As Rascoff defined it, fearlessness in real estate means not just observing the latest trends in our industry but also embracing them.

Finally, Tom Ferry took to the stage again to wrap up the Leadership Summit.

So, what’s the message? In just one day of speeches and presentations from industry leaders, I was able to glean so much information about what it means to be an effective leader. The conference was high impact and exciting, and a testament to just how important it is to attend these types of events, so you that you can learn by listening to the advice, knowledge and ideas of others. After that it’s all about action. You must commit to incorporating the ideas you learn into practice. For me, I’m committed to fulfilling my own leadership mission: Helping others achieve their goals faster than they would in my absence. What will you learn and commit to today?

GINO BLEFARI is CEO of HSF Affiliates LLC. You can follow Gino on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.