Thoughts on Leadership: Rethinking Your Perspective

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels find me in Irvine, CA and the trip to Southern California has afforded me a healthy dose of perspective. On Tuesday morning, I moderated a lively Book REview session—if you don’t know, Book REview is our quarterly online discussion of a business book—then sat in meetings with our national REthink Council for the next two days.

For me, reading (and listening) to books is a way of life. I’m never NOT starting a new book. Why? Because new eyes see old things in new ways. Reading about the perspectives of others helps broaden, sharpen and focus your own. Our book for this week’s Book REview was The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson, all about small changes (I call them small wins) you can make to ultimately drive big results. Olson also emphasizes the importance of maintaining a positive mindset from the minute you wake up so that lasting success is less of an uncertainty and more of an inevitability.

“Focusing on the actions is not enough,” he writes. “Because it’s the attitude behind the actions that keeps those actions in place.”

After Book REview finished, I stepped across the hall and into a space where positive attitude reigned: the 2017 Irvine meeting of the national REthink Council. Just walking through the door and into that room you can practically feel the palpable passion these millennial, top-producing agents have for their craft. They shared best practices, brainstormed ideas, spoke about their specific goals and encouraged each other with fresh perspectives and insights.

After the REthink meeting it was off to Costa Mesa, CA to record a webinar with Debbie De Grote, founder/CEO of Excelleum Coaching & Consulting. Our webinar was an opportunity for agents to learn new ways to approach the listing presentation, again stressing the idea that to learn is to grow.

So, what’s the message? Oprah Winfrey once said, “Surround yourself only with people who are going to lift you higher,” and it’s true. Take a look at your five closest friends, colleagues, associates … are they lifting you higher? Do they have the kind of positive mindset Olson stresses as being vital to success? By constantly learning from others, you ensure that you’re forever pushing yourself forward to achieve even greater personal and professional rewards with each passing day.

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