By Gino Blefai:
This week my travels find me starting Monday at home, completing my typical WIG calls. On Tuesday I had the Berkshire Hathaway Energy call, then traveled to Las Vegas to attend Tom Ferry’s Elite Retreat. I’m in Vegas until later today, listening to Tom speak, learning from the inspiring keynotes and meeting with a business prospect for one of our brokerage networks.
By Gino Blefari
This week my travels found me starting Tuesday at home with the Berkshire Hathaway Energy call followed by my typical WIG calls (one day later due to the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday) and our monthly CEO meeting. There were 11 calls in total that day and I thoroughly enjoyed them all – when you love what you do and who you do it with, it never feels like work! On Wednesday, I traveled to Nevada to meet with Mark Stark, Troy Reierson and several of our HomeServices of America leaders, including HomeServices of America Chief Administrative Officer Dana Strandmo, Chief Financial Officer Alex Seavall and Chief of Staff Deitra Catalano.
Being an NFL fan, this past weekend was my favorite weekend of them all. Why? It was Super Wildcard Weekend, which meant two Wild Card games on Saturday, three games on Sunday and one game on Monday night. And they’re all games that you win, or you go home.
On Sunday, the Dallas Cowboys played my San Francisco 49ers, and it marked the eighth time these two franchises have met in the postseason. That is a tie for the second-most common matchup in the Super Bowl era of the NFL. The 49ers won the game 23-17 with strong defense, rushing attacks and the ability to capitalize on the Cowboys’ mistakes.
As I watched this historic matchup, there was so much nostalgia. It made me think back to my dear friend, Dwight Clark. January 10, 2022, was actually the 40th anniversary of “The Catch,” when “Too Tall” Jones and what seemed like the entire Dallas Cowboys defense was chasing quarterback Joe Montana and Dwight was trying to lose Cowboys’ defensive back Everson Walls running across the back of Candlestick Park’s end zone. What happened next has been memorialized in sports history books forevermore: Dwight caught the winning touchdown pass thrown by Montana and the 49ers won the NFC Championship Game that year. Today, “The Catch” is known as the #1 play for the 49ers.
In analyzing the top 10 moments in the epic 49ers-Cowboys rivalry, Sports Illustrated recently named “The Catch” as No. 1. Other ranked moments included: “Roger Staubach’s rally; T.O. standing on the star in Texas Stadium; Deion Sanders and Charles Haley, swapping sides; John Madden and Pat Summerall; The Guarantee, in three-inch headlines; Brass vs. papier-mache; Tony Romo’s punctured lung; Troy Aikman’s concussion; Jimmy Johnson’s “How ‘Bout Them Cowboys?!”; Bill Walsh; Tom Landry; Joe Montana; Steve Young; Emmitt Smith; San Francisco’s Team of the 1980s; Dallas’ dynasty of the 1990s; Six NFC Championship Games, leading to five Super Bowl champions …”
… but “The Catch” remains No. 1.
This time is also especially profound because January 8 was Dwight’s birthday. (He turned 25 just two days before “The Catch.”) Dwight’s career with the NFL began in 1979; the NFL draft took place, and he went in the 10th round to Bill Walsh’s San Francisco 49ers. (You can read the story in Dwight’s own words here.) As my dear friend once described the experience: “[It was] the ultimate meeting between opportunity and preparation [that] resulted in the start of my pro football career. Yet, I know this tale could’ve had a very different ending if I hadn’t spent years running drills, if I hadn’t practiced all those long hours, if I hadn’t worked my hardest on the field each and every day.”
So, what’s the message? Dwight continues to inspire me and all those who knew him. We look up to the legacy he left behind as an extraordinary football player, leader and friend. Abraham Lincoln once said no man stands as tall as when he bends down to help a child in need. And for me, when I think of my friend, Dwight Clark, I don’t think of “The Catch” and how high he had to jump, I think of the many times I watched him bend down and help a child in need.
By Gino Blefari
This week my travels found me at home, starting Monday with my typical WIG calls. On Tuesday, I had a Berkshire Hathaway Energy call and celebrated five new HomeServices of America acquisitions (four brokerage companies and a moving company) that added 1,400 sales associates, 15,000 transactions and nearly $8 billion in closed sales volume to HomeServices’ portfolio, while strengthening the commitment we’ve made to fulfill a “customer-for-life” business model. The five acquisitions include: Bennion Deville Homes; Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Alliance Real Estate and Alliance Title Group; Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Beach Properties of Florida; Hegg Realtors®; and Joe Moholland Moving. (Here’s the link to read the full press release.) In the afternoon, I participated in an at-home photoshoot for the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Sales Convention, March 13-15 in Louisville, Kentucky. Today, I participated in a virtual “Welcome to HomeServices” orientation with the team at Bennion Deville Homes.
It’s here in my house in Northern California where I sit writing this post to you now, reflecting on one of the greatest leaders, ever, Martin Luther King, Jr., a few days before we celebrate his achievements on Monday, the official Martin Luther King Jr. Day. (Though I believe his accomplishments should be celebrated every day as we work toward even more diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace, in our industry and in our lives.)
His trajectory to excellence has always fascinated me, not only because his work would change the course of history but also because when he was a student at Crozer Theological Seminary, he received a C in public speaking. Yes, the “I Have a Dream” legend got a C. The following term, he raised the C to a C+ and do you know what happened next? In classic leadership fashion, his professors held him accountable because they knew what he was capable of, and what he could achieve. Famed Stanford history professor Clayborne Carson once wrote of MLK’s pivotal transformation that he “quickly immersed himself in Crozer’s intellectual environment.” King himself once recalled of this time in his life: “If I were a minute late to class, I was almost morbidly conscious of it … I tended to overdress, to keep my room spotless, my shoes perfectly shined, and my clothes immaculately pressed.”
The newly focused MLK did get his grades up and was not only an A student by the time he graduated but also student body president and class valedictorian. It’s the ultimate story of accountability in action and what one can achieve if they commit to and believe in their capacity for greatness.
After graduation, the stage was set for history to be made.
Over the course of his 11-year career in civil activism, MLK traveled an estimated 6 million miles and delivered 2,500 speeches. At age 35, he was the youngest man to ever receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work. (An interesting fact that speaks to the character of this leader and selflessness: When notified he had been selected, King announced that he’d turn over the $54,123 in prize money to the civil rights movement.) He also has about 900 streets named after him today and is widely regarded as one of the greatest public speakers to ever live.
But let’s return to Oct. 26, 1967, when Dr. King delivered a speech to students at Barratt Junior High School in Philadelphia. Tragically, the speech happened just six months before he was assassinated but his profound sentiments would endure as part of his legacy forever.
At the opening of the speech, Dr. King asked the students a single question: “What is your life’s blueprint?”
He explained: “When a building is constructed, you usually have an architect who draws a blueprint, and that blueprint serves as the pattern, as the guide, and a building is not well-erected without a good, solid blueprint.”
He said that in their life blueprint, the students should put two things:
So, what’s the message? In his 1967 speech to the students, Dr. King quotes Ralph Waldo Emerson, who famously said: “If a [person] can write a better book or preach a better sermon or make a better mousetrap than his neighbor, even if he builds his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door.” While King inspired through his civil activism, his ability to see the prejudices of the world and do something about creating positive change, he also inspired through his commitment to his life’s work, in his own pursuit of excellence as he honed his unique and extraordinary ability to shape the world into a place where equality isn’t just a dream, but a truth universally accepted. In this world, everyone is focused not on bringing people down but lifting people up and becoming the most exquisite version of whoever, it is they are meant to be. As Dr. King said to end his speech in Philadelphia, “Be a bush if you can’t be a tree. If you can’t be a highway, just be a trail. If you can’t be a sun, be a star. For it isn’t by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are.”
To learn more about Martin Luther King Jr.’s incredible contributions to civil rights, his life and legacy, visit www.thekingcenter.org.
By Gino Blefari
This week my travels find me starting Monday at home with my typical WIG calls. On Tuesday, I participated in the Berkshire Hathaway Energy meeting in the morning then filmed videos for multiple HomeServices of America acquisitions we’ll be announcing very soon. Today, I spent the morning at the virtual Berkshire Hathaway Energy Executive Leadership Conference, themed “Building for the Future.”
It’s noteworthy that this is the very first Thoughts on Leadership post of the new year. Ah, the new year, a time for resolutions to make … or break.
REthink report 