By Gino Blefari
This week my travels find me in Rancho Mirage, CA for our 2016 Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Summit Conference. The theme for this year’s event is “storytelling and connecting,” and the two ideas couldn’t have been more central to every activity, networking opportunity, presentation and gathering that together encompassed our Summit meeting.
By Gino Blefari
This week my travels found me in New York for RISMedia’s 2016 CEO Exchange conference and I have to say, it was probably the best RISMedia CEO Exchange I’ve attended in recent years with engaging panel discussions, brilliant moderators and exciting keynote speeches.
The event kicked off with Alex Perriello, president and CEO of Realogy Franchise Group, who delivered a keynote on “The State of the Real Estate Union” and had many fantastic insights to share.
By Gino Blefari
This week my travels found me Irvine, CA at our HSF Affiliates headquarters then in Phoenix to meet with Mark Stark, CEO/owner of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Arizona Properties, Nevada Properties and California Properties. While in Phoenix, I had the opportunity to play a round of golf with Mark as well as Dennis Alaburda—agent with Arizona Properties—at Troon Country Club in Scottsdale, a world-class course that has hosted elite events like the United States Mid-Amateur Championship, Arizona Open, Ping Pro Scratch and the Merrill Lynch Shoot Out.
Being out on the greens, cacti surrounding me, the rocky Sonoran Desert hillside just beyond, I thought about one of my all-time favorite golfers, Jack Nicklaus, an athlete I admire as much for his off-the-course philosophy about life and leadership as I do for his superb skills displayed while playing the sport.
By Gino Blefari
This week my travels found me in Charleston, West Virginia to meet with the team at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Great Expectations Realty and I had the opportunity to sit next to U.S. Senator Joe Manchin at dinner Thursday night then had a brief meeting at the office of Senator Shelley Moore Capito the following day. After West Virginia it was off to Minneapolis for meetings with the HomeServices of America, Inc. board and then Northern California where I had lunch with Carmine Gallo, best-selling author of one of my favorite books, The Storyteller’s Secret. Carmine is also a keynote speaker at this month’s upcoming Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Summit Conference in Palm Springs, Sept. 18-20 and I can’t wait for him to share his wisdom with the crowd!
Our theme for 2016 Summit is “connecting” and this fits squarely with Carmine’s philosophy: The best way to connect, he says, is through the stories we tell. Think about it. What is it we really remember from meetings, trips or big events? Is it the gate number for our flight? Is it the very date a particular conference call took place? No. Those are details and they’re easily forgotten. What we remember are the stories we take away from these experiences and the stories others have shared with us. Here are three traits of inspiring storytellers, as defined by Carmine in his book:
By Gino Blefari
This week my travels found me in Lewes, DE to meet with the fantastic team at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Gallo Realty and spend time talking to Gallo Realty’s leadership team, including Broker/Owner Andrew Ratner. We sailed along the historic Lewes Canal, we dined outdoors at an incredible, 3-acre property owned by Chris Holt, COO of Gallo Realty’s The Lee Ann Wilkinson Group. We also discussed principles for success, time management and how to create an unstoppable mindset to win in business … and in life. All in all, it was time well spent and I couldn’t be prouder of the great work the Gallo Realty team is accomplishing in their marketplace.
[Pictured above: Tom Tognoli, CEO and president of Intero Real Estate Services, a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate, John Thompson, COO of Intero Real Estate Services and Dan Forsman, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties, who was recently named as 2016 Most Admired CEO by the Atlanta Business Journal … for the third year in a row!]
By Gino Blefari
This week my travels found me in Las Vegas to attend Tom Ferry’s Success Summit. During the event, Tom covered topics ranging from marketing and team-building to time management and productivity. (In between Tom’s talks Stefan Swanepoel, best-selling author and CEO of Swanepoel T3 Group, took the stage to discuss digital innovation in today’s tech-centric world.) Also front and center during Tom’s presentations: The concept of being fearless. Over and over, Tom spoke about how the absence of fear will allow you to up your real estate game and take your business to the next level … and beyond.
Pictured above: Eddie DeBartolo Jr. (center) shares a laugh with Joe Montana (left) and Carmen Policy.
By Gino Blefari
My travels last weekend brought me to San Diego for Buffini & Company’s MasterMind Summit, a powerful event focusing on personal growth and inspiration. I have to admit I was already inspired for this event after watching Eddie DeBartolo Jr.’s induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday.
While most Hall of Fame members are players and coaches, DeBartolo was inducted as a franchise owner, which says a lot. His leadership and management beliefs helped shape the way I operate in business and serve as an ideal game plan for motivation, human decency and organizational success.
By Gino Blefari
This week my travels found me in San Francisco for Inman Connect (to browse the social coverage from the event, check #ICSF). Inman Connect always proves an amazing opportunity to create and build relationships while brainstorming breakthrough ways to grow a business and this year—with an incredible lineup of speakers and motivated attendees—was no exception. Featured speakers included: Amanda Kahlow, CEO and founder of 6sense; John Thornton, partner lead at Google; Pam Costa, coach at Down To There; Amy Bohutinsky, COO at Zillow Group; Robert Thomson, chief executive at News Corp; Kelly Stonelake, creative at Facebook and Instagram; and social media maestro Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of VaynerMedia, who closed the conference with a riveting talk about the importance of social marketing to genuinely connect with clients.
By Gino Blefari
This week my travels find me in Northern California for meetings and video filming (you’ll be seeing what I filmed soon!) And in between my busy schedule it struck me that we are smack in the middle of 2016. Can you believe it? Half the year is already over!
Besides being a testament to how very fast time flies—especially when you’re having fun in your job—this halfway mark is also an important reminder to reflect on the goals you set for this year and to check in and see how far you’ve gotten toward accomplishing them. Are you on track? Behind? Ahead? If you gave yourself measurable ways to gauge your success, you’ll be able to easily see how close you’ve come to hitting those goals. Now, if you haven’t achieved your goals, here are two reasons why that might be:
By Gino Blefari
This week my travels find me in Maui, HI, splitting time between the Fairmont Kea Lani and the Montage Kapalua Bay. I’m on the island for my annual family vacation and coming off the heels of five days spent in Costa Rica for the Berkshire Elite Circle Conference, I can say I’m definitely in a tropical mindset. (In fact, just this morning I did a meditation class, a breathing class and a yoga class so I’m feeling very zen as I write this today.)
Thoughts on Leadership 