Thoughts on Leadership: Gathering Of Eagles 2016

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels find me in Dallas for REAL Trends 2016 Gathering of Eagles. The event brings together top leaders in real estate and allows us to collaborate and share ideas. It was also my chance to reconnect with my friend, All-Pro Dallas Cowboys/New York Giants defensive back Everson Walls, whom I had met several weeks ago during our Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices theme party at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX. I didn’t know it when we first connected in Texas—though I could tell he was a quality, great guy—but Everson actually gave a kidney to former Cowboys teammate Ron Springs and documents the moving story in his book, A Gift for Ron: Friendship and Sacrifice On and Off the Gridiron. What an incredible, selfless person! Everson is now a public speaker and can talk on any subject, so while I had him captive at breakfast, I asked him to tell me about the different cultures created by the coaches he played for: Eddie Robinson from Grambling State University, Tom Landry from the Dallas Cowboys, Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick when Everson played on the Super Bowl-winning New York Giants team. I shared what Everson told me with the REAL Trends group.

Posted by HomeServices of America

Thoughts on Leadership: Two First-Time Trips and What I Learned

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels found me landing at Logan International Airport in Boston, where I took an Uber to Windham, NH for a meeting with the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Verani Realty team. While in Windham, I delivered a presentation to Verani Realty agents and at lunch, had a chance to lead a two-hour training session for the fantastic leadership team: CEO Margherita Verani, President Giovanni Verani and Debbie Gallant, president of sales.

It was my first-ever trip to New Hampshire, which is the birthplace of current head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, Chip Kelly. Kelly once said one of my favorite quotes about leadership: “Everybody has the same amount of time during the day,” he explained. “You can either spend your time or invest your time.”

Isn’t that the truth?

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Thursday Thoughts on Leadership: Connecting in Hawaii

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels found me in Honolulu, HI (yes, you read that correctly, my business travels found me in Hawaii) for the 2016 Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA) Global + Luxury Summit. While at AREAA, I had the honor of taking part in a panel discussion during the closing session of the conference to talk about luxury real estate, high-end consumer preferences, luxury lifestyle and housing trends. Joining me in the discussion was Sherry Chris, president and CEO of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate and Anne Miller, director of The RE/MAX Collection as well as Cedric Choi, CEO and director of Choi International, who was a superb moderator for the panel and participated in the discussion as well. It was a fantastic few days in the Aloha State and I have to thank the leaders of AREAA—2016 AREAA National Chairwoman Vicky Salvano; 2016 AREAA National Vice Chairwoman Angie Lee; Allen M. Okamoto, AREAA National Founding Chairman and AREAA Education Foundation, Emeritus; John Yen Wong, AREAA National Founding Chairman & Emeritus; Jim Park, AREAA National Chairman Emeritus and the rest of the fantastic AREAA team—for putting on such an engaging and dynamic event.

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Thursday Thoughts on Leadership: The Secret to Success

By Gino Blefari

Last week my travels found me first in Northern California on Friday, then Southern California at the beginning of this week and today, in Columbus, OH for a meeting with the fantastic Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Professional Realty team and Owner David Mussari, Broker Rob Arnold and Market President Michael Smith.

While in Northern California, I had the opportunity to pick up my new car—a Tesla Model X SUV—and the experience inspired me to do a little digging on Tesla CEO, co-founder and notorious boundaries-pusher, Elon Musk. Today, Musk is in the news because he just unveiled the Tesla Model 3, his first foray into more affordable, mass-market automobiles that many say will revolutionize the auto industry, signaling a change from fuel-based cars to ones that run on electricity. And though production for these cars won’t begin until 2017, the Model 3 still represents a major step forward in the evolution of the electric automobile.

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Thoughts on Leadership: The Storyteller’s Secret

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels find me in Southern California for a meeting with the HomeServices of America, Inc. board and to work with our staff at HQ on products and services that will help our brokerage networks achieve even greater success this year. Just before arriving in California, I had finished The Storyteller’s Secret by best-selling author Carmine Gallo—who also wrote one of my favorite books, Talk Like TED—about the power of stories to impress, illuminate and inspire.

“We’re all storytellers,” Gallo writes. “We don’t call ourselves storytellers but it’s what we do every day.” He goes on to explain that in this twenty-first century age of information—the “knowledge economy”—we are only as valuable as our ideas. In the spirit of idea-sharing, here are five of my favorite concepts Gallo presents in his book:

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Thursday Thoughts on Leadership: My Take on the NAHREP 10

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels found me in Washington, D.C. to attend the 2016 Housing Policy and Hispanic Lending Conference held by the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP).

This week my travels found me in Washington, D.C. to attend the 2016 Housing Policy and Hispanic Lending Conference held by the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP). During the conference, I had the honor of speaking on a panel moderated by 2016 NAHREP President Elect Leo Pareja, and spoke along with Sherry Chris, president and CEO of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, and Geoff Lewis, president of RE/MAX about best practices in real estate. During the panel, I discussed the “NAHREP 10,” principles put forth by the organization to allow its members to succeed. It just so happens that these guidelines are very close to my own philosophies and practices that I’ve used and embraced throughout my entire career:

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Thursday Thoughts on Leadership: An Uber Idea

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels first found me in Burbank, CA for the transition of Century 21 Crest Real Estate, now operating as Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Crest Real Estate. This fine brokerage has 25 proud years serving Burbank, La Crescenta and Sunland and is on a mission to grow. At their transition event, you could practically feel the excitement in the air; everyone on that team is ready to go forward as a member of the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices family.

After Burbank, I was on my way to Dallas to get ready for the 2016 Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Sales Convention. (Be sure to follow the brand on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat for the latest updates from the #REvdUp2016 event.) I took my usual Uber to the airport in California and once in Dallas, was planning to call an Uber again to take me to the Omni Hotel. I must confess I’m no stranger to the app-based taxi service, which I find convenient and always reliable in getting me where I need to go. I’m also intrigued by Uber’s steadfastness in the face of certain speed bumps on their road to success. So far, long-standing regulations and legal obstacles haven’t stopped the company from finding rapid and expansive growth.

So, here I am in Dallas, about to call my Uber when I notice a new option on the screen: “UberPITCH,” it reads. Immediately, I’m intrigued.

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5 Questions for Peter Turtzo, SVP of International Operations

Peter Turtzo is the Senior Vice President of International Operations for HSF Affiliates LLC, responsible for establishing strategy and process for Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices’ growth into international markets and later, for the affiliation of brokerages abroad. He comes to HSF Affiliates with a wealth of experience not only in international real estate franchising but also in the real estate industry as a third-generation broker.

Previously, Turtzo worked for 16 years in various leadership roles at Realogy Holding Corp. In 2005, he was appointed vice president of Global Operations at Sotheby’s International Realty and for the next eight years developed that brand in 43 countries and territories. He served the last two years as vice president of Global Operations at Coldwell Banker.

Recently, we sat down with the SVP of International Operations and asked him five questions about the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices brand and what its footprint might look like abroad.

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Thursday Thoughts on Leadership: Win the Earnhardt Way

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels find me in Indianapolis to meet with the talented team at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Indiana Realty. Spending time with the agents and managers at Indiana Realty, including co-founders Kevin Kirkpatrick and John Dick, as well as Chief Operating Officer Craig West, was an incredibly rewarding experience, and all attendees were in warm spirits despite the cold weather and impeding snow.

While driving to the Indiana Realty event, I had the opportunity to catch glimpses of the Indianapolis skyline from my car window and it’s difficult to be in that city without thinking of its most iconic event—the Indianapolis 500. The race is especially front and center this year, as the Indy 500 is set to hold its 100^th running May 29.

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Thursday Thoughts on Leadership: Book of Business and the Business of Books

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels find me in the rainy Pacific Northwest for meetings with the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Northwest Real Estate team, including president/CEO Jason Waugh and Northwest Real Estate Chairman Mike Gain. I started off by speaking to our Seattle-based agents and managers then drove with Jason and the event’s keynote speaker, Ashton Gustafson, 174 miles on I-5 southbound to Portland.

I was thrilled to spend time with both Jason and Ashton—Jason for his consummate professionalism and leadership of the Northwest Real Estate brokerage and Ashton because I was intrigued by the speech he delivered in Seattle that spoke about the importance of connection. Essentially, Ashton’s message was that no matter how much you tweet or post or snap in today’s tech-centric world, real estate is still about genuine, personal connection. It doesn’t matter, he might argue, if you achieve real connection through handwritten notes, in-person meetings or even a casual drop by to visit a past client; real estate is not an online business. Real estate is a people business.

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