THOUGHTS ON LEADERSHIP: TEAM CHEMISTRY

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels found me at home (as you rightly guessed), kicking off Monday with my typical weekly WIG calls. On Tuesday I had my Berkshire Hathaway Energy weekly president’s meeting and on Wednesday, I first met with the teams at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Michigan Real Estate, Indiana Real Estate, Tomie Raines REALTORS® and Executive Realty and presented on mindset and leadership in the time of COVID-19. Later that day, I presented the “West Coast Offense” to a prospect from Hawaii and then gave my “4DX Tune Up” presentation to the team at the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Carolinas Realty family of brokerages. Finally, today I was on a Zoom introduction with three exciting new brokerage prospects.

In every meeting and presentation this week, there was a common theme: teams. A leader can operate in isolation, but a leader succeeds as part of a team. It’s not by accident that I’ve been thinking so much about teams – this week I listened to “Intangibles: Unlocking the Science and Soul of Team Chemistry,” a fascinating book authored by veteran sportswriter Joan Ryan.

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THOUGHTS ON LEADERSHIP: IN DEFENSE OF DOWNTIME

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By Gino Blefari

This week my travels find me at home (of course), meeting virtually with our teams around the world. On Monday, I participated in a global alignment session with prospects from Athens and The Bahamas, on Tuesday I was on a Global Alignment session with prospects from Prague and later that day, I gave a 4DX Tune-up presentation to the leadership team at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties. I finished my Tuesday with another 4DX Tune-up presentation for the leadership team at Iowa Realty. I’ll spend the rest of the week wrapping up WIG calls and check-ins to prepare for the long weekend ahead.

As I like to say, when you’re at work, be at work. When you’re off, be off. It’s just as important to be in the moment during your downtime as it is to be focused during go-time when you’re working hard with team members to execute and accomplish your goals

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THOUGHTS ON LEADERSHIP: CHANGE TAKES CHARGE

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels (virtually) found me first on Monday completing my regular round of calls, which included my 4DX call with the franchise sales team followed by a weekly update call with all of the national department heads at HomeServices of America, followed by the 4DX call with 30 CEOs of HomeServices of America companies. Tuesday, I discussed 4DX with the leadership team at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Realty, then I finished my day with a HomeServices of America team meeting. On Wednesday, I participated in an Ebby Halliday Facebook Live chat with CEO Chris Kelly. Today, I was a guest speaker on a Zoom with the Northern California Women’s Council of Realtors, presenting Mindset Leadership & Marketing Amid COVID-19. Finally, tomorrow I’ll wrap up my week talking all things 4DX with the leadership team at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago.

Between virtual meetings and the whirlwind of everyday work, I’ve been revisiting the key insights from some of my favorite business books, “The Leadership Challenge” by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner. Particularly applicable is the authors’ chapter on leading through change, and the importance of being proactive about changing course when challenges present themselves. They place emphasis on combatting challenge with change, and even purport that it’s a leader’s top priority to do so.

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THOUGHTS ON LEADERSHIP: THE VALUE OF PETS

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels found me first on Tuesday sharing my leadership story with the team at the newly launched Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Alaska Realty, including Connie Yoshimura, Alaska Realty broker/owner. The presentation was followed by a Facebook live chat with Mark Stark, CEO/owner at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Nevada Properties, Arizona Properties and California Properties.

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THOUGHTS ON LEADERSHIP: TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE

By Gino Blefari

This week I taught in a 4DX virtual training with the Guarantee Real Estate leadership team. On Wednesday and today, I’m virtually hosting the HomeServices of America CEO Leadership Conference.

Specifically, the conference was organized to address COVID-19 from a future-thinking perspective.  How will business look in a post-COVID-19 world? What could be transformational about how we approach strategies, execution and successs?  

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THOUGHTS ON LEADERSHIP: WHEN THOUGHTS WON’T DO

This week as I sat down to write Thoughts on Leadership, I asked myself: What happens when thoughts won’t do? I cannot begin to understand the suffering, the agony or the hurt of the Black community after the death of George Floyd. This time, thoughts won’t do. But leadership is about a positive mindset and a commitment to actionable solutions that will empower, inspire and most importantly, create change.

And to create change, I can listen. We can all listen. We can learn. We can focus on perpetual improvement, becoming better tomorrow than we were today. And that starts now, which is why this post is coming to you three days early.

So, what’s the message? There isn’t one, definitive way to process the complex issues and difficult conversations that need to happen right now. There is, however, a universal shift to make toward greater inclusivity and even more support. We cannot be indifferent to make a difference. We must continue to provide the opportunity of home ownership for all communities fairly and without bias, whether intentional or unconscious. Now and forever our duty is not only to help every consumer buy or sell a home – it’s also to create a home that welcomes everyone.

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THOUGHTS ON LEADERSHIP: MEMORIAL DAY REFLECTIONS

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels find me yet again at home, just like you. On Tuesday, I presented the Four Disciplines of Execution (4DX) to Intero’s leadership team and then participated in Long & Foster’s monthly Shareholder’s Meeting. Today I’m filming various projects for HomeServices of America.

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THOUGHTS ON LEADERSHIP: STORIES OF THE LAST DANCE

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels virtually found me participating in the all-company meeting with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Ambassador Real Estate on Tuesday as well as a Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices alignment session followed by an all-company meeting with the team at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties and finally, a Sales Convention 2021 input call to finish a busy day. On Wednesday, I had a HomeServices of America board meeting and today, I’m on round three of contingency plan calls with our CEOs and CFOs.

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THOUGHTS ON LEADERSHIP: REMEMBERING DON SHULA

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels find me, well, at home, but virtually connected to our leaders across the globe. On Monday, I kicked off CEO 4DX WIG calls, the beginning of a cadence of regular accountability where execution really happens. These regular and frequent meetings are for teams that own their Wildly Important Goals. On this initial call, I had our CEOs report out on seven of eight items—things like “My WIG for last week was ____ and the result was ____,” “My WIG for this week is _____,” “My lead measure for this week’s WIGS are …” and more. If you haven’t started doing weekly 4DX WIG calls with your team, take this blog post as a reminder to implement them now. They’ll be a gamechanger for producing results despite the whirlwind of all the challenges leaders today face.

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THOUGHTS ON LEADERSHIP: STRENGTHENING YOUR TEAM

This week my travels find me … (say it with me) home. I’m virtually meeting with team members, taking conference calls and joining Zoom discussions with leaders around the world. Besides the whirlwind, I participated in a Facebook and Zoom livestream with our network’s No.1 company, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach, REALTORS®. On Tuesday, I was with our Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices global leaders. I was on with Toronto, Porto, Lisbon, Vilamoura, Algarve, Barcelona, Berlin, Frankfurt, Madrid, Milan, Piacenza, Dubai and London. On Wednesday I participated in a joint all-company training with Roberts Brothers and RealtySouth. I also virtually met with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago for a company-wide Town Hall. Finally, today I was honored to join Chris Stuart in the Facebook Live “Forever Forum.”

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