Thoughts on Leadership: Prepare to Succeed

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels find me first in Northern California and next in Phoenix, where I’m preparing for the upcoming Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices 2017 Sales Convention. Our theme for convention is “Unleashing Your Potential,” and the topic was very much on my mind as I watched the NFL Combine this week.

The event, this year held Feb. 28 – March 6, brings together more than 300 of the best college football players from across the nation to participate in the National Invitational Camp in Indiananapolis, IN. Top executives, coaching staffs, player personnel departments and medical personnel from all 32 NFL teams are in attendance and evaluate the players ahead of the upcoming NFL Draft. The NFL Combine is basically an intense, physical and mental grind, a four-day job interview for these hopeful athletes and a critical step in helping them achieve their dream of playing in the NFL.  

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Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Innovative Real Estate: New Name, Timeless Values

By Melissa Kandel

It’s no secret Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Innovative Real Estate in Denver is a brokerage powered by the concept of innovation—the word appears in the very title of the company. But to hear Broker/Owners Scott and Lora Nordby speak about what innovation means to them, the term takes on a meaning all its own.

“When we were attempting to figure out who we wanted to be, innovation was the direction we wanted to go,” explains Lora Nordby. “There were so many agents who had lost the care for their clients, and so many consumers who had been manipulated by a real estate transaction; we wanted to be able to turn those potential home buyers and sellers around and make them realize we’re an industry of assistance and information sharing, which for us was a very innovative idea.”

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Thoughts on Leadership: A Winning Culture

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels found me first in Atlanta to meet with the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties team and next in Minneapolis for a HomeServices of America, Inc. monthly board meeting. As I traveled from the East to the Midwest, there was one idea on my mind and it’s been center stage at almost every brokerage I’ve visited so far this year: culture.

Extensive articles, studies, books have all been written about this very subject, and the proliferation of literature on the topic speaks to how important it is for the success of a company. Organizations may have the latest technology, the greatest talent, the hardest-working employees but if they don’t have a positive culture, what do they really have? Culture is a sustainable competitive advantage and it’s also a byproduct of strong, inspiring leadership.

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Thoughts on Leadership: Are You Prepared?

This week my travels found me first in Pinehurst, NC on the very golf course which, since 1898 has been the playing ground for golf championships as well as champions of the sport like Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Payne Stewart. I was at the historic Carolina Hotel in Pinehurst for the GearUp 2017 awards ceremony hosted by the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Carolinas Realty family of brokerages, led by president and CEO Tommy Camp, with Maureen Sammon, president and CEO of HomeServices Lending in attendance. The event was filled with hundreds of passionate agents, all gearing up for a successful year ahead.

Next, I flew to Dallas to rehearse with my team for our upcoming Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Sales Convention in Phoenix. It always strikes me as interesting how right around this time each year, as I prepare to address thousands of our network members from our general session stage, I receive several messages wishing me good luck at the convention. I always appreciate the support and the phrase is a fascinating one to analyze in the context of effective leadership.

What does “good luck” mean anyway?

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Thoughts on Leadership: Why Sales Convention Matters

This week my travels took me to Northern California to meet with Gretchen Pearson, president of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Drysdale Properties and her team—what a great group of real estate agents and managers! I also participated in meetings and conference calls as my team gears up for our big event in Arizona.

It’s hard to believe it but we’re just one month away from the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices 2017 Sales Convention in Phoenix and if you haven’t yet registered, let me give you five reasons why you should absolutely attend:

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Thursday Thoughts on Leadership: The Mindset of a Champion

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels found me first in Las Vegas to speak with HomeServices Lending CEO and president Maureen Sammon and her team at HomeServices Lending’s Elite Producer Event. Next, it was off to Tucson to speak with our Real Living Real Estate network members for the annual Real Living Connection conference.

At each event, I spoke about the importance of a positive mindset for effective leadership and the topic couldn’t be more top of mind than after this past Sunday’s historic Super Bowl LI game.

As all of you know, the Patriots won the Super Bowl in a stunning overtime victory, claiming the Vince Lombardi Trophy I wrote about last week. The game—which many claim was the greatest Super Bowl played—boiled down to tactical errors made by the Atlanta Falcons and decisive execution on the part of the New England Patriots and their on-the-field leader, Tom Brady, and off-the-field leader, Bill Belichick.

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Network Mourns the Loss of Broker Kim Senecal, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Realty

Kim Senecal, the affable and highly successful broker/owner of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Realty in Rancho Cucamonga, died Jan. 20 from a brain aneurism. She was 71.

Senecal was a longtime Prudential Real Estate network member and her brokerage was among the first Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices companies in California. Though she operated California Realty, Senecal never stopped selling real estate and just received the rare, 25-Year Legend award. To earn this distinction, Senecal placed among the top 2% of all network agents for GCI and/or units in 25 different years. Her daughter Arika will be accepting the award on her behalf at Sales Convention 2017 in Phoenix.

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Jake Breen Joins National REthink Council as Broker Advisor

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, part of the HSF Affiliates LLC family of real estate brokerage networks, recently announced Jake Breen, managing broker at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Utah Properties, has joined the national Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices REthink Council as a broker advisor.

The national REthink Council, a millennial think tank formed in 2013, connects and inspires motivated leaders in real estate; it creates resources and tools to enhance the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices network and provides feedback to more than 25 local REthink Council chapters around the country as well as to Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices leadership.

Breen, who was previously a national member of REthink, will serve along with Vince Leisey, broker/president of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Ambassador Real Estate and broker advisor to the national council. Together Breen and Leisey will help guide the 15 top-producing members of REthink Council as they brainstorm ideas to move the brokerage network—and real estate industry—forward.

“The REthink Council provides an excellent setting to allow these top-producing Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices agents to better themselves,” said Breen. “There is power in like-minded people who are motivated to get together and discuss the latest industry trends, best practices and the future of our industry.”

Gino Blefari, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, congratulated Breen on the position. “Jake is a forward-thinking real estate leader who will help our national REthink Council members succeed.”

To connect with the REthink Council, visit Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

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Thursday Thoughts on Leadership: Winning is A Habit

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels find me first in Irvine for a meeting with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties CEO Mary Lee Blaylock and the California Properties team then off to Dallas to meet with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty Texas agent Russell Rhodes, leader of the Russell Rhodes team, PenFed Realty Texas Broker/president Rick Wylie and the entire PenFed Realty Texas team. After that I flew to Detroit and spoke with agents, managers and leadership at Real Living Kee Realty. For each meeting, I delivered several principles for success, specific ideas to follow in order to win.

It’s no surprise winning is on my mind because I just received a text from my good friend and former All-Pro wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers as well as five-time Super Bowl champion, Dwight “The Catch” Clark, who’s on his way to Houston for Super Bowl Media Week appearances. Each summer, as soon as pre-season begins, teams have one Wildly Important Goal (WIG) in mind: Make it to the Super Bowl and then, win the Vince Lombardi Trophy. This trophy—a football resting atop a pedestal that measures 22 inches and 7 pounds of sterling silver glory—is only given to the team that has proven to be the very best in the world.  

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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.

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