Everyone knows there’s not one mold from which great leaders are made. Yet it’s also known that all leaders share common traits: They inspire, they motivate, they bring about joy and cheer to every member of their team.
What leader inspires, motivates and spreads cheer and joy more than jolly, old St. Nick? If you think about it, he’s got a lot on his cookie-filled plate. And we can’t deny he’s one busy guy. Here are three reasons why St. Nick is the epitome of a great leader:
By Gino Blefari
This week my travels find me in Southern California for leadership meetings, our HSF Affiliates December Town Hall meeting and our team’s annual holiday celebration. I arrive in Irvine at the ideal time, just as we released Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices’ Q4 Homeowner Sentiment Survey to wrap up the year with a consumer-centric bow.
This week my travels find me in Boca Raton, FL but instead of talking about my meetings in the Sunshine State, I want to instead share a brilliant marketing idea I discovered on a recent trip to Dallas. The idea brings to light the importance of creative disruption and how in business you must develop, consider, reconsider, refine and modify any proposed solution to a problem in order to achieve sustainable success.
By Tiffany Curry
You’ve seen them everywhere and if you’re like most people, you hide from them. You shut off your computer; you put down your phone. What am I talking about? Online customer reviews.
More than ever, consumers are searching online for competent service providers and the largest investment of their lives—a home—is no exception. With the rise in popularity of online searches comes the sometimes-dreaded online reviews.
By Gino Blefari
This week my travels find me in Northern California, taking a few days off before I get back to work on Friday. (Yes, you read that right!) I know my usual Thursday Thoughts recount how I flew to New York on Monday and was in Arizona on Tuesday but this week, I stayed put and did something that is important, powerful—yet underrated—for all leaders to do: I recharged.
In The Power of Full Engagement, an influential book about leadership by best-selling authors Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz, the mindful duo had this to say about sprinters vs. long-distance runners:
By Phillip MacArthur
This year, while attending the 2016 Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Summit Conference in Palm Springs, CA, I heard a reoccurring theme from my colleagues: How do you work with a buyer whose hours aren’t the typical 9-5?
In my experience, these buyers tend to be entrepreneurs, police officers, financiers, small business owners and healthcare professionals, whose jobs mandate they work early in the morning or late into the night. As their trusted real estate agents, we must adjust. But how?
Here are a few tips that have helped me manage these atypical clients. My advice:
By Gino Blefari
This week my travels found me in Northern California where on Monday afternoon I had the opportunity to have lunch with my good friend, Dwight Clark, former All-Pro wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers and five-time Super Bowl champion. We were joined by another friend of mine, best-selling author Carmine Gallo, who wrote some of my all-time favorite business books, including: Talk Like Ted, The Storyteller’s Secret and The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs. Together, we spoke about the challenges and rewards of business, sports and life in general.
By Crescent Seward
On my ninth birthday I received an oddly mature, mid-century architecture coloring book full of 1960s homes and their intricate landscaping. (This was in the late 1980s well before adult coloring books became all the rage.) I poured over those pages with my colored pencils and imagined what it would be like to live in each one, play in those various backyards – and became thankful for my own sprawling front porch – which hosted many nights of capturing fireflies and laughing with my little brother.
Like most Americans approaching the Thanksgiving holiday, I’m reminded of what I’m thankful for and thought back to those simple days of childhood. While my nine-year-old self thought a big front porch to play on was pretty important, today I value a few other things in a home (walk-in closets, anyone?). I started thinking about how many different types of homes there are and how far we’ve come in architecture and technology. From drafty Victorians, electricity and indoor plumbing, tract housing, double-wide trailers, McMansions and quaint Craftsmans, to the future of smart homes – we actually have a lot for which to be thankful.
We’ve also been changing and evolving our homes well before 1989. Here are a few things I’m sure you’re thankful for, in no particular order:
By Kyle Rank
Watch this video to discover how real estate professionals are using augmented reality to enhance the home buying experience!
By Gino Blefari
This week my travels found me in Northern California, Arizona, Southern California and then back to Northern California. While in Los Angeles, I had the opportunity to attend an event honoring recently retired Chairman, president and CEO of Edison International Theodore “Ted” F. Craver, Jr. with the 2016 Western Los Angeles County Council, Boy Scouts of America Americanism Award.
According to WLACC-BSA president Mark D. Carlson, the award “is conferred on individuals who personify the traditions of our country and the Boy Scouts of America.” Other notable recipients include: General Jimmy Doolittle, Gerald R. Ford and Bob Hope.
Thoughts on Leadership 