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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Thursday Thoughts on Leadership: What it Means to Win

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels find me in Irvine, CA, where it seems as if the entire state is gearing up to host Super Bowl 50 on Sunday. And while my 49ers didn’t quite make it to the big game, it does take place right on my home turf, at Levi’s® Stadium in Santa Clara.

If you look at the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers, you’ll know Super Bowl 50 should be an interesting contest of the league’s two best defenses that pits prodigy quarterback Cam Newton of the Panthers against veteran quarterback, Peyton Manning of the Broncos. It’s also an intriguing matchup when you take into account the rumors circulating that this Super Bowl game might be Peyton’s last. In fact, browse any sports news website and you’ll be met with a hailstorm of headlines debating this very question. Will he or won’t he? Would a Broncos win on Sunday change everything?

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Thoughts on Leadership: Working Harder Always Wins

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels find me in Florida; I first flew to Panama City, grabbed my rental car and drove to Santa Rosa Beach for the launch of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Beach Properties of Florida, a fine company led by Hunter Harman, John David Sullivan and Price Rainer. Then, I drove up to Jacksonville for an awards celebration with Linda Sherrer, Christy Budnick and the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Network Realty team.

The Florida Network Realty event was Olympics-themed with most attendees dressed in Grecian-style togas. Held at the enormous EverBank Field in Jacksonville, the celebration was filled with hundreds of Florida Network Realty agents eager to commemorate their achievements and get inspired for even more success ahead.

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Thursday Thoughts on Leadership: Beyond the Barn

By Gino Blefari

Good evening! This week my travels find me in Raleigh, NC for a meeting with Tommy Camp, president and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Carolinas Realty and his fantastic managers. After talking leadership, best practices and recruiting with the team, we had dinner at the historic Angus Barn, a decades-old barn-turned-restaurant that is a celebrated staple of the local dining scene. (Our meal actually took place in the basement, an incredible space that featured a table so large it took up most of the room.)

The Angus Barn—also known as “Big Red”—was officially opened for business on June 28, 1960 with novice restaurateurs Thad Eure Jr. and Charles Winston running the show. Neither men had any experience operating a restaurant; perhaps this was why they so boldly disregarded their detractors who said the Angus Barn project couldn’t be done. Who, these critics questioned, would visit a restaurant located along a narrow, two-lane road, desolate save a few telephone stations dotting the way?

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Thursday Thoughts on Leadership: Happy New Year

As 2016 approaches and 2015 comes to a close, I want to reflect for a moment on a fantastic year gone by.

Our Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices network has grown to more than 40,000 agents and 1,200 offices operating in all but three states. As important, we’re adding elite, new affiliates in key U.S. markets while our current family of brokerages continues to thrive. This year we announced our intentions to expand across the globe while making serious strides to capture the international buyer’s market here at home. Watch for more on this exciting initiative in 2016! In addition, we gave away $50,000 in a record-setting sweepstakes with HGTV superstars Chip and Joanna Gaines, launched at a packed Sales Convention in Las Vegas.

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Network Update from Gino Blefari, CEO of HSF Affiliates LLC

Our Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices brand keeps growing. We now count more than 40,000 agents and 1,200 offices in 47 states. Learn about our recently recognized agents as well as upcoming Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices events in HSF Affiliates CEO Gino Blefari’s network update.

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Thoughts on Leadership: Why You Shouldn’t Just Try

By Gino Blefari

This week, Inc. Magazine asked me to name one jargon term I thought should be eliminated from business-speak. My pick? “Try.”

Let me explain: “Try” is the absolute archenemy to accomplishment, a word loathed by leaders around the world … and beyond. (Even Jedi Master Yoda famously said, “Do or do not. There is no try.”)

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Thoughts on Leadership: Texas Travels

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels find me in San Antonio for Real Living Momentum 2015, an event celebrating Real Living sales professionals from around the country. As I spend time in this Texas town lined by river walks and traditional, Spanish-style architecture, it’s hard not to imagine how the city appeared in the early 19^th century, when the west was far wilder and brave frontiersmen and women fought tirelessly to safeguard their land.

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Thoughts on Leadership: Motivated in Massachusetts

By Gino Blefari

“Now the first of December was covered with snow, and so was the turnpike from Stockton to Boston. The Berkshires seemed dream-like on account of that frosting, with ten miles behind me and ten thousand more to go.” – James Taylor, Sweet Baby James, 1970

This week my travels find me all around Massachusetts and the entire experience feels just like a return home. Yes, it’s true that I’m a mere 50 miles from my hometown of Pittsfield, MA, a city shaped by vast swathes of picturesque countryside and tucked into the heart of the Berkshires, but beyond the familiar New England locale, it’s really the warmth of the people I’ve met that makes this trip seem familiar as a good old James Taylor song.

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Thoughts on Leadership: Are You All In?

Pictured above (L to R): John Thompson; Gino Blefari; Brian Buffini; Tom Tognoli; Darren Hardy; Dermot Buffini; Brian Wildermuth; and Mike Lancaster backstage just moments before Darren Hardy addressed the crowd.

By Gino Blefari
This week my travels again found me in San Diego for the Buffini & Company 2015 Mastermind Summit. Each year I try to attend this spectacular event and each year I walk away with new insights that can be applied to every aspect of business, leadership and life. (As Brian Buffini, founder and chairman of Buffini & Company said, “Our mission is to impact and improve your business and your life; plain and simple, we are here to help.”) So what, you may ask, was my big takeaway in 2015? I’ll sum it up with two words: All In.

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