THOUGHTS ON LEADERSHIP: LEARNING FROM THE MASTERS

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels find me at home, starting Monday with my typical Monday WIG calls. On Wednesday and Thursday, I participated in the HomeServices of America Belonging Summit, led by Teresa Palacios Smith, Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, HomeServices of America.

To recharge after a busy but fulfilling week, I plan this weekend to watch the last two rounds of the Masters, which takes place at Augusta National Golf Course.

I’ve written before about the Masters, and if you’re a longtime reader of this blog, you’ll know I often draw references between sports and leadership. Golf, to me, is so much like leadership because for the most part, it’s a solitary sport – the work you put in shows in your results, just like it does when you lead a team. Here are a few more lessons we can learn from the Masters:

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Thursday Thoughts on Leadership: Travel to Learn

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels find me in the city of St. Louis to meet with the team at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Select Properties, an amazing group of real estate professionals who prove with crystal-clear assurance what you can achieve when you have a strong, vibrant culture at your brokerage business.

I have to tell you, being in St. Louis was really an eye-opening trip for me. I’ve long been a fan of the idea that new eyes see old things in new ways and sometimes, these “eyes” aren’t literal eyes but instead places, things and experiences that widen your perspective in ways you never thought possible. Travel, in this sense, is more than just going from one place to another but instead a complete mindset shift and a chance to learn what you otherwise would never have known. For instance, who knew that there’s an area of St. Louis called “The Hill,” home to baseball greats Yogi Berra and Joe Gargiola Sr., who spent their childhood living across the street from one another on Elizabeth Avenue?

“Not only was I not the best catcher in the Major Leagues,” Gargiola once famously said, “I wasn’t even the best catcher on my street!”

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Thursday Thoughts on Leadership: Lose Graciously

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels found me Irvine, CA at our HSF Affiliates headquarters then in Phoenix to meet with Mark Stark, CEO/owner of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Arizona Properties, Nevada Properties and California Properties. While in Phoenix, I had the opportunity to play a round of golf with Mark as well as Dennis Alaburda—agent with Arizona Properties—at Troon Country Club in Scottsdale, a world-class course that has hosted elite events like the United States Mid-Amateur Championship, Arizona Open, Ping Pro Scratch and the Merrill Lynch Shoot Out.

Being out on the greens, cacti surrounding me, the rocky Sonoran Desert hillside just beyond, I thought about one of my all-time favorite golfers, Jack Nicklaus, an athlete I admire as much for his off-the-course philosophy about life and leadership as I do for his superb skills displayed while playing the sport.

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