By Gino Blefari
This week my travels found me in New York City and the overwhelming theme of my trip was “steps.” Let me explain …
I was in town for the NAHREP Hispanic Wealth Project Symposium, which brings together stakeholders and national leaders to create measurable financial and wealth-building initiatives to benefit the economy. As with all NAHREP events, this one was fantastic, and served to refocus my energies around the strategies put forth in the NAHREP 10.
By Gino Blefari
This week my travels first found me in Minneapolis for a HomeServices of America, Inc. board meeting. As soon as the meeting ended, I flew into Omaha, NE to get together with the “Mavericks” that evening. The Mavericks is a small think-tank group of CEOs that meets every six months to exchange ideas and help each other grow. Each meeting is hosted by a different company; this one took place at the brand-new office of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Ambassador Real Estate and was organized by Broker/Owner Vince Leisey and his incredibly helpful staff.
By Gino Blefari
This week my travels find me in Minneapolis, MN for the HomeServices of America, Inc. leadership meeting. The meeting proved educational, invigorating and inspiring, with presentations from top leaders in our organization. Monday and Tuesday, prior to this conference, HomeServices of America, Inc. held a Leadership Development Conference, which brought together 20 rising-star leaders from across the country. I had the opportunity to talk to this group about creating a winning culture, which I firmly believe is critical for the sustained, long-term prosperity of any company. As I always say, I love what I do largely because of who I get to do it with, and that rang true as I met with my HomeServices of America, Inc. CEO family in Minneapolis.
By Gino Blefari
This week my travels find me in Palm Springs, CA for the 2016 Real Living Connection conference. The meeting has been an incredible opportunity to connect with the Real Living brokers who work hard in markets across America and I must give kudos to Bob McAdams, president of Real Living, for putting together such a powerful and inspiring event. I’ve been having a great time participating in the conference activities, and even biked almost two miles in the 95-degree sweltering desert heat yesterday to compete in an Amazing Race-style team-building event. (Hey, it’s all about commitment. Remember, if you’re INTERESTED in being successful, you do what’s convenient but if you’re committed to being successful, you’ll do whatever it takes.)
By Gino Blefari
This week my travels found me in Westlake Village, CA for the fourth annual T3 Summit—T3 because Technology, Trends and Thoughts all take center stage at the event. The Summit is hosted by the Swanepoel T3 Group, one of the most prominent information and management-consulting firms in the residential real estate industry led by real estate visionary, Stefan Swanepoel. This was my first time attending T3 Summit and I have to say it was simply terrific. I left the conference feeling not only inspired by the speakers and presentations but also enlightened to go back to work with a fresh perspective and outlook on what it means to lead.
By Gino Blefari
This week my travels found me landing at Logan International Airport in Boston, where I took an Uber to Windham, NH for a meeting with the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Verani Realty team. While in Windham, I delivered a presentation to Verani Realty agents and at lunch, had a chance to lead a two-hour training session for the fantastic leadership team: CEO Margherita Verani, President Giovanni Verani and Debbie Gallant, president of sales.
It was my first-ever trip to New Hampshire, which is the birthplace of current head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, Chip Kelly. Kelly once said one of my favorite quotes about leadership: “Everybody has the same amount of time during the day,” he explained. “You can either spend your time or invest your time.”
Isn’t that the truth?
By Gino Blefari
This week my travels found me in Honolulu, HI (yes, you read that correctly, my business travels found me in Hawaii) for the 2016 Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA) Global + Luxury Summit. While at AREAA, I had the honor of taking part in a panel discussion during the closing session of the conference to talk about luxury real estate, high-end consumer preferences, luxury lifestyle and housing trends. Joining me in the discussion was Sherry Chris, president and CEO of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate and Anne Miller, director of The RE/MAX Collection as well as Cedric Choi, CEO and director of Choi International, who was a superb moderator for the panel and participated in the discussion as well. It was a fantastic few days in the Aloha State and I have to thank the leaders of AREAA—2016 AREAA National Chairwoman Vicky Salvano; 2016 AREAA National Vice Chairwoman Angie Lee; Allen M. Okamoto, AREAA National Founding Chairman and AREAA Education Foundation, Emeritus; John Yen Wong, AREAA National Founding Chairman & Emeritus; Jim Park, AREAA National Chairman Emeritus and the rest of the fantastic AREAA team—for putting on such an engaging and dynamic event.
By Gino Blefari
Last week my travels found me first in Northern California on Friday, then Southern California at the beginning of this week and today, in Columbus, OH for a meeting with the fantastic Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Professional Realty team and Owner David Mussari, Broker Rob Arnold and Market President Michael Smith.
While in Northern California, I had the opportunity to pick up my new car—a Tesla Model X SUV—and the experience inspired me to do a little digging on Tesla CEO, co-founder and notorious boundaries-pusher, Elon Musk. Today, Musk is in the news because he just unveiled the Tesla Model 3, his first foray into more affordable, mass-market automobiles that many say will revolutionize the auto industry, signaling a change from fuel-based cars to ones that run on electricity. And though production for these cars won’t begin until 2017, the Model 3 still represents a major step forward in the evolution of the electric automobile.
By Gino Blefari
This week my travels found me in Washington, D.C. to attend the 2016 Housing Policy and Hispanic Lending Conference held by the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP).
This week my travels found me in Washington, D.C. to attend the 2016 Housing Policy and Hispanic Lending Conference held by the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP). During the conference, I had the honor of speaking on a panel moderated by 2016 NAHREP President Elect Leo Pareja, and spoke along with Sherry Chris, president and CEO of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, and Geoff Lewis, president of RE/MAX about best practices in real estate. During the panel, I discussed the “NAHREP 10,” principles put forth by the organization to allow its members to succeed. It just so happens that these guidelines are very close to my own philosophies and practices that I’ve used and embraced throughout my entire career:
By Gino Blefari
This week my travels first found me in Burbank, CA for the transition of Century 21 Crest Real Estate, now operating as Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Crest Real Estate. This fine brokerage has 25 proud years serving Burbank, La Crescenta and Sunland and is on a mission to grow. At their transition event, you could practically feel the excitement in the air; everyone on that team is ready to go forward as a member of the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices family.
After Burbank, I was on my way to Dallas to get ready for the 2016 Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Sales Convention. (Be sure to follow the brand on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat for the latest updates from the #REvdUp2016 event.) I took my usual Uber to the airport in California and once in Dallas, was planning to call an Uber again to take me to the Omni Hotel. I must confess I’m no stranger to the app-based taxi service, which I find convenient and always reliable in getting me where I need to go. I’m also intrigued by Uber’s steadfastness in the face of certain speed bumps on their road to success. So far, long-standing regulations and legal obstacles haven’t stopped the company from finding rapid and expansive growth.
So, here I am in Dallas, about to call my Uber when I notice a new option on the screen: “UberPITCH,” it reads. Immediately, I’m intrigued.
Thoughts on Leadership 