By Gino Blefari
This week my travels find me in New York City, in particular at the prestigious Harvard Club for RISMedia’s Real Estate CEO Exchange, which brings together more than 225 powerhouse real estate leaders from all brands and all sectors of the industry to strategize on how best to meet the needs of today’s consumer.
I’ve been attending this event for more than 20 years and you might ask yourself why I go back to the same conference year after year … Well, here’s why …
By Gino Blefari
This week my travels find me in St. Charles, MO at the Whitmoor Country Club for the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Alliance Real Estate Golf Tournament benefitting the Sunshine Kids. Before we hit the green, I met with the Alliance Real Estate team to talk about 8 principles of success and the 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX). I’ve visited the brokerage many times before and each time I’m reminded that Alliance Real Estate has forward-thinking leaders at its helm: CEO/Owner Andrea Lawrence; President/Co-Owner Kevin Goffstein; and Executive Vice President/Co-Owner Bob Bax. It was evident from this meeting that the company is poised for even greater success in the St. Louis marketplace.
After our meeting it was off to a day of golf, and everyone—including actor and Sunshine Kids Executive Director G.W. Bailey who was in attendance for the event—had one goal in mind: Raise money for the Sunshine Kids.
By Gino Blefari
This week my travels find me in Northern California, taking meetings, organizing calls and just this morning, leading a teleconference with Debbie De Grote, founder/CEO of Excelleum Coaching & Consulting all about business planning. For all of us, a business plan is vital because even as an agent we must think of ourselves as a business, and all businesses must have a plan. Remember the wise words of Benjamin Franklin: “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”
Some may think it’s strange though to have a business-planning call at the end of August but there’s a reason for this exact timing. During my 30+ years in the real estate business—as an agent, a manager and an owner of a company—I’ve always found that there’s a cash flow problem in the months of January and February. This applies to agents as much as it does to owners.
Why? Because real estate operates on a 90-day cycle, so what we do 90 days before gets paid out 90 days later. This means a lag in business during the fall months will show up in Q1 of the new year. The lag is understandable, though avoidable; it’s obvious to notice right after Halloween a great number of agents go into hibernation. There’s Thanksgiving, the holidays … life gets busy and business gets put on the back burner. (Extrapolate those 90 days during this lull and you’ll understand clearly why cash-flow problems plague us in January and February.)
To get you started, access our Business Planning Essentials by clicking HERE.
This week my travels found me first in Rolling Hills Estates, CA, meeting with Bruce Short, broker/owner at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties; Mistydawn Jones, branch manager at California Properties; Denise Scarpetti, California Properties director of operations; Rick Elorriaga, vice president at California Properties; and members of the California Properties team. I was also working with our HSF Affiliates team in Irvine, CA. It’s been a busy few days but the time has been spent connecting with colleagues and friends—through a new employee orientation, at a California Properties awards event, during our HSF Affiliates Town Hall.
In business, networking and connecting is absolutely vital—the right connections can not only help you achieve your goals but also provide a richness to your life you can’t get from operating in insolation. Genuine connections are hard to find but essential to maintain. How do you connect with others in a way that’s both authentic and powerful? Watch the video for more …
GINO BLEFARI is CEO of HSF Affiliates LLC. You can follow Gino on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
By Gino Blefari
This week my travels found me in Tampa, Florida for the biannual meeting of the Mavericks, a small think tank of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices network CEOs who get together to exchange ideas and foster company growth. This particular meeting was hosted by Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Properties Group and the brokerage’s leadership team of Broker/Owner Dewey Mitchell and Broker/Owner Allen Crumbley. For three days, we bonded—eating breakfast, lunch and dinner together between meetings—and for three days we discussed Florida Property Group’s strengths and challenges. (At the next Mavericks meeting Dewey and Allen will report back on changes implemented.) It was an inspiring conference, as it always is, and I had four key takeaways from the meeting that I want to share with you now:
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.
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.
By Gino Blefari
This week my travels find me in Irvine, CA at our HSF Affiliates LLC headquarters for a Sales and Service conference. The conference brought together our sales, service, operations, education and business consulting teams for a collective, three-day event filled with presentations, team-building activities and idea-sharing. As you know, I’m a firm believer in setting Wildly Important Goals (WIGs) and not just setting these WIGS but also limiting them to only the very most important achievements you need to get done. These were our two WIGs for the meeting:
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 Gino Blefari
This week my travels find me in Orlando for the National Association of REALTORS® Conference & Expo, a yearly event that brings together real estate professionals from across the country … and the globe. Our HSF Affiliates brands will be proudly represented on the Expo floor—come say hello to our team at Booth No. 1565—as thousands of attendees connect, learn and ultimately build relationships that will help grow their businesses.
In this post, though, I want to focus on the value of connection because I firmly believe it lays the groundwork for all we do, is a major determinant of future success and in many ways, can define who we are. Without real connection we have next to nothing; no authenticity, no substance, no trust and no foundation upon which to build lasting relationships that will propel us forward.
The question often comes up: How do you best connect at large events like the NAR Conference & Expo, when the crowd can sometimes be overwhelming and the opportunities so vast? Here’s my answer (or my five answers), about how to foster meaningful connections at your next meeting—whether it’s at the upcoming NAR convention, an office networking event or holiday party:
Thoughts on Leadership 