Fellow Members of the NAR Leadership Academy

By Bob de Camara, CRS, GRI, broker/owner of Prudential Mountain Properties, Boone, N. C.

Welcome to one of the greatest professional experiences of your life! You have been identified as a leader of the National Association of REALTORS®. You have answered the call to leadership. Before you lies a marvelous adventure. Savor the opportunity. Cement bonds of affection with your colleagues. Recognize the fleeting nature of this moment. Pour your heart and mind into it. The time and effort you invest will yield dividends tenfold. Prepare yourselves for responsibility. As a leader of the National Association of REALTORS® you stand for the interests of more than a million members and will shape the destiny of the American Homeowner. NAR is investing in you. There is the understanding that to whom much is given, much is expected. Be there with us when the call comes.

Learn and grow. Cultivate camaraderie amongst yourselves. Share openly with each other. Expose your weaknesses, trust one another, lean and be leaned upon. Listen for your inner voice; hear your communal heart; think deeply; reflect much. Learn yourself as a person to lead others from strength of self. Become a force, the Class of 2010, far more than the sum of 28 individuals. Become the heart and soul of our association. In the years ahead let our standard be the excellence of our work, our legacy that this organization through its leadership left our world a better place.