As told by Leslie Rouda-Smith, Otto Catrina and Pat Pipkin
The NAR Leadership Academy is going through some changes. Beginning with the selection process for the 2012 class applicants may now be asked for an in person or Skype interview. Chairman of the Academy Advisory Board Leslie Rouda-Smith, “The goal of the Academy is to identify those with potential for leadership at the national level. The interviews give us a chance to discover each person as an individual and find out their passions to create a mix of people that will progress and grow.” With this in mind the advisory board is going to choose a smaller size class than previous years, “we’ll make sure that we have a complementary group of talents and diversity for leadership at NAR.”
“Each of us on the board put in hours of time reviewing the applications before we get to the actual selection meeting. The diversity of perspectives among the board members in the room and the open dialogue we have during the process really contributes to what we hope will be a well-rounded representation of our membership” says, Otto Catrina, Vice Chairman of the board. The Advisory Board is a group of ten; eight REALTORS®, two of which are graduates of the Academy; one state Association Executive and one local Association Executive. They met during the recent Midyear Business meetings in Washington DC to begin the selection process for the class that will graduate in May 2012.
“The advisory board is always looking for ways to improve the program and the interviews are a change in process that allows the board to connect faces and names, it’s a benefit for the candidate and to the selection process” says Pat Pipkin of New Mexico, immediate past Chairman of the board. “With the smaller, more elite group size and the use of interviews, we hope to get a really dynamic group of future leaders.”
The Leadership Academy Advisory board is:
Leslie Rouda-Smith, Chairman from Plano, Texas, Otto Catrina, Vice Chairman from Castro Valley, California, Pat Pipkin, Immediate Past Chairman from Santa Fe, New Mexico, Jill Beck, Executive Vice President of North Dakota Association of REALTORS®, Bonnie J. Boyd from Mentor, Ohio, Ingrid Glancy, from Denver, Colorado, Brenda G. Ghibaudi, CRS, PMN from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Dwight Hale, from San Antonio, Texas, Theresa Hatton, Executive Vice President of the Greenwich Association of REALTORS®, Mary T. McCall from Tampa, Florida.
When members of the 2011 NAR Leadership Academy met in Chicago for session IV, we knew we were near the end of our time together; not surprisingly, our class has grown closer and friendships have gotten stronger. After all, learning and building relationships are paramount to the program’s success. Even though we have our own aspirations and are determined to succeed, we work as a team and are supportive of the collective efforts and achievements. Together we’ve helped build and pave the future of our profession. Synergy among our group is outstanding.
We started the session with a Tuesday evening reception where we mingled and got caught up on business and personal affairs. On Wednesday morning, Chairman of the Advisory Board Leslie Rouda-Smith offered some opening remarks, followed by Vice Chairman Otto Catrina, who hosted a session entitled “Modeling the Way.” He offered these characteristics of great leaders: Honesty, forward looking, competency, inspiring, credibility and shared values. Otto shared his own experience as a member of first Academy class and pointed out how his leadership experience evolved.
Later we toured the Realtor® building, an amazing experience. We met with a wide range of department heads and staff representing the library and Information Central, Center for Realtor® Technology, Marketing and Business Development, Realtor® University, Commercial, Conventions, the NAR Executive Offices, and the Global Alliance. Passion and dedication from our staff was clearly displayed by all.
The Chopping Block was our dinner destination. It’s a cooking school and retail space that let guests cook their own dinner. Wow! What an awesome team-building activity. As we walked into the “kitchen,” appetizers and drinks were offered. We had professional chefs assist us through the entire evening. We will long remember this wonderful experience.
The next day, we received a great deal of insight into the complex organization that comprises NAR. Erin Campo from NAR Executive Offices provided the NAR Governance overview. She explained the importance of the expertise profile and the responsibilities and criteria necessary for committee involvement. It is interesting to learn about the appointment process, where each year 1,500 positions are filled based on 7,000 recommendations from 2,000 applicants.
We also heard from national leaders. Elizabeth Mendenhall, Vice President and Liaison to Committees, shared the NAR strategic planning vision, its purpose and process. And, Charles McMillan, 2009 NAR President, offered insight regarding his path to national leadership and the rewards and sacrifices of being President of the world’s largest trade organization.
As we finished the session, we had to say good bye and look forward to our final session in Washington DC during the spring meetings in May. We look forward to our graduation and one more opportunity to celebrate our accomplishments together! Must say the Class of 2011 rocks!
Kevin Sears, 2011 Chairman RPAC Trustee
Here’s a thought every Realtor® should take to heart: If you’re not helping to shape legislation that benefits the real estate industry, someone else will be; and that person may be determined to work against what’s in the best interests of the housing market and home ownership.
One constant for me as a Realtor® is to combine my business affairs with remaining politically active. Early in my career, I cut my teeth serving on behalf of the Massachusetts Realtors®, on both Government Affairs & RPAC and learned how important it is to have a voice in politics. In fact, I was born on Election Day in 1971, the same day my father was re-elected to the Springfield (MA) City Council!
As Chairman of the National RPAC Trustees, I participated in the 2011 AE Institute meetings held in Dallas, March 18-22. My objectives when meeting with the Association Executives were twofold: First, spread the word about RPAC and encourage AEs and their members to contribute; and second, I wanted to help inform the AEs about NAR’s new Political Survival Initiatives and encourage them to support the initiatives and to get involved.
RPAC has been around for more than 40 years, and in Washington it’s one of the largest and most well respected political action committees. The key to its success has been its focus on getting members of Congress to support the Realtor® Party, no matter what their political party affiliation. It doesn’t matter if the legislator is a Democrat, a Republican or Independent; we just want them to be a major supporter of the Realtor Party.
From a long-term perspective, we plan to expand our involvement with the AEs in order to help bring their associations more into the political process. Right now, Realtors® work with members of Congress to advocate for the Realtor® Party. We especially want to enhance that model at the state and local level. If we can get a Realtor® to make friends with someone on their city council, maybe that person will get elected mayor, or to the state legislature, or even to Congress. Elected officials who are on our side when they break into politics should continue to support Realtor® and home ownership issues their entire political careers.
And, one personal goal: Get newer Realtors®, like those involved with the YPN group, involved in the political process and contributing to RPAC. It can start with a contribution, which is an investment in your own business, it makes you part of the political process and can contribute to your success.
I simultaneously served as NAR RPAC Trustee and as part of the inaugural class of the Leadership Academy in 2008. I like to think that my journey through both was successful for a couple of reasons. First, we are so fortunate to have such dedicated staff members who helped guide me through the process. And second, I try to take advantage of my strengths and core competencies, while getting help when I needed some help. I believe that NAR’s new Political Survival Initiative will add enormous muscle to a key strength of this organization, and I’m proud to be part of it.
Technology clearly has transformed the way we live. But from another perspective, technology also has transformed the way leaders communicate with constituents, stakeholders and influencers. Furthermore, it has changed the real estate industry.
Realtor® leadership today can instantly disseminate news to members across the nation, get direct feedback and monitor the dialogue in real time. Ten years ago – even five years ago – we did not have the same proliferation of electronic devices like mobile smart phones and tablets or social media platforms that we have today.
Now, NAR leaders can quickly and effectively inform the entire membership about advocacy issues, pending legislation and industry trends, and instantly be part of the ongoing conversation. This exchange of information is powerful because it lets leadership make informed decisions quickly.
From the perspective of a Realtor and business professional, I maintain that in the near future, more and more agents will embrace applications designed to make the transaction process more efficient and user-friendly. The era of paper contracts and ink signatures is slowly starting to fade. Soon, we will be part of a business environment built upon an online platform for streamlining the transaction to remove the archaic and cumbersome aspects of doing a deal today.
A passion for technology led me to take on the position of Technology Liaison for NAR, where my responsibilities are to act as a conduit between the senior leadership team and my forum – the Tech and Business Issues Forum — at Mid-Year and National meetings. And, I also serve as the liaison to Information Central, NAR’s online data clearinghouse, and the IT Group, which is responsible for many national technology and related projects.
Two factors fueled my passion for technology: 1) A desire to make my own business more efficient and less time-consuming; this opens opportunities to pursue other interests. 2) An unending fascination for all things related to technology, especially hardware. (From a hardware perspective my “research and development” budget is getting a bit out of control!)
Technology plays a significant role in letting me operate my business, which takes me far beyond my home in Minnesota. I have business ventures and partners in Thailand, Costa Rica and India. Through enhanced technology, doing business across time zones is relatively effortless compared to a few years ago. And, it’s made the sales process much more refined and professional.
From an industry perspective, this is a very exciting time to be a Realtor. We are at a tremendous crossroads due to technology, and we’re playing a role in the evolution of this business. But from another perspective, I don’t think technology will ever replace the need for a Realtor. The smart, savvy Realtor will continue to leverage technology to increase volume while at the same time increasing service, reducing overhead and freeing up valuable time.
I just returned from the 2011 NAR Issues Conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico and wanted to share with the Leadership LAB some highlights of this wonderful event. This is by far one of my most favorite meetings of the year. It was exciting to see the large number of current and former NAR Leadership Academy class members in attendance.
The meetings kicked off with a welcome by NAR President Ron Phipps, who reminded us that “Home Ownership Matters.” The payoff was information and statistics relating to his recent testimony at the Capitol, where he noted that real estate represents 15% of the U.S. GDP and touches almost every aspect of our economy.
We then had a fascinating look at the recent election results and how the current polls are trending with Bill McInturff and Peter Hart. They pointed out that this era will be defined by a massive shift in power from the states and institutions to the people and communities. Confidence in Congress is at 9%; furthermore, it has been a decade since the majority of Americans have felt the country is heading in the right direction. I did find it amusing that one poll revealed that 29% of respondents think the economy will get better, while 29% think it will get worse. Anyone got a coin? Another poll found that 21% of Americans believe that their home value is increasing, while 18% believe it is decreasing.
Bethany McLean, author of “All The Devils Are Here,” spoke to us about the financial collapse and her inside look at the players involved. Her research into this subject matter was very intense and she had amazing insight to share. I highly recommend you read her book. She did leave us with a glimmer of hope after presenting so much negative information when she told us that bad business tends to get the spotlight and media, but that there is much more good business outweighing the bad.
The highlight of day one for me was listening to John Ansbach talk about generational diversity. He poised a great question: “How fluent are you with each of the generations?” He also pointed out that the generation gap maybe bigger than we realize and took us on a journey through each of four current generations of Americans. His statistics on the number of Members of Congress in each generation was very eye opening. One example is that there are only four U.S. Senators from Generation X, the rest are Baby Boomers and Civics. He also pointed out that if you don’t “speak” Generation Y, you better learn it! It’s not a good business strategy to ignore 80 million people!
On the second day, Vince Malta and Dale Stinton discussed building the REALTOR party. Did you know the REALTOR brand is now worth $4.5 billion in brand value and has a 95% recognition value? Stay tuned for more exciting information as NAR decides how to take advantage of the Citizens United vs. FEC ruling. We must increase our advocacy of home ownership.
The dueling economist session was entertaining as the debate was heated and quick. It was too hard to take notes and make sense of it all, but let’s just say every economist has a different view and opinion of where we are headed!
Former Senator Trent Lott and former Congressman Paul Kanjorski gave us an inside look at their respective views of the recent elections, the current Congress, and what they see happening in 2012, with no partisan spin… yeah right! Finally we wrapped the conference up with an amazing and entertaining discussion between political strategists James Carville and Mary Matalin.
I highly recommend you become a President’s Circle member and attend next year’s Issues Conference! It will be held February 16-19, 2012 at the Boca Raton Resort and Club in Florida.
In just two short – but busy and exciting years – my role in the NAR Leadership Academy has come full circle. It started with my participation as a member of the Academy class of 2009, an experience that helped crystallize my passion for learning and embracing REALTOR volunteer leadership. And, this year, I have the honor of serving as Vice Chairman of the Leadership Advisory Board.
My roles with the Academy and East Bay Association of REALTORS have made me better attuned to different types of leadership of styles. I’ve gained some insight into the particular characteristics or traits of leadership; now, I can determine with confidence whether a person already is a good speaker, or has persuasive qualities, or demonstrates integrity or has a commanding presence. And, from the other perspective, I believe I can identify those who might need some guidance.
Over these past two years, I’ve been exposed to an unbelievable number of NAR leaders from around the United States. There’s a commonality among those of us who serve, and I’ve developed relationships with people from around the country. Under other circumstances, these relationships would have taken years to build.
As the Leadership Academy enters its fourth year, I maintain it has definitely encouraged REALTORS to pursue other volunteer opportunities, especially on the national level. There’s a good probability that Academy participants can get an appointment to serve on a national committee and learn more about the structure and process involved with how NAR functions. Coming out of the Academy is not a next step to being the president of NAR; but the caliber of talent that makes up this organization is phenomenal, and there are many opportunities for those who want to take on challenges locally, statewide or nationally.
Today, our industry continues to face challenges of a national scope. When dealing with legislative issues that have an impact on the real estate industry, there’s nothing higher than what takes place by NAR in the nation’s capitol. I saw this firsthand when I participated in the Policy Conference earlier this month. Washington is where national policy is made, and REALTOR leaders rallied to make our voice heard on Capitol Hill.
The months to come will bring more challenges for me and the Academy, and I’m not just referring to getting from the West Coast to the East Coast during the winter months. The Advisory Board is in evaluation mode right now. We may decide to revamp some of the course content and even consider reducing the size of the class, taking it from a maximum of 26 to perhaps 15 participants as a way to make the program more intimate and exclusive.
I’m fortunate to work with a great chairman in Leslie Rouda Smith and the rest of the Board. I’ve discovered that one of the great things about being appointed Vice Chair is that I still have a desire to learn.
For every Realtor® who still raise questions regarding whether he or she should embrace social media and emerging technologies, consider this perspective: Popular social media platforms, like Facebook, give you an opportunity to let followers – fellow Realtors®, clients and prospects, other business professionals – know you as a person. They get to know you as more than just a real estate professional through your online profile.
My followers on Facebook, for example, can learn through my posts that I’m into dirt bikes and a certain type of music. They learn some of my personal interests, and more about who I am, by reading what’s on my wall.
Author Chris Brogan, who co-authored a book entitled Trust Agents, summed up the value of social media this way: “Social media extends human relations.”
In mid January, I attended Inman Real Estate Connect in New York, an annual gathering of real estate and technology leaders. My participation at the event reaffirmed to me that social media is the direction that the world is heading in terms of communicating. The way we’ve communicated in the past is simply not working as well as it once did; print communications too often today get thrown out in the trash.
Today, a growing number of people expect their leaders to communicate through social media and video because these forms of communication reach a much wider audience. And, frankly, social media is much more sophisticated since it allows for two-way communication.
Some leaders will question whether they can keep up to date with technology since it changes so rapidly. My response is that leaders today must make the time to learn how to take advantage of social media and keep pace with the changing dynamics. They’ve got to make the effort to be in that space.
The key to successfully using social media is not a foreign as some may believe it to be. If you can go to a party and engage and interact with people face-to-face, you can take advantage of the benefits of social media. If you can surf the Internet, you can be part of the online discussion.
At the Inman conference, I was introduced to what might be the next big development in technology. It’s a new version of the user-generated online encyclopedia Wikipedia called Qwiki. It’s much more visual than Wikipedia, and I think search engines like Qwiki will dramatically change the way we go online to conduct searches. On Facebook and YouTube, imagery is so important because someone can view a photo and really become enlightened by it.
And, as we know, from a real estate and personal perspective, projecting a positive image is a key to success.
Dwight Hale, 2011 Chairman, Texas Assoc. REALTORS®
The mood among participants at the 2011 NAR Policy Conference held in Washington February 2-3 was more upbeat than I’ve seen it in years. Everyone was in a positive frame of mind, and Realtors® were cohesive in representing our interests on Capitol Hill. There was a very “REALTOR® Party” connection among the small sample of delegates I spoke to.
There also was a very valiant effort at the Town Hall meeting to tone down the emotion and bring a more rational discussion to the issues at hand. Town Halls were designed for information gathering and resulted in letting us prioritize issues. In my opinion, this is best done with less emotion and more deliberation.
REALTORS® came to Washington to state our collective position on these four issues:
1. Mortgage Interest Tax Deduction Proposal. The number one issue causing unrest in the housing market is the proposal to limit the mortgage interest tax deduction. NAR’s opposition to this topic was impressed upon the entire group, including the state association presidents, the association executives, the Federal Political Coordinators and the regional vice presidents. With the real estate market recovering in some parts of the country, this proposal is very unsettling; if the proposal becomes law, the value of home prices would drop by 15 percent. And, in this economy, we might as well just drain the swamp.
2. Privatizing Government Sponsored Enterprises. Our second issue takes us down several flights of stairs, and it’s a subject that we as REALTORS® have been studying for a fair amount of time – not just the issue but the solution. The government-sponsored enterprises in question are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The goal is to get rid of the rhetoric by some to privatize Fannie and Freddie, which would simply not work. Our position is that real estate is a cyclical business and needs some sort of governmental agency to assist the financial markets during the down cycle.
3. Flood Insurance Extension. In the past, Congress has been reticent to address an issue when a crisis is developing; they wait until it gets down to the wire. Last fall, both the Senate and the House passed a bill that will extend the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) until September 30, 2011. REALTORS® want to see a more comprehensive NFIP reform bill that would be in place for several years. With just an extension, housing sales stops in some markets and people have to dance around to get a mortgage.
4. Conforming Mortgage Loan Limits. This is a similar issue to the flood insurance extension. The mortgage loan amounts that Fannie and Freddie can handle were due to expire in December, but they were extended through September 2011. Generally, the limit is $417,000 for single family homes. Congress had to act at the last minute to avoid a crisis because many of the high-end real estate markets have an immediate need.
Theresa Stewart, 2008 Graduate NAR Leadership Academy
Here are two questions that often surface when the subject of leadership comes up. Are people born leaders? Or can someone be taught the skills required to be a successful leader? My personal philosophy: I firmly believe that you can teach someone the qualities of a leader to increase their leadership abilities.
The center of leadership is the journey directed by the vision. When teaching a leader the key is beginning with identifying a person’s personal style, which is a born trait. From then, the process evolves to identifying strengths and weaknesses and forming a strategy for growth and success.
As a graduate of the NAR Leadership Academy inaugural class in 2008, I brought a great deal of experience to the group and the training exercises we completed to graduate. My commitment to leadership parallels my career as a REALTOR®. I’ve had my broker’s license for 16 years and began volunteering on committees with the Oklahoma Association of REALTORS® 14 years ago. As I got more involved, I took on more leadership roles and learned firsthand the importance of leadership and training.
In 2003, our state association president learned about state leadership training programs at an NAR convention. Because I was the incoming president of the state for 2005, I was on the ground floor for establishing a training program for our members, becoming an instructor and facilitator. Through hours of reading, experience in the classroom, interaction with the participants and mentors of my own, I got a better grasp of what is needed to groom leaders. I developed a deep passion for the practice of training others.
Today, I conduct leadership training programs, individual coaching, business development and consulting for associations, real estate brokerage companies, and agents, as well as clients outside our industry. I am a coach. My initial approach with companies or associations for leadership training is to start with the individuals first in order to craft a strategy. You can’t go into a brokerage company or association and just ask everybody, “How are things going?” You have to start with individuals because every company has a personality. Define the personality, create the vision and set the strategy. If you fail to identify a strategy, it’s hard to build a program that will be successful.
Technology absolutely drives training right now in the real estate industry and every industry. Everything is very tech driven, and there’s no way to ignore it. I don’t believe the leader of an organization has to be at the forefront of technology today, but he or she better have someone sitting next to him who does. Leadership training exposes strengths and weaknesses in a person, allowing them to know who else needs to be a part of the journey in order to complete the vision.
A final thought on leadership training: It can’t be taken on haphazardly. Training of our future leaders will determine our place in the market, not the consumer.
Leslie Rouda-Smith, 2011 Chairman of the Leadership Academy Advisory Board
As the 2011 Chair of the NAR Leadership Academy Advisory Board, I’m sure I’ll get asked this question in the upcoming year: “Has the Academy reached the goals established when the program was founded?” My answer would be a resounding: “Absolutely!”
The Academy was founded in 2008 on the principle that we can mentor and guide REALTORS and identify those who have the skills, talents and commitment that NAR is looking for to lead the organization in the future.
But from another perspective, it’s an initiative that continues to evolve; we’re always evaluating the program to keep moving it forward, to keep progressing toward another level. We want to set an example for the entire real estate industry, and our key goal is to give those REALTORS who participate the training and insight they can’t get anyplace else.
Across the nation, there are some really great state and local leadership programs, and some have been around for several years. We strive to give Academy participants something different – whether it’s the leadership training, the mentoring or the kind of relationships that they build through the program.
I think that what we’re doing here goes way beyond the real estate industry and what’s taking place at the state associations. There is a bigger picture perspective here regarding what’s good for our economy and the nation.
Here’s an example. The next meeting of the current Academy class will be February 1 during the NAR Policy Conference in Washington. I’ve been involved with the REALTOR Political Action Committee for 25 years, and I know this will be a wonderful opportunity for the Academy participants to get a firsthand perspective on the kind of national legislative issues brought before REALTORS.
These issues define who we are as REALTORS, and we get a chance to rank them at a town hall meeting. I still remember my first time attending a Policy conference and thought, “How cool is this! We get to learn about how policy is made, the legislative process, what our lobbyists do.”
Nationally, we’re still suffering with today’s housing market, although there are some positive signs that things will get better in 2011. There are some legislative issues pending we believe will help the housing industry and the economy. So it’s important that REALTORS deliver the message that home ownership matters, and I hope the Academy will share the knowledge and wisdom of our PAC efforts within their communities.
I’ve been on the Advisory Board since the first NAR Leadership Academy class, and I think that the Board members set an example for the participants. We have to be careful about how we handle our role because there are different styles of leadership. I have a great Vice Chair in Otto Catrina, who did go through the Academy and is the first graduate to serve in a leadership role. Our door will always be open because we want to keep making the program the best it can be.
