I’m pretty bad at remembering names. In fact, it’s a running joke here at OREA. It’s not that I don’t try, I just go blank when it comes to names. As leaders and professionals, however, the skill of remembering names is important and worth improving. In order to get better at remembering names, I looked … Continued
A professional is someone who can do his best work when he doesn’t feel like it. ~Alistair Cooke, British-born American journalist and broadcaster Certain talents, qualities, and personal traits are necessary for building a successful real estate career. Successful registrants possess these skills, acquired through education and experience. One such skill is the ability to … Continued
There are few complaints I hear more from volunteers than those regarding poorly run meetings. REALTORS® share their precious time when they volunteer. They want that time to be productive, so when board or committee meetings get derailed, or run over time, or fail to accomplish their objectives, it’s frustrating for everyone. Associations can dial … Continued
This is the seventh and final installment in a series about courtesy in real estate. It is taken from guidelines produced in the Miss Real Estate Manners document created by the London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® (LSTAR). The following story in The REALTOR® EDGE newsletter is excerpted with permission from LSTAR. Oral agreements … Continued
There are many times I have heard volunteers say after a meeting, “What a waste of time – we should have been finished an hour ago.” That should be a wake up call to all of us who organize meetings. Even comedian Milton Berle knew how painful meetings could be when he said,“A committee or … Continued
How many times have you heard an association president say to a potential volunteer, “Oh, this position won’t take much time.” I’ve been surveying experienced volunteers the last few weeks and the common theme has been that they were not told how much time their volunteer commitment would really take. In every case, it took … Continued
But what about when conflict rears its ugly head and you’re in the hot seat? That’s when leaders rely on their skills and principles to get them through. If you want to improve how you handle discord, you might want to apply the Principles for Leading through Conflict. We use these in our leadership course … Continued
If you come across a rotten egg and you break it, it stinks. This adaptation, from a Russian proverb, reflects a life reality. My interest in it is in exploring possible takeaways in the realm of real estate education and practice. A visit to the RECO website and a casual reading of a disciplinary case … Continued
Understanding good governance and being able to achieve it are sometimes two different things. I’ve seen boards work effectively for a number of years and then face a change in leadership that impacts their effectiveness. Good practices go by the wayside and the board becomes dysfunctional. It can be difficult to sustain good board practices … Continued
If you are a director on an association board of directors, one of your key roles is to ensure that the finances are sufficient to run the association, sustain it during financial downfalls and provide value to members. Here’s a great tool from the OREA Centre for Leadership Development Leadership Library that might help you … Continued