Interested in running for a position on OREA’s 2017 Board of Directors? The following positions are up for election: four Provincial Directors (made up of one each from the Western, Eastern, Northern and Central Ontario Areas), and two Directors-at-Large. Submit your candidacy forms to OREA’s Chief Executive Officer, care of Lanjun Wang, CPA, CA, Partner, … Continued
Recently our CEO, Edward Barisa, was asked by the Canadian Society of Association Executives (CSAE) to share some advice for the next generation of leaders. Here is what Ed had to say about the lessons he has learned: Association management is all about people. It took me a while to learn that. I thought it … Continued
I was speaking to an experienced REALTOR® who had been a volunteer on his board for many years. We were talking about the difficulty of recruiting new volunteers, so I asked for his opinion and this was his advice: Don’t lie. When you’re asking someone who is a commissioned sales person to give … Continued
So, do you want to be a vanilla volunteer leader/president and just keep things on an even keel and not rock the boat? Hey, the market is good and if it ain’t broke why fix it? We’ve lost 2 great music icons within a week – country legend Merle Haggard and rock/pop/funk/blues artist Prince. If … Continued
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
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
I was in a beautiful, small Ontario town attending a well organized, volunteer-based community event. One of our members, who had received some of our volunteer leadership development training, was on the Board of Directors of the local Chamber of Commerce. That member was no longer a volunteer on the local real estate board but … Continued
I once read that there are 3 kinds of people; 1) Those that make things happen 2) Those that watch things happen 3) And…those that say “what just happened” Which one are you? If you are a Realtor and want to choose one of those 3 options, maybe you should consider volunteering on your local … 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