At the holiday party, awards and installation
event last month, I was able to make a few brief remarks. I’d like to share
those with those of you who were not able to attend.
I began by saying that the evening was about
you, the
members, and I still believe that to be true about many things. While
I was the one to stand up front and give remarks, the evening was not about me
or David Nichols, who has been a tremendous asset to the Heartland Board and
will be a strong leader this year. David and I, along with both Boards,
are simply your representatives. We are at the
bottom of a funnel. You, the members, are at the top.
Your input and suggestions help form our
strategic plan, and from there we establish committees to fine tune your recommendations.
Committees made up of you, the members. Those
committees submit recommendations to the Board of Directors, who approve the
recommendations and allocate funding. All of
that ends up in the hands of the extremely talented and dedicated staff, led by
Kipp Cooper, our CEO.
It is only through your involvement that the Association
can provide the support you need. You
drive the Association and your future. The board simply
implements your ideas. We need everyone’s participation for the whole thing to
work.
I thank all of the committee volunteers
for their commitment and dedication. But, your involvement, your influence on the REALTOR® community and the public’s perception of our industry doesn’t stop with committee work or participation in Association
events.
Your involvement has the greatest impact in your
day-to-day activities. We all talk about professionalism. Many of us are
proud of the manner in which we represent the REALTOR® brand.
From time to time we are critical of the co-op agent
on the other side of the transaction. We have a bad experience, go back to our
office and complain about the terrible agent on the other side of the
transaction. I’d suggest a better
approach. Don’t lose your temper. Don’t disparage the agent. Do educate and mentor them.
Take a patient, respectful and professional
approach to your conversation. We call them co-op agents because we need to cooperate for
each transaction to successfully close. And, we need to act in a professional
manner to fulfill our fiduciary duties to our clients.
Most problems are resolved when everyone calms
down, focuses on the facts, and takes the emotion out of the situation. We
need to work together in a professional
and respectful way to reach our clients’ goals.
My message at the holiday party and my hope now is
for you to get involved. Make a difference through committees, participating in
association events like, Rock the Block or Recharge and most importantly, hold
yourself, and everyone in our community, to a very high standard of
professionalism. We make the greatest impact in our day-to-day interaction with
each other.
Again, thank you for this opportunity to serve
as your president. I look forward to working with all of you in the coming
months.
