I am in the deep south near Scottsdale Arizona for a small gathering of women who lead organizations in Real Estate and I am blown away by these Awesome Women.

We are a small group of about 40 women.  It’s a beautiful mix of people.  We have C-suiters of tech companies, traditional brokerages and the emerging hybrids in between.  We have courageous founders of start-ups, big and small.  We have young women who are ricocheting to the top, wise sages bringing decades of experience to the conversation and everyone in between.   There is a striking diversity of women from all across the continent talking about what matters in real estate.

And no social media!  This is to protect the privacy of people so that we all feel safe to share our authentic thoughts and feelings during this time of change in the real estate industry.

 

Here are my early takeaways:

*Empathy matters.  With several natural disasters in the US in the last year and the loss of so many homes, learning to both feel and communicate authentic empathy is critically important.  Don’t use the phrase “Well, At least…”   (More on this from Brene Brown)

 

*Pivot.  This word came up a number of times yesterday.  The rate of change in real estate in the US is accelerating and for people and organizations to stay valuable, they need to adapt quickly and continually.  The ability to adapt is pivotal – both in terms of the rate of change that must occur, the amount of change that is needed, the frequency of that change and the importance of that change. People and organizations that have learned to pivot are thriving.

 

*Opportunities.  Learn to look for opportunities in new ways, new places and new perspectives.

 

*Value.  Be honest with ourselves about whether we are offering enough value for what we are charging.  This is true for REALTORS®, brokerages, and tech companies.

 

The future in real estate is bright but it doesn’t really even resemble what real estate looked like in the past.  We are in exciting times. More reflections to come next week.