IREM® Southeast Leadership Forum #IREMSELF 2017

This article was originally published in The Network Georgia, a Crest Publication. (link to original publication)

The Southeast Regional meeting #IREMSELF was an amazing event, bringing chapters from North Carolina to Tennessee to Texas to Florida and everywhere in between to collaborate and learn about leading our industry and improving our chapters. As the plane wheels hit the tarmac over and over Tuesday evening, the amount of highly ethical and educated talent in Atlanta exponentially increased by way of the best and brightest real estate managers arriving for the IREM® Southeast Leadership Forum. 

We listened to and learned from the very engaging Sarah Sheila Birnbach how to motivate and hold accountable the numerous volunteers in our chapters for their success locally, regionally, and nationally as an organization, which created a great deal of discussion between each chapter’s attendees on how to improve their own systems for success. Breakout sessions later divided the groups into engaging Young Professionals, planning for Legislative involvement, and improving Education initiatives. The afternoon rounded out with Tony Smith, CPM®, sharing stories of what he learned on his path to IREM® President and left the room inspired to reach higher and achieve more for IREM®. 

That evening the attendees of the #IREMSELF conference let their hair down and enjoyed a social event at the prestigious Office Apartments by Greystar, giving an opportunity to meet and mingle with IREM® members in chapters spanning the Southeast and learning more about how we can all help the IREM® Foundation help give back to IREM® members. We can't thank the sponsors enough for their support -- THANK YOU Market Me Social, Inc. and Southern Energy Solutions.

The final day was no different than the first for the level of inspiration and skill building, starting off with Jonathan Saar (@JonathanSaar) of Market Me Social, Inc., and Stacey Smith of First Communities giving an impassioned presentation about proactive digital reputation management and talent-building within your organizations. The intensity of enthusiasm and energy did not dissipate as we welcomed the much esteemed Dr. Debbie Phillips, CPM® (@drpsuccess), of The Quadrillion to the stage with her counterpart, Ray Waters (@RayDWaters)of The Big Life, Inc. Through their collaborative presentation, the attendees at #IREMSELF learned a variety of coaching tools, techniques and best practices that we all need to lead and measure the added value that our team brings to the table. Attendees furiously scribbled down the titles as Dr. Debbie recommended a ton of books that I am sure will see a huge spike in sales on Amazon—her passion elevated the group and everyone paid attention as she and Ray explained some of the “big, Big, BIG” concepts around the coaching mindset, emotional intelligence, providing balanced and helpful feedback. Finally, we rounded out the event with a very informative look at the current state and the future path of our industry as George Ratiu (@GeorgeRatiu) of the National Association of Realtors. Despite the wealth of numbers, graphs, and complicated concepts, George easily explained his opinions and forecasts for the industry, giving amazing insight to the best real estate managers in the Southeast.

This event inspired, engaged, and motivated our IREM® Members in the Southeast to be better, go further, and lead better. Our collaborative conference is one of the best things that sets IREM® apart from other prestigious organizations and you’ll never find a better place to spend a day and a half learning about becoming a better leader. Learn. Engage. Lead. #IREMSELF