ShareWithout leadership, change is slow and organizations stagnate or, worse, fail. Yet effective management alone isn’t enough. Leaders with vision, courage, and zeal must propel their organizations forward. These leaders must be identified, encouraged, and given opportunities to hone their skills. This is where leadership training comes in.
Over the past few years, NAR has launched new training programs to better equip volunteers to lead through challenging times.
REALTOR® Leadership Program
The REALTOR® Leadership Program (RLP), established in 2011, is designed to produce quality REALTOR® leaders by focusing on teaching key leadership skills and association management skills, including strategic planning, risk management, relationship-building with volunteers, conflict resolution, and more.
A cadre of association leadership professionals, including many seasoned AEs, has been specifically trained to facilitate these courses, which consist of an optional-but-encouraged online course and two, three-hour, interactive, live-presentation courses held at local or state associations, as well as NAR national meetings.
RLP is open to all REALTORS®. For more, visit the RLP page on nar.realtor.
Getting REAL
The REALTORS® Excelling in Association Leadership (REAL) program is a six-module, online self-study course, established in 2010. It’s available at no cost and covers many of the same topics as the RLP, including meeting management, association governing documents and policies, legal and regulatory activities, real estate issues and trends, enhanced leadership skills, visioning, planning, and budgeting.
Where the RLP is an interactive learning experience, the REAL course is self-paced, teaching the basics of volunteer leadership while providing a comprehensive tool for training potential leadership.
For more, contact Renee Holland, rholland@realtors.org.
NAR’s Leadership Academy
Established in 2009, NAR’s Leadership Academy identifies and grooms a small group of emerging leaders from local and state associations (17 in 2013) for potential leadership roles at the National Association. Qualified candidates are selected through an application process and personal interviews.
The 2014 Leadership Academy application process will open in mid-October 2012.
For more, visit the Leadership Academy page or call 312-329-8321. Also visit the Leadership Academy blog at leadershiplab.blogs.realtor.org.
Pinnacle Group Project
Real estate and association management experts Jeremy Conaway, Jim Sherry, and Stefan Swanepoel have teamed up to offer teams of REALTOR® association leaders a new training and consulting program designed to increase productivity, enhance associations’ value propositions, and uncover solutions to members’ challenges.
Called the Pinnacle Group Project, this new two-year, intensive course of study consists of on-site sessions, coaching webinars, and access to an online association portal.
Topics covered include building consumer-REALTOR® relationships, new media, and creating relevant products and services. Although this is not an NAR-hosted program, NAR supports it and offers a range of discounts on the $12,000 tuition.
For more, visit www.theChangeChampions.com.