Friday 4 April saw 30 nominated Ray White members join us at our corporate office to attend our first Next Leaders class in New Zealand. Ray White Next Leaders, one of the newest initiatives from the Ray White Group, is a professional career development program for future business leaders within our industry.
Members from across New Zealand flew in, from as far away as Ashburton and Palmerston North, for the first session titled ‘Ray White: Who Are We and What Do We Stand For?‘ – with presentations from Ray White Foundation Member Bobbie Jarvis (formerly of Ray White Hamilton), and top national and international Ray White Business Owners Megan Jaffe (Ray White Remuera) and Simon Damerell (Ray White Ponsonby) who spoke with passion about the industry and what it took for them to get ahead.
The Next Leaders program was originally developed by Ray White Australia upon recognising a need to identify, retain and develop the talent we already have in our organisation. Too often real estate business owners fail to formulate or develop a succession plan for their business. Not only does this create a problem for when they retire or look to move away from the business but it means we’re not always actively looking for nor encouraging the drive and determination of those coming through the industry.
So to support our business owners in their succession planning and office management and to be more effective with ready buyers when our franchisees want to sell or develop their business, the Next Leaders program is designed to provide a ready resource of people interested and ready to take a step up in their career. Sarah Pearce, Ray White New Zealand’s Growth and Relationship Executive and Co-Facilitator of the Next Leaders program, comments: “It is our collective responsibility to allow for career path development and brand rejuvenation and we believe Next Leaders is the best way to meet the challenges and growth within our network, to the benefit of future and current business owners alike”.
Ray White business owners and individuals are able to put forward nominations for this unique program – which covers everything from the principles of running a team through to business start-up plans, the types of business models available, financial mentoring, technology training, leadership coaching and mentoring sessions as well as one-on-one career planning meetings. “We are delighted to be facilitating Next Leaders for Ray White New Zealand this year… Being able to identify these members is invaluable to our group and the industry” Sarah adds.
“There was such fantastic energy in the room and so much talent!” Patricia Love, Co-Facilitator of the Next Leaders program, commented. “Everyone is so positive and excited about the program… Ivan Aleksandrov one of the attendees wrote in to us after the event saying: “Thanks… I have learned a lot about Ray White as a company, and the quality of people that are attracted to that company (such as the awesome and inspirational speakers from today). I realised that I need to implement a lot more planning to my business and my personal life from Simon’s talk. It was also very inspirational to hear Megan’s and Bobbie’s speeches and to reaffirm that with planning and passion anything can be achieved. Looking forward to the next training session!”.”
The next Next Leaders session is scheduled for Tuesday 26 June with guest speakers Carey Smith, CEO Ray White New Zealand, and Mark McLeod, CEO of Growth for Ray White, taking to the stage to talk about leadership and the importance of developing the right culture, setting direction, being supportive and taking responsibility for yourself and your business. If you’re interested in learning more about the Next Leaders Program, click here to contact Sarah Pearce or call on 027 755 5599.
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