Leadership: What it's Worth, How to Get Started

Local, state, and national REALTOR® associations all need leaders with diverse talents, interests, and backgrounds. Granted, the organization's size and complexity can be challenging for someone contemplating greater involvement. Here are a few basic guidelines:

Join a Committee that Interests You

A leader in a REALTOR® organization fills a niche so well as to be indispensable. To participate in governance you need to find your niche and then let your colleagues know about it.

Look at your local association’s list of committees and ask yourself: which topics engage me most intensely? Maybe you’re passionate about ending predatory lending practices. Or maybe you have a vision for sustainable growth friendly to the interests of the real estate market. Find a committee that offers you the chance to turn your ideas into reality.

At the national level, REALTOR® committees are organized into broad groupings. They address public policy and political action, ethics and legal matters, commercial realty and business specialties, international affairs, housing and diversity, communications and education.

When you’re ready to learn about leadership at the national level — maybe you’re ready now — go to the governance section of REALTOR.org for a full list of committees and additional working groups.

Once you’ve chosen one or a few committees, begin attending meetings. Observe what sorts of decisions and research are carried out, and begin to learn how your chosen committee fits into the organization as a whole.

Talk to Your Association Executive

Get to know your local association executive (AE) — the chief staff executive. He or she is responsible for the REALTOR® association at the community level, connecting members with the state and national levels as well.

AEs have ties to association officers and their advisors. They can help prospective leaders navigate the system and get closer to these important figures.

One cannot overemphasize the importance of AEs to a member who wants to play a larger role at the state or national level. NAR and state associations have hundreds of volunteers active in many committees. The officers cannot be everywhere at once. Local AEs are their eyes and ears in the community.

Put Your Hat in the Ring

The way to begin is to create an expertise profile on the NAR Web site. Posting an Expertise Profile does two things. It lets you start to define your public identity as a real estate professional. And it becomes your calling card for committee nominations.

Find a Mentor

Better yet, find several. A mentor who shares your interests is not only a valuable source of information, but also your entry point into the NAR network of like-minded professionals. A mentor will help you begin to understand how to get things done in committees; how to become a better committee member; and what leadership roles align most closely with your own goals and interests.

Make Yourself Indispensable

Committees always have work before them, and you have a unique set of skills. Volunteer for tasks you think you’d be good at. Your colleagues will soon come to rely on your expertise and dedication.

Why a diverse leadership?
What makes for an effective REALTOR® association leader?

This material is excerpted from the brochure Leadership: What It's Worth, How to Get Started.

Download the brochure (PDF: 845KB)