Make It So: Star Date 16 March 2010

Here is my NAR Officers Blog entry:


Growing up Star Trek was one of my favorite television shows. Although I never caught the Trekee virus, the story line and the characters were imprinted in my mind and most of 1960’s America. If you watched television as a kid, you watched Star Trek. Each program had a message: courage, team work, trust, the need of the whole versus the individual, and more.

Among the lines that developed in later Star Trek episodes, was the line from Captain Jean Luc Picard: “Make it so.” It is such a direct phrase that carried so much weight. It is a simple, clear command.

As of this Star Date, I am almost half way through the thirty-six month leadership cycle. Specifically, this is month seventeen. It is actually helpful that you have two years of internship, to prepare to be president of the association, because the National Association of REALTORS® is a large, multi-faceted, complicated organization. There is much to learn and understand. To be honest, it is overwhelming at times.

What is clear for me today is the mission of the organization: Serve the member.

For many organizations the customer is the focus. What truly distinguishes NAR is that the REALTOR® is not simply a customer, rather he or she is the ‘purpose’ of the organization. As decisions are made, the leadership team, and our professional staff, led by CEO Dale Stinton, consistently ask one question: “What is in it for the member?”

The Second Century Initiatives are a bold direct answer to that question: It is all about the member. From Right Tools Right Now to REALTORS® Property Resource, from Game Changers to House Logic, from the REALTOR® Federal Credit Union to the next series of programs to be introduced, one universal truth is present: it is for the member. Think about the fact that 800,000 of our members used ‘tools’ from the Right Tools Right Now initiative. Think about the fact that RPR is going to have 147 million records and analysis for REALTORS® to better serve customers and clients, at NO cost. Being about the member actually is more than just member focused. It is about providing the members with resources and tools to make more money. It is about business.

When Dale Stinton talks about competencies of NAR, he identifies a pyramid of skills: scale, leadership, and brand. NAR is ‘large’ enough to be effective, which is the scale side of the pyramid. NAR is courageous, industrious, disciplined, creative, forward thinking, outcome driven and bold. This answers the leadership side. The third side of the triangle is the REALTOR® brand. It is recognized, understood, and respected. Our association has mastered these competencies.

Now it’s our turn to do so in our own businesses.

What NAR does is make it possible for us to reach to the stars. It makes it possible for us to dream, think and realize BIG things. It makes it possible for us to say “Make it so,” and know that we will. – Posted by Ron Phipps, 2010 NAR President-Elect