| CREW Network Leadership Summit & Council Meeting 2010 |
Janet Johnson (CREW Chicago Board Director, President Elect) and Mirela Gabrovska (CREW Chicago Board Director, Communications Liaison) represented CREW Chicago as chapter delegates in the CREW Network Winter Leadership Summit & Council Meeting which took place on February 4-6, 2010 in Tampa, Florida. Our chapter was also represented by Jan Fiola (President) and Nina Fain (Leadership Committee Chair). The most important developments and initiatives going forward are related to CREW Network’s new 2010 platform “Strong Chapters – Successful Members”, which was unveiled at the Summit by the current President, Kristin Blount, Senior Vice President / Partner of Colliers Meredith & Grew. They are as follows: New Chapters - Supporting President Blount’s 2010 initiative, delegates voted to approve the applications of four new chapters, increasing the Network’s reach to 71 markets across North America. Welcomed into the CREW Network organization were Edmonton CREW, CREW Omaha Metro, CREW Charleston, Inc. and CREW Upstate South Carolina. Today, our organization is 8,000 members’ strong. CREW Network Brand – Several new resources, programs and business tools will be introduced to chapters and members throughout 2010. Among them, CREW Network retained the services of Clarke Communication Group to help articulate the CREW Network brand. To demonstrate the importance of branding, delegates were engaged in a small group exercise where they were asked to discuss what they believed the CREW Network brand to be, the most important value CREW Network brings to the industry, what motivates individuals to join and renew their CREW Network memberships, and what CREW Network can do to strengthen its brand. The exercise served as an important demonstration as to why brand development and consistency are crucial to the success of our organization. Chapter Playbooks - Plans are currently underway for the development of two new chapter playbooks. The first to be developed is the Chapter Administration Playbook, which will be released in June and a second playbook addressing career outreach will be delivered later this year. Benchmark Study - CREW Network’s research partner Cornell University Program in Real Estate, is currently analyzing the data from CREW Network’s benchmark survey sent to 13 commercial real estate organizations in November 2009. The report will be released later this year. Website Redesign and CREWbiz - Delegates were given a preview of the CREW Network’s Web site redesign currently in the works as well as CREWbiz, CREW Network’s newest online business networking tool. CREWbiz, scheduled for rollout in late March, provides members the opportunity to create personal profile pages promoting their business expertise. This member benefit provides a communications tool where members can post business wants and needs, and share business news with other CREW Network members who subscribe– all managed from their online CREWbiz page. CREW Network will host training sessions to help members get started using this exciting new tool. 2010 Leadership Series - CREW Network kicked off its 2010 Leadership Series, funded by Studley, with its first Leadership Summit held in conjunction with the Winter Council Meeting. Clark Robinson of Grid International, Inc. presented delegates with a half-day leadership development workshop titled “The Power to Change.” As chapter leaders, it is extremely important to know how to lead in volunteer groups and the Grid exercise provided critical training for this. Understanding and responding to the various leadership styles within each of us is key to working more effectively. This high-level training taught chapter leaders to identify their leadership styles and took them through exercises that encouraged self-awareness as to how their particular leadership style impacted their group’s progress. The training provided strategies for correcting potentially damaging behavior in favor of more productive leadership qualities. In addition to providing high-level leadership training at three in-person meetings throughout the year, the 2010 Leadership Series will deliver six teleconferences providing chapter leadership training. The first teleconference took place on February 26 on the subject of Effective Committees for Strategic Boards. The 2010 series will include the University Series delivered in April and May where professors from prestigious universities across the country will deliver eight commercial real estate-focused, content-rich programs on such topics as Urban Public Policy & Private Economic Development, Fundamentals of Real Estate Finance, Real Estate Transactions & Deal Structures and more. Members will be notified via email of all upcoming events. Real Life Leadership Lessons - CREW Atlanta member and CREW Network Past President Sally French Tyler, executive vice president and divisional president of National Commercial Services for First American Title Insurance, shared with delegates the leadership lessons she learned along the way to the executive suite. Crediting much of her success to the training and leadership opportunities she received through CREW Network, Tyler believes that leaders are both born and made. Some of the lessons Sally shared with us are: • Observe leaders (male or female) that you respect and emulate their approach |