The recent Richardson & Wrench night of nights celebrated many things – success, growth, friendship and pride.
Pride often gets a bit of a bad rap but there is no shame in being proud of a job well done or feeling joy in the achievement of others or satisfaction in belonging to a real estate network that places ethics and integrity at the pinnacle of its values.
The annual R&W Awards recognises and celebrates the achievements of top agents as well as the amazing efforts of the support teams that allow individuals and teams to shine.
For the 10th year running Jason Boon took out the Outstanding Selling Principal Award for revenue earned. Jason had offered to step out of the competition but there is no fudging the numbers and in any case there is genuine pride within the network for his achievement. A little envy is only human but resentment there is not.
Importantly, rather than claim the limelight for himself, he invited his team to share the accolade, rightfully acknowledging that there are many who play a role in his success. The applause was loud and genuine.
Likewise when Melanie and Richard Patterson received the group’s highest award, the R&W Directors’ Award, they shared the stage with their team, including daughter Millie, ‘who represents the future’.
Melanie and Richard have been part of Richardson & Wrench for more than 30 years. They, like many within the group, personify what it means to belong to the R&W family; that it is more than a convenient banner under which to sell real estate, measuring success by turnover.
As real estate transitions into a service-focused industry it’s how you achieve success that counts. Social media means that there is nowhere to hide if your workplace and business culture fall short of community expectation.
Real culture has to exist at the grassroots but most of all it requires leadership and support from the top. How we value and acknowledge achievement plays a role in the development of a culture that runs deeper than mere slogans.
So at our Awards night we applaud equally the achievement of Rooty Hill’s David Frendo in being named most outstanding sales person for transactions and Double Bay’s James Dunn, most outstanding sales person for income achieved.
Given the huge disparity in real estate values between Sydney’s east and west the Campbelltown office’s achievement in being named Most Outstanding Office for both transactions and income for the second year is all the more remarkable and a testament to their hard work and market leader status. Like many of our offices Campbelltown is a family business and we are seeing the second generation step in to advance what their father Noel Laming began many decades earlier.
The sharing of knowledge and experience is the foundation of success in business and we saw this with the award for Most Outstanding Sales Assistant go to Marina Makhlin who has joined her mother Stella Gankin in the Bondi Junction office to form a formidable selling team.
One of the most hotly contested awards is for Excellence in Community Service. It is also the hardest to pick a winner when so many offices play such active roles in their local community. This year it was won by Bondi Beach for their contributions to the Starlight Foundation, Bondi Surf Club, Bondi Boardriders, Race for Stace brain tumour research, Surf Aid Cup and Feeding the Homeless.
So while there will be plenty of young sales people looking to emulate stellar performers such as Jason Boon – and good on them – there will be just as many setting their sights next year on securing the Community Service Award.
At Richardson & Wrench, the people are paramount to the business’ success and with a culture like that, we are all winners.