Thoughts on Leadership: Be Relentless

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels found me first in Northern California for a lunch with best-selling author and communications guru, Carmine Gallo, then in Southern California—specifically in the City of Industry, CA—for Relentless. The annual event, through interactive educational sessions and keynotes, details ways attendees can navigate daily obstacles while improving their lives both personally and professionally. As always, it was hosted by my friend Danny Morel, also broker/owner at Intero Real Estate Services of Southern California and a real estate coach. I’ve known Danny for almost 20 years, even well before his Intero days and then when he came to own an Intero real estate franchise. Now, he’s crushing it in his brokerage’s market of Rancho Cucamonga, CA, on social media, and through the inspiration he imparts to tens of thousands of aspiring real estate agents nationwide.

Relentless is all about that passion Danny so clearly possesses, and it’s a passion not only to make his own wins a reality but also to help others accomplish their goals, too. I couldn’t have been more honored to join Danny onstage to talk about such an important topic.

“The quicker you realize this, the sooner you won’t be paralyzed by the thought of making a mistake in business.”

Also on the agenda for the day was keynote speaker Gary Vaynerchuk, co-founder/CEO of VaynerMedia, four-time New York Times best-selling author and the leading expert on social media marketing. I’ve been following Gary’s no-nonsense philosophies on leadership, entrepreneurship and social media for a long time, ever since we had the chance to meet at a Tom Ferry event years ago, and it was motivating to hear him recount his ideas about relentlessness and the importance of resolute determination in the pursuance of personal and professional success.

Additional speakers included: Kelli Ellis, founding partner of Design Campus, The Design MasterMind and author of a best-selling design psychology coaching book; Iz Avila, one of the original developers of the Beats headphones and four-time Grammy award-winning producer; Greg Harrelson, an expert on developing talent and leadership to garner huge business growth; Alejandra Font, co-founder of Southern California’s fastest-growing fitness movement, The Camp; and John Tsai, who sold more than 100+ homes last year using the power of accountability.

For our Q&A session, I spoke with Danny about my own principles of success and how there are certain undeniable characteristics we must all possess to achieve. Together, we discussed what it means to live a life characterized by fierce relentlessness and how to have a lasting career in real estate, which often means pushing past insecurities and setbacks, and when faced with what may seem like overwhelming defeat, remaining relentless in the execution of your goals.

So, what’s the message? Recognize that losing and defeat are close relatives of triumph and that they will always be necessary components in the much larger picture of enduring success. As Gary Vaynerchuk once wrote in a blog post on his site, “The quicker you realize this, the sooner you won’t be paralyzed by the thought of making a mistake in business.” Because being inexorable in the pursuit of your goals means not being afraid to fail. It also means fully understanding that a letdown isn’t a loss, it’s merely another opportunity to dust yourself off, pull it together and, in the spirit of true relentlessness, try again until you win.

GINO BLEFARI is CEO of HSF Affiliates LLC. You can follow Gino on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.