LEADER 2025: The room where real estate's next era is being built

LEADER 2025: The room where real estate's next era is being built

Last Tuesday, more than 300 real estate professionals joined me at the JW Marriott on the Gold Coast for the third annual LEADER Conference - but they didn’t just come for the speakers, the swag, or the seaside selfies.

They came for transformation.

LEADER 2025 wasn’t about doing more.

It was about doing better.

Creating better businesses.

Better leadership.

Better lives.

I created the LEADER Conference because I wanted to build something different.

Not just another event with big-name speakers and lofty ideas—but a catalyst.

A catalyst for growth. A catalyst for leaders—present and future—to come together and shape the next era of real estate.

LEADER brings both sides of the business—sales and property management—under one roof.

Because when we collaborate instead of silo, we grow stronger, smarter and more sustainably.

Here are my key takeaways from the LEADER 2025 speakers:

Thomas McGlynn: Cut the crap and raise the bar

BresicWhitney CEO Thomas McGlynn kicked off LEADER with some brutal honesty:

“The first step of change is becoming aware of your own bullshit,” he said.

He didn’t hold back—and nor should we.

Thomas asked everyone in the room to stop pretending things are better than they are and to get radically honest about what’s holding them back.

Whether it’s fear, old systems, poor communication or lack of direction, growth starts when we stop lying to ourselves.

He challenged us to strip back the complexity and focus on clarity—particularly when it comes to your business vision.

“What is your strategic vision in your business or your team today?” he asked.

If you can’t articulate where you’re going, don’t expect your people to follow you.

“There is no shortcut to starting growth. There is no silver bullet,” he told us.

And when leadership gets painful—and it will—remember:

“Pain is inevitable, but suffering is a choice.”

Thomas’s overall message was clear. Growth is hard. Leadership is hard.

But when you stop making excuses and start taking responsibility, everything changes.

Carey Smith: Reinvent yourself before decline finds you

Ray White New Zealand Executive Chairman Carey Smith’s message was one of the most sobering:

“Decline is six times faster than you climb.”

Carey illustrated this with a powerful visual: a career or business arc that slowly inclines over time - until, without intervention, it suddenly falls into a rapid and often irreversible decline.

His point was that most people don’t realise they’re in decline until it’s too late.

He urged every leader in the room to look hard at where they sit on that curve and to take action before the downhill slide begins.

The biggest danger, Carey said, is trying to relive past glories. “You’ve got to get off the line. You’ve got to create a new line because no one will help you,” he said.

Carey’s approach was both philosophical and practical.

He spoke about stepping back, reflecting deeply, and writing letters to himself to reassess his values, direction, and purpose.

This wasn’t just business talk—it was personal.

His message to LEADER attendees was crystal clear: stop looking backwards.

Start asking the tough questions.

And if you want a better future, you have to create it from scratch.

That means embracing change, letting go of outdated systems and mindsets, and doing the deep work to build a business—and life—that’s aligned with who you are now, not who you used to be.

Cathie Crampton: Make your rent roll your secret weapon

Belle Property’s National Head of Property Management Cathie Crampton delivered one of the most practical sessions of the day. Her key point?

“You cannot create the ’to be’ if you don’t know the ‘as is’.

What she meant was this: if you want to grow, improve or transform your rent roll, you need to start by getting brutally honest about what’s going on right now.

That means pulling apart your data, analysing every metric, and understanding exactly where the inefficiencies and opportunities are hiding.

Only then can you begin to build a plan that actually works.

Cathie also walked us through how she tripled a struggling rent roll in three years with a clear roadmap, performance targets, and a culture-first approach.

Her three pillars—data transparency, operating rhythms and team engagement—are something every principal should take to heart.

Transparency is about truly knowing your numbers and being unafraid to face the facts.

Operating rhythms are about creating consistency through structured processes, meeting cadences and accountability.

And team engagement?

That’s where the magic happens.

When your people are aligned, empowered and genuinely love what they do.

“I knew that if we just focused on those three areas—data, rhythm and people—we would be able to create a great business.”

Jonathan Rostron: Standardise, then scale

Wingman Group CEO Jonathan Rostron gave us a peek inside the operations of his business, which scaled quickly and globally.

His mantra?

“Build it, run it, move on to the next department or activity or process, and then find the time down the line, where they've got new resources, the luxury of time, whatever it is to review and refine that process and make it better,” he said.

He also reminded attendees that culture starts at the top.

“If I can't stand there and say that I've done it myself, then there's a concern from them that I don't know what they're talking about, that I'm not in the trenches with them, and I don't understand the pain that they're feeling.”

That’s why great leadership is about rolling up your sleeves and staying connected to the people and processes that drive your business.

He also shared how a clear and consistent vision helped position his offshore workforce not as back-end support, but as proud, professional contributors.

His team’s success was built not just on process—but on buy-in, belief and relentless refinement. It was a timely reminder that scalable growth is a systems game, but culture is the multiplier.

Sarah Dawson: Let tech manage the process, so you can lead your people

PropertyMe’s Chief Customer Officer Sarah Dawson brought wisdom forged through decades at the coalface of PropTech, leadership and real estate operations.

Her session was a timely reminder that technology isn’t the solution in itself, but leadership is.

Before you dive into automation, she urged, start by understanding the problem you’re trying to solve.

“You need to think about what the problem is that you’re trying to solve. Is it a people problem? Is it a process problem? Is it a performance problem?” Sarah asked.

Too often in our industry, we get swept up in the features of the latest tool and forget to ask the most important question: how does this fit with my brand, my people and my customer journey?

Sarah’s approach was refreshingly grounded. She challenged us to stop chasing shiny objects and instead focus on sustainable tech adoption.

“Let the tech manage the process and you manage people.”

She also shared a powerful insight around brand consistency in a world of increasing automation.

When every agency starts using the same tools in the same way, what’s left to differentiate you?

The answer lies in how you deliver service, how your team shows up, and how well your internal culture reflects your brand.

And speaking of teams, Sarah’s stance on leadership was clear: it starts with people.

 Hiring for fit, investing in onboarding, defining career pathways early, and leading with your story all help build engaged, loyal teams.

“If you invest in your people first, then the results will definitely follow,” Sarah said.

Drew McTavish: Use AI to amplify your edge - but only if your data is solid

Drew’s session opened our eyes to what’s already possible with AI in real estate as well as what’s coming next.

But his message came with a warning: “No data, no AI. No AI, no edge.”

He showed how AI can automate everything from video editing to social media scheduling and enquiry responses, but it will only be of benefit if the data feeding it is clean and accurate.

“If you’ve got a CRM and you want to turn some AI on and there’s nothing in the CRM, that AI is not going to do very much for you,” Drew said.

It was a timely reminder that the tools won’t save us, but the strategy, and the people driving it,  behind them might.

LEADER isn’t just an event. It’s a movement.

Every year, agents and business owners walk away from LEADER not just with notebooks full of ideas, but with fire in their bellies to lead more boldly, build more strategically, and live more freely.

Because leadership in real estate should mean more.

If you’re serious about building a business that’s scalable, sustainable and wildly successful – without burning out – I’d love to support you. You can learn more about my 1:1 coaching here.

Or, check out my newest course, The EBU Ministry (some modules are ready to get stuck into now).