Elevate: The Official Podcast of Elite Agent Magazine

Elevate: The Official Podcast of Elite Agent Magazine


Creating competition: Brian White on building tomorrow’s leaders, core philosophies, and building market momentum

April 05, 2024

Fostering talent today lays the foundation for tomorrow’s leaders.


That’s the astute ethos of not just Ray White Chairman, Brian White, but of Australasia’s largest real estate group as a whole.


In a very special edition of the Elevate podcast, Brian sat down with host Samantha McLean, at Ray White’s recent Leadership Academy, peeling back the layers on the 122-year-old group’s strategic approach to nurturing the next generation of real estate pioneers, building a culture of competitive selling and a focus on always innovating.


Brian also reveals the nuances behind trademarking the term ‘Competition Creators’, why auctions are a core philosophy in the group and why they are not merely a sales tactic, but a driver of market momentum that offers advantages for vendors and buyers.


He also shares insights on The Tesolin Group leader Josh Tesolin’s meteoric rise in the industry, including the traits that foster his success and the principles industry newcomers can adopt to craft their own careers.


Brian and Sam also discuss Ray White’s strategies for tripling its market share in just a few years,  how a culture of excellence propels agents forward, the role of artificial intelligence in enhancing real estate practices, and the essential nature of mental resilience for agents navigating market fluctuations.


“Being a family business has a lot of advantages. We are the springboard for our people, and the harder they jump on us, the higher they’re going to go.”


Sam and Brian also discuss:
  • 1:30 – Leadership unlocked: Insights into Ray White’s Leadership Academy, including the pivotal role of leadership excellence in sculpting tomorrow’s real estate stars.
  • 2:25 – The art of competition: The strategy behind Ray White’s “Competition Creators” trademark and its impact on sculpting a high-performance culture that delivers unparalleled results.
  • 3:40 – Auction mastery: Why auctions are not just a sales technique but delivers benefits for vendors and buyers and fuels market momentum.
  • 5:45 – The Josh Tesolin effect: How auctions catalysed Josh’s rise to the top and why his journey is a masterclass for real estate newcomers.
  • 7:10 – Growth trajectory: Dissect Ray White’s exponential market share growth and why strategic vision and fostering agent empowerment create success.
  • 8:24 – The new frontier: What Ray White would think of AI and how this tech lever is poised to enhance, not replace, the nuanced art of real estate.
  • 9:50 – The Harvard edge: The secrets of Boris Groysberg’s methodology, including how the Harvard case study approach works in real estate.
  • 10:58—The big issue: Why agents’ biggest challenges are mental resilience and understanding that market highs and lows are temporary.
  • 12:15 – Leadership by design: Explore the crafted nature of leadership, focusing on nurturing confidence, skills, and discipline beyond the sales pitch.
  • 13:40 – Authenticity as currency: Brian’s core lesson on the non-negotiable value of authenticity and directness in forging a successful real estate career.
  • 15:05 – What the future holds: A strategic peek into Ray White expanding the ecosystem with adjacent services and setting new industry benchmarks.