As I sit in my hotel room at the Kalahari while attending our 2022 WRA Annual Convention in October, I’m reflecting on all of the things I’ve been thankful for throughout the year. Last night during Joe Horning’s installation ceremony, he offered comments about how he was in a room not of competitors, but of friends! This morning listening to Walter Bond give his keynote speech during opening session, he talked about how his mother used to tell him to “be sweet.” In 2022, there is nothing more that we need than to “be sweet” and to create life-lasting friendships. We live in an extremely divisive and hypercompetitive world. The beauty of what we all do on a daily basis is that we get to work with people. I encourage each and every one of you to think about the impact we could have if we all listened to that same message on a daily basis.

Thinking back to my installation as the WRA chairman in Milwaukee in October 2021, I remember listening to my good friend Tommy Choi speaking about how he encourages people to operate from a place of gratitude. Oddly enough, that’s the same lesson my wife Tricia has been encouraging in our household over the last several weeks. We’re trying to teach our three-year-old daughter Camila to start her day by telling us something she’s grateful for. We all learn these lessons at a young age; it’s life that gets in the way and knocks us off that path. We need to remember to surround ourselves with the people we want to be most like — another favorite quote of Tommy’s — “iron sharpens iron.” We are REALTORS^®, we can make this positive impact on so many people if we all strive to become iron and immerse ourselves in this REALTOR^® community together. 

I’ve learned that there is a whole heck of a lot of iron in our WRA community. In leadership, we’re often asked to make decisions. As I remarked at the chairman’s dinner at the 2022 convention, our staff at the WRA is second to none! Their ability to make sure we have all the resources and information at our disposal when we make those decisions is a major reason why we can be successful as leaders. It’s sometimes hard to see, but they are all striving to make our experience as members of the association the most world-class experience that they can for us. The leaders who sit on our committees and boards all feel the same way. We’re all just trying to leave our industry better than we found it.

At the beginning of my year as the chairman, I challenged our team to make sure we had our focus on, as well as the clarity to answer, one question about everything we do as an association: “What is the value to our members?” It wasn’t always easy, but that’s a question we will always need to answer. 

I want to again thank my fellow servant leaders, WRA staff and our amazing members for the opportunity to lead this organization in 2022. It was truly a pleasure and more importantly an honor! I implore you all again to lead by example and to be part of what changes our world for the better, every single day! “Be sweet”; “be gracious”; “make friends, not competitors.”

Thank you! 
Brad Lois, 2022 WRA Chairman of the Board