Keller Williams CEO Mark Willis on leading through challenging times

In today’s RealTrending, we speak with Mark Willis, CEO of Keller Williams. After serving as CEO of Keller Williams through some high-growth years for the company, Willis stepped down in 2015. Now, he’s back in leadership in his second stint as CEO and is ready to lead the company through some challenging times. 

Willis shares the lessons he learned in leadership, his love of helping others succeed, and the importance of building strong teams. Willis gets personal about his love for University of Texas Austin football and, on a more serious note, he opens up about personal experiences and the foundation he created in honor of his late wife. 

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• Keller Williams is designed to thrive during challenging economic periods.
• The company focuses on training and consulting to support agents and help them grow their businesses.
• Leadership is about serving others and making intentional decisions.
• Keller Williams is dedicated to building strong teams and providing value to their agents.
• Mark emphasizes the importance of personal growth and learning from failures.

Here is a small preview of today’s interview. The transcript below has been lightly edited for length and clarity:

Tracey Velt: I want the audience to get to know you as a person a little bit. I know you’re a big University of Texas fan. What are some other interesting things about you? Give people a glimpse of who you are outside of Keller Williams.

Mark Willis: I don’t believe there are any accidents in life. I think the good Lord serves us with the lessons that we need to learn in the moment. I had strong opinions and feelings about my role at KW and how much I love the people. And then there was a moment in time when that wasn’t where I was meant to be.

After a couple years of being home and having that time with my wife and my daughter, my wife was diagnosed with cancer and she died five months later. I had to spend some time getting clarity about who I was, who I am as a human being, because you have to keep going.

In 2018, when my wife was diagnosed with cancer, one of my dearest friends gave me a bracelet. Now I’m not a jewelry guy at all, I wear a watch and that’s it. Inside the bracelet was the words for KFG. Keep freaking going, or however you wanna say it. I think while we’re alive, we have to keep going and we have to keep growing. The one thing I learned is that not only did I grieve for my wife in passing and learn how to process those feelings, one of the things that came out of that is my love and my grieving of my KW role and being in leadership at KW. So, I have to say that in a way, I feel like there’s a part of my soul that has been restored by coming back into this role.

The RealTrending podcast features the brightest minds in real estate. Every week, brokerage leaders, top agents, team leaders, and industry experts share their success secrets, trends, and lessons learned navigating this ever-changing industry. Hosted by Tracey Velt and produced by Elissa Branch.