Elite Agent - The Edit

What happens when you get to the top and there's no one left to ask?

Read the full article → https://eliteagent.com/lisa-pennell-leadership-beyond-labels-the-edit/

Barry Plant CEO Lisa Pennell joins Samantha McLean and Chris Hanley on Track 07 of The Edit, with John Cunningham staying on for the first half, to talk about leadership, bias and the behaviour an industry chooses to walk past.

Lisa explains why she thinks the conversation about women in leadership keeps missing the point, what "power with, not power over" looks like across a network of around 65 offices, and why she stopped a rebrand that was already halfway done. Chris makes the case that the industry isn't looking after its young men either, and asks what it tells them when the people with the worst behaviour write the biggest GCI.

In this episode:

• Why Lisa would rather talk about capability and experience than quotas.

• The Harvard bias test that surprised her, and the blind spots we all carry.

• Why a leader saying "I don't know" is a show of strength.

• Calm on the surface, busy underneath – leading when the market wobbles.

• What nobody tells you about the CEO seat, and who Lisa talks to.

• Chris on young men, role models and the behaviour you walk past.

• Lisa's advice for leaders feeling the pressure right now – don't panic, but don't stand still.

Lisa Pennell has been CEO of Barry Plant for three and a half years.

The Edit is Elite Agent's real estate mixtape, hosted by Samantha McLean and her co-hosts. Explore the series at https://eliteagent.com/topics/elite-agent-tv/the-edit/

• 00:00:00 Power With, Not Power Over
• 00:00:30 Welcome to The Edit
• 00:02:04 Places Where Women Want to Stay
• 00:04:03 Leadership Beyond Gender
• 00:06:05 Unconscious Bias and Blind Spots
• 00:08:34 Barry Plant at a Glance
• 00:09:46 What Excellent Leadership Looks Like
• 00:11:51 Mistakes, Recovery and Calm
• 00:15:55 The Leader Under the Microscope
• 00:16:37 Lonely at the Top
• 00:18:49 The Early Days and the Rebrand
• 00:20:36 Winning People Over Through Change
• 00:23:37 Advice for the Next Generation
• 00:24:47 Twice as Hard to Be Half as Good
• 00:26:17 Are We Looking After Young Men?
• 00:29:31 Act on Bad Behaviour Now
• 00:32:51 Don't Panic, Don't Stand Still

You can teach someone to sell. Can you teach them to be trustworthy?
Read the full article → https://eliteagent.com/john-cunningham-trust-hiring-good-people-the-edit/

John Cunningham joins Samantha McLean and Chris Hanley on Track 06 of The Edit to discuss the people you recruit, the culture you build and the choices you make when the pressure rises.

John explains why a million-dollar GCI goal is only the start of a recruitment conversation, what he looks for beyond rehearsed interview answers and why he asks candidates to think about the life they want to lead. Chris challenges the idea that there is only one personality type that succeeds in real estate, and makes the case for recruiting people who give to the team.

In this episode:

• Can trustworthiness be developed, and what foundation has to be there first?
• Why clients need guidance when they are unsure what to do next.
• John's OIC rule – observation, initiative and creativity.
• The business-and-life-plan conversation that reveals more than a GCI target.
• Givers, takers and the effect a new hire has on the whole team.
• What to look for when matching a good person to the right role.

John is managing director and co-founder of Cunninghams on Sydney's Northern Beaches.

The Edit is Elite Agent's real estate mixtape, hosted by Samantha McLean and her co-hosts. Explore the series at https://eliteagent.com/topics/elite-agent-tv/the-edit/

• 00:00:00 Can You Teach Trust?
• 00:00:51 Why Trust Matters
• 00:03:30 Character and Trustworthiness
• 00:08:34 Fear, Pressure and Leadership
• 00:12:21 Guiding Clients Through a Changing Market
• 00:15:55 Good People Get Great Results
• 00:18:09 Observation, Initiative and Creativity
• 00:19:00 The Recruitment Interview and Business Plan
• 00:22:44 Beyond a Million Dollars in GCI
• 00:25:28 Givers, Takers and Team Culture
• 00:28:57 Trust Before Objection Handling
• 00:31:49 The Right Person for the Right Role
• 00:34:14 Closing

What are good people actually staying for when listings are thin?
In Track 05 of The Edit, Samantha McLean and Chris Hanley speak with Andrew McCann, CEO of Jellis Craig, about why recruitment and retention begin long before a vacancy appears. Andrew explains how leaders shape culture through the standards they set, the people they recognise and the conversations they are prepared to have.
Jellis Craig has grown to 45 Victorian offices and 1,200 people. Andrew shares what that scale has taught him about belonging, development, community investment and staying calm when talented people leave.
Key ideas:
• Why good people rarely leave for commission splits alone
• How recognition and development help people see a future in the business
• What to do when someone misses the standard without turning every mistake into a disciplinary event
• Why panic hiring on different terms can damage a team
• How to promote from within and cover the next 90 days after key departures
• Chris’s case for stay interviews – and for letting the next leader emerge
Featuring Andrew McCann, Samantha McLean and Chris Hanley.

• 00:00:00 Introduction: Why Good People Stay
• 00:00:44 Meet Andrew McCann: The CEO Behind Jellis Craig's Growth
• 00:03:36 Good Humans First: The Jellis Craig Culture Philosophy
• 00:05:07 People Join Leaders and Leave Leaders
• 00:06:29 Not Everything Matters, But Everyone Matters
• 00:09:30 Culture Is Led: Setting Standards That Trickle Down
• 00:15:12 Community as Responsibility: The Jellis Craig Foundation
• 00:18:13 The CEO Seat: Lessons from Three Years of Leadership
• 00:23:01 Forgiveness and standards
• 00:25:56 Training Beyond the Silver Bullet
• 00:28:34 The Panic Hire: Why Calm Beats Desperation
• 00:30:45 Stay interviews before exit interviews

Would you still give back if no one was watching?

For real estate businesses, community support can be easy to talk about. The harder question is what you're prepared to do when there's no spotlight, no lead and no immediate return.

In Track 04 of The Edit, Samantha McLean and Chris Hanley sit down with Stavros Ambatzidis, co-founder and chairman of OBrien Real Estate, to explore what meaningful community investment looks like in practice.

From raising more than $1 million for motor neurone disease to packing school backpacks and helping local families, Stavros shares how giving became part of the way his business operates. This is a conversation about participation, personal responsibility and building a culture where small acts of service matter.

Key topics include:
• Why community support starts with responsibility to the people who support your business
• The three ways to contribute: money, fundraising and hands-on help
• What changes when your team participates instead of simply sponsoring
• How OBrien moved from a foundation to a more responsive community program
• Why goodwill isn't an invoice—and values shouldn't depend on the market
• The small, practical step any agent can take to help someone today

Featuring Stavros Ambatzidis, Samantha McLean and Chris Hanley. A grounded conversation about purpose, generosity and the influence real estate agents have in their communities.

Next track: More hard truths from the people doing the work that works.

• 00:00:00 Introduction: Would You Still Do It If No One's Watching?
• 00:00:45 Meet Stavros Ambatzidis: The Man Behind O'Brien's Community Mission
• 00:02:27 Real Estate Agents Are Not Rock Stars: Understanding Our True Role
• 00:03:55 What Does Good Community Investment Actually Look Like?
• 00:06:04 Buyer, seller, community: a different measure of success
• 00:08:25 The O'Brien Foundation: From MND to Local Impact
• 00:10:51 The Three Forms of Community Contribution: Money, Fundraising, and Toil
• 00:12:11 Getting on the Other Side of the Counter: The Power of Participation
• 00:14:42 What Goes Through You When You Give: The Inside Game
• 00:20:11 Community as an Operating System, Not a Marketing Strategy
• 00:20:32 From Foundation to Community Program: Removing Red Tape to Help Faster
• 00:27:35 The $2 Coin Principle: Small Acts, Big Impact
• 00:28:36 Can You Teach People to Give? Culture vs. Systems
• 00:33:39 Final Advice: Would You Still Do It If No One's Watching?
• 00:35:06 The power real estate agents don't realise they have

Marketing is an investment, not an expense.

Most agents still pitch photos and a floor plan, then wonder why vendors push back on price. Buyers expect more information than ever, and AI is starting to read listings before a human does. That gap is costing more than campaigns. It is costing trust, listings and the next appraisal.

In Track 03 of The Edit, Samantha McLean is joined by Alexandra Warren, Country Manager Australia at Diakrit. Alexandra has spent more than two decades championing immersive property marketing, and Diakrit recently partnered with Stone Real Estate on independent consumer research with buyers and vendors who had bought or sold in the previous six months. The results challenge some of the industry's most stubborn myths.

This conversation unpacks what buyers and vendors actually expect, why 58% of vendors say marketing strategy plays a critical role in who they list with, and what it means to be AI-ready when the machine reads your listing before the buyer does. They get into why holding information back no longer works, how virtual tours move buyers through the funnel, and what a complete listing looks like when search is conversational, not filtered.

Key topics include:

• why one in four buyers point to poor marketing as their biggest frustration
• the myth that vendors won't pay for better content
• reframing marketing from cost to investment in the listing presentation
• what an AI-ready listing actually needs – photos, floor plans, virtual tours, video and structured copy
• why your current listing is auditioning for your next appraisal
• how the best agents use immersive content to nurture databases and
  capture early buyer interest
• the risks of AI-generated content and where to draw the line

This is practical, research-backed and immediately usable. Featuring Samantha McLean and Alexandra Warren.

Download the Diakrit Consumer Research 2026 report: https://elite.ag/diakrit-report-yt

Read the research write-up on Elite Agent: https://eliteagent.com/diakrit-consumer-research-what-buyers-vendors-value/

More tracks from The Edit: https://eliteagent.com/topics/elite-agent-tv/the-edit/

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Next track: More insight from the people building the tools and systems that help agents stand out.

• 00:00:00 Introduction: What Buyers and Vendors Actually Expect
• 00:01:30 Meet Alex Warren: Championing Immersive Property Marketing
• 00:03:49 The Research Mission: Myth-Busting Property Marketing
• 00:05:48 Myth Number One: Vendors Won't Pay for Marketing
• 00:06:51 Myth Number Two: Virtual Tours Are Dead
• 00:10:02 Poor Marketing: The Buyer's Biggest Pain Point
• 00:12:30 The Marketing Strategy Conversation: Words That Win Listings
• 00:16:37 Your Current Listing Is Auditioning for Your Next Appraisal
• 00:19:00 AI-Ready Listings: What the Machine Needs to See
• 00:22:03 The AI-Ready Checklist: Actionable Content Strategy
• 00:23:59 Creative Lead Capture: Using Content Before Listings Go Live
• 00:25:51 AI Content Gone Wrong: Setting Guardrails
• 00:27:42 Final Advice: Change the Narrative from Expense to Investment

Who's actually teaching your people right now?
Most agencies say development matters. Very few have someone inside the business whose actual job is to make the people better. In a difficult market, that gap stops being theoretical and starts showing up in the numbers.

In Track 02 of The Edit, Samantha McLean and Chris Hanley are joined by Fiona Blayney, founder of Real Plus and one of the most experienced coaches in Australian real estate. Over 25 years, Fiona has worked under the bonnet of nearly every high performing business in the country, across property management, sales, leadership and culture.

This conversation goes deep on what coaching actually is, who's doing it inside agencies, and why most people confuse information with technique. They unpack the difference between being managed and being developed, why conflict escalates in email and de-escalates on the phone, and what it takes to build one culture across sales and property management instead of two.

Key topics include:
• what defines a real coach versus someone with a title
• the two-email rule and why talking solves conflict faster
• why leadership in real estate is a lot like parenting
• the risk of AI slop replacing personal service
• how the best agencies teach communication by example
• why being in the room matters more than any webinar

This is practical, unfiltered and necessary. Featuring Samantha McLean, Chris Hanley and Fiona Blayney.

Next track: More hard truths from the people doing the work that works.

• 00:00:00 Introduction: Who's Teaching Your People?
• 00:00:43 Meet Fiona Blaney: Under the Bonnet of Real Estate Businesses
• 00:03:16 The Coaching Crisis: Titles Without Training
• 00:08:55 What Is a Coach Really? Defining True Coaching
• 00:13:42 Consultative Coaching: Blending Experience with Development
• 00:14:57 Culture: The Fish Rots From the Head
• 00:19:08 Leadership as Parenting: Real Estate's Ground Truth
• 00:23:41 The Communication Crisis: Email, Text, and Conflict
• 00:25:55 AI and Automation: The Oprah Effect
• 00:33:53 The Two Email Rule: Pick Up the Phone
• 00:35:17 PM1 Conference: Learning in the Room
• 00:37:26 Investing in Your Team: The Value of Development

The market is hard. Chris Hanley’s First National Byron Bay business has just had its best year.
In Track 01 of The Edit – Elite Agent’s real estate mixtape – Samantha McLean and Chris get past the easy answers. They talk about why charm and swagger are not enough, how trust becomes operational currency, what headwind markets expose inside agencies, and the daily discipline of listing, educating vendors and moving stock.
Chris shares lessons from more than four decades in real estate, including:
• why hope is not a strategy
• the three markets: headwind, tailwind and no wind
• why agents should talk 20% and listen 80%
• the 11 questions for hard vendor conversations
• three things principals should do in the next 90 days
The Edit is practical, honest and occasionally uncomfortable – a mixtape of the voices and hard-earned wisdom worth paying attention to.
Featuring Samantha McLean and Chris Hanley.
Next track: Fiona Blayney on what a hard market exposes inside your team.

• 00:00:00 Introduction: The Edit Podcast Launch
• 00:01:47 Meet Chris Hanley: The Wise Man of Real Estate
• 00:03:53 Ground Rules: Refusing to Walk Past the Truth
• 00:05:39 The Three Markets: Headwind, Tailwind, No Wind
• 00:08:47 Trust: The Currency of Real Estate
• 00:12:21 The Housing Crisis and Industry Exclusion
• 00:15:13 Inside Real Estate Businesses: Fear and Chaos
• 00:16:25 This Market Isn't About Charm: Skills That Matter Now
• 00:17:22 GFC Lessons: Surviving When Markets Halve
• 00:18:39 The 11 Questions: Tools for Difficult Conversations
• 00:21:26 Listening, Talking, and Asking Questions
• 00:24:17 Who's Really Selling in This Market
• 00:26:19 The Cream Rises: Understanding Market Transactions
• 00:27:15 The Science of Price Adjustments
• 00:28:04 90-Day Action Plan for Principals
• 00:29:46 Managing Emotions: The Turbulence is Normal
• 00:31:16 Wrap Up and Next Episode Preview