Secrets of one of NZ's most successful leaders

MEDIA RELEASE – GENERAL

Carey Smith – Deliver – secrets of one of New Zealand’s most successful leaders

There are no winners and losers in life, just choosers, says Carey Smith. Now the CEO of Ray White Real New Zealand turning over $5 billion in property sales a year, Smith did OK at school. But he had his sights set clearly on becoming a winner.

Having succeeded in both the business and personal arenas, Carey Smith has put together a motivational read with plenty of practical lessons in topping up your own fuel tank of self-reliance and self-esteem. Deliver outlines what he has learned from his own experiences and observations and gives practical advice on how to challenge your own thought patterns to get the most out of life.

Entering real estate in New South Wales Australia at age 17, Smith spent four years learning the industry from the basics up before he became involved with his father’s business, which expanded into a major national real estate franchise. As he began to understand the business Smith started his own company.

Then 20 years ago he joined the Ray White Group as a junior auctioneer. In 1996, he moved from Australia to help rebrand United Realty, the New Zealand component of the Australian business. Because of the cultural differences, he found it one of the most difficult challenges he’d encountered. However, he devised ways to overcome these and, as leader of the company, began making significant gains.

Ray White is now one of New Zealand’s biggest real estate companies with 125 offices nationwide and leading market share. Smith’s strong, inclusive leadership has earned him the respect from within the company and recognition from many of Australia’s esteemed business people.

Over the years, he has continued to contribute to rugby league as both player and referee. “I see this as a great leveller for it lets me give back to the sport that I enjoy.”

The basis of Carey Smith’s many achievements has been a letter that he writes to himself each year setting out his work and personal goals within a timeframe. The book Deliver is part of one of those promises.

Deliver asks questions many may not have asked themselves. It shows how an autonomous leader can challenge their own thought patterns to learn that life’s experiences are about observation. It shows how to apply that observation to gain the most from the directions you take.
He believes if two people are in a meeting together and they both think the same, then no creativity can be developed. “Through the discovery of leadership, your thinking can be changed to be creative, even when you are compelled to comply with today’s thinking.”

Thoughts surrounding the process of leadership challenge come from Carey Smith’s individual stories. Deliver goes right to the heart of leadership in a raw approach that demonstrates each action has an outcome. We can all be winners if we choose to learn from our observations.

Ends

© Scoop Media