Looking back through our Industry Influencer lists since 2017, one thing stands out – what we value as leadership in the real estate industry has changed fundamentally.
Now that we’ve been able to quickly analyse data (thanks to generative AI) from these lists over a long period of time, it’s worth pulling some threads together and creating a story.
First, the good.
What’s changed is how we think about leadership. It’s not just about who sells the most anymore. People are getting noticed for helping others grow, supporting their communities, and making the industry better for everyone.
In 2017, there were a lot of high sales earners on the list. People like Fiona Blayney, Matt Lahood, and Melina Cruickshank started as rule-breakers, and now we see them in the power-player/thought leader categories.
The years 2018-2019 showed more interesting shifts. Tech companies gained more attention, but not just any tech-specific solutions for real estate problems.
Moving into the early 2020s, mental health and wellbeing became key talking points. Leaders like Chris Hanley and Andy Reid put these issues front and centre. The industry also saw more women in top spots and greater cultural diversity in leadership roles.
You could argue these lists show the same people appearing year in and year out. After all, some names appear consistently – Owen Wilson, Dan White, Mark McLeod, Leanne Pilkington, Antonia Mercorella, and Gavin Rubinstein.
But what’s fascinating is how their roles changed; they aren’t just successful at what they do, they have also become voices for change in the industry.
By 2024, the way we think about influence has shifted. Today’s influential leaders are creating change in technology, industry reform and community building.
The tech conversation has matured significantly. We’ve moved beyond buzzwords to celebrating leaders who deliver practical solutions that genuinely improve how we work.
I’m particularly encouraged by the rise of what I would call “connectors”—quiet achievers who build communities and foster collaboration.
But while we’ve made huge progress as an industry, are we moving quickly enough? And have we done enough?
Our industry faces massive challenges in 2025 and moving forward: housing affordability, climate change, and technological disruption, to name a few.
These require fresh thinking and diverse perspectives.
Yet our influencer lists, while celebrating excellence, still reflect an industry that seems to be mainly talking to itself.
There are promising signs. This year’s list features more property managers, more women in leadership, and more professionals prioritising community alongside commerce.
I also analysed the language of all six lists with the advanced Gemini model, looking at both the numbers and language patterns. Here are some interesting trends that surfaced:
- The shift in tech talk shows real change. In the early days, we kept seeing people called “digital thought leaders” (which makes me laugh now – what does that even mean?) Now, it’s much more straightforward – they’re just CEOs and founders of specific tech companies. It’s like how we used to make a big deal about having a website, and now it’s just… expected.
- The quiet influence of the “connectors” stands out – those who seem to know everyone and get things happening. They’re not always in the headlines, but they keep showing up on these lists because they bring people together.
- In the early years, “rule breakers” focused on tech, new business models, and challenging tradition. Now, as more individuals emerge with innovative strategies, the idea of a “rule breaker” has broadened. We see innovation across areas like law, auctioneering, marketing, sales and community impact.
- Leadership language has shifted from what leaders achieve to how they achieve it. People get noticed because they’re good at bringing out the best in others – through mentoring, training, and giving back to the community.
- We still need improvement in diversity. While women are more recognised in real estate, we need to still do better with cultural and ethnic diversity.
I also keep coming back to three burning questions:
- Are we moving fast enough?
- Are we thinking broadly enough?
- Are we genuinely preparing for what’s ahead?
The next few years will stretch us like never before, requiring not more of the same, not incremental change, but something different.
We need fewer conversations about protecting the status quo and more about reinventing it.
We’ll need leaders who don’t just excel within current systems but who help us reimagine what’s possible—sustainability pioneers preparing our industry for climate change’s impact on property and disruptive thinkers challenging our traditional business models.
The question isn’t whether we’re good at what we do – clearly, many in our industry excel at their chosen specialities.
The question is whether what we’re doing is good enough given our challenges.
We’re at a point where NVIDIA CEO Jim Fan says this will be the last generation without robots.
We can’t keep using motivational quotes like “Success leaves clues” as a call to action and expect that to prepare everyone for what comes next.
The conversations we need might feel uncomfortable and should challenge long-held assumptions. But that’s exactly what real influence should do—push us to be better, think bigger, and create change that matters.
Industry Influencers 2024
