Mentor: An experienced and trusted advisor.
For Anthony Lyne, mentors have come into his career at different times and for different reasons, but they have each made a profound impact on his professional and personal development.
When Anthony, a Des Moines Area Association of REALTORS member, first became licensed he remembers leaning on his broker for guidance in navigating the complexities of contracts and processes in the real estate world. Despite the sink or swim environment, Anthony persisted, recognizing the necessity of self-reliance in a field where assisting clients with significant life decisions requires confidence and competence.
"I kind of had to just swim," Anthony recalls. "And if you think about this business, when we're helping people with a lot of problems and issues they have potentially through the buying or selling of their home, you do have to learn how to swim."
As Anthony grew more confident in his knowledge of the real estate world and processes, he transitioned from a transactional mindset to one focused on building meaningful relationships.
"I decided, what if I get involved in things and start to find people to look up to, to aspire to be like or things like that," he said.
While Anthony, of course, wanted to find mentors that were high producers in the real estate world, he learned from a young age that a mentor is more than someone who is successful in their chosen career.
"For me, early on in my early life, I played a lot of sports and it was always instilled with us from the coaches I had, 'Hey, I'm trying to not only teach you folks to be great athletes, but I'm also trying to teach you how to be good people.' Early on it was more focused on a mentor who's also someone that's trying to teach me to be a good person," he notes.
Through involvement in local and state real estate groups, like the Iowa Association of REALTORS, Anthony found mentors like Travis Bushaw and Krista Clark, who inspired him with their knowledge, authenticity, and leadership qualities.
"Travis would be a mentor to me, he's not even in central Iowa, but he's been a mentor and the reason why is unbeknownst to him, I just look up to him at a distance and I always think that he is on his game," Anthony said. "He knows a lot about a lot and he's one of the most genuine people you'll ever meet."
“Krista had seen something in me that I didn't see in myself," Anthony said. "She got me involved with some committees at IAR and it kind of snowballed after that. She possesses a lot of leadership qualities that I aspire to have myself."
Overtime, Anthony's taken on larger roles at IAR, thanks in part to the support and confidence he received from people like Krista and Travis. He served as the chair for IAR's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee in its first two years, and is now a staple at state and local events.
Today, Anthony pays it forward by serving as a mentor himself, guiding others on their professional journeys. He finds fulfillment in witnessing their growth and believes in the power of patience and attentive listening when mentoring others, echoing the support he received from his own mentors.
"It's fulfilling, it's really cool," he said. "Being a mentor to others you get to see them kind of grow into something and maybe plant a seed with someone that they don't realize that they could blossom into. Watching them flower is really, really fulfilling."
Anthony's story illustrates that mentorship is a reciprocal process - one where knowledge, support, and encouragement are passed down from one generation of professionals to the next, fostering a community of growth and development within the real estate industry.