10 Gems Of Leadership Wisdom From Talks With Team Weekley

In a few weeks, it'll mark precisely 20 years of getting to cover people whose livelihoods draw their lifeblood from making homes and communities rise out of the ground.

What I've found in the U.S. homebuilding and residential investment and development business communities differs from anything I encountered in a prior 20-year career chapter covering other business sectors.

It's the people.

As I wrote about the people yesterday:

They invariably tap into the rarest of blends — equal parts bravery, relentlessness, and humility— and they stand out, and they stand-for, and the raw material of their character and action makes a legend."

Some of them gain renown. Others strive as unheralded team members. All of them grapple with hard challenges, and all of them – every day on tens of thousands of job sites and in office workplaces and in new models everywhere – commonly tackle hard problems.

Whatever anybody says about this issue of an American housing affordability crisis that's been a generation in the making, it's the people of homebuilding, and their willingness to tackle the hardest of problems, and their capability at teaming up to produce relentless and resilient high-performance in their days' work ... it's those people who will ultimately be the source of real-world solutions for housing's attainability and access crisis.

I mean you.

Imagine the privilege of spending time at this moment, learning from two of the business community's most storied and revered leaders in the past week: David Weekley and John Johnson. This is a unique opportunity to gain insights from their wealth of experience.

This extraordinary gift for an endangered species business-to-business journalist sparked an idea, and here it is. If you were advising a leader in the American homebuilding or residential development business — whether a CEO, COO, President, Owner, Principal, or key shareholder — what would be the 10 most important leadership and high-performance insights to navigate today’s rapidly changing landscape?

Economic uncertainty, volatile capital costs, and a generational imbalance between housing supply and demand define the current U.S. homebuilding market. Demographic shifts, including surges in young adult households, job growth, and family formation, paired with rising development costs, restrictions, and delays in new projects, the industry faces mounting challenges. Meanwhile, households are dealing with higher costs of living, income security concerns, and pressures from rising property insurance costs driven by soaring home values and climate risks.

In addition to this, there is the disruption of new technologies like AI, building science innovations, and changing consumer preferences. It’s clear the industry is in the midst of a significant transformation. Success will depend on leaders who can balance these external forces while focusing on people, talent development, teamwork, and the human factor in achieving resilient, high performance. Those who can drive velocity, quality, and value creation through constant improvement will set themselves apart in an industry where resources are more constrained and customer expectations are higher.

Here are the 10 key leadership lessons drawn from conversations over the past week or so with industry veterans like John Johnson, David Weekley, Chris Weekley, Martin Freedland, and Thomas Carpitella.

These insights are not just valuable, but crucial for business leaders to thrive in today’s complex market by building resilient, ever-improving high-performance teams.

1. Empower and Trust Your People
“Define reality, give hope.” – As John Johnson always says, outstanding leadership means being transparent about challenges while inspiring belief in a better future. Empowering people to take ownership, make decisions, and drive results will be the foundation of success, especially in a volatile market. Trusting people to solve problems, innovate, and continuously improve builds loyalty and drives high performance.

2. Lead by Example with Relentless Presence
“John Johnson was on the ground with his people—taking hundreds of flights, visiting every corner of the organization, embodying his belief in the importance of being with the team.” – David Weekley

Leaders must be visible, engaged, and connected to their teams. Johnson’s constant presence demonstrated that leadership is not about hierarchy but about being actively involved in driving outcomes alongside the team.

3. Resiliency in the Face of Adversity
David Weekley Homes' handling of the 2008-2010 Global Financial Crisis shows that leading through adversity requires difficult decisions without losing sight of core values. During the housing crash, the company had to let go of a significant percentage of its staff, but leadership made sure to treat people with dignity, providing support during transition periods. This approach fostered long-term loyalty and resilience.

4. Long-Term Success Depends on Culture, Not Just Strategy
“We can’t underestimate the power of culture. You can have the best strategy, but if your team is not aligned culturally, the strategy will fail.” – Chris Weekley. A company’s performance and success are deeply rooted in a people-first culture where values like humility, collaboration, and trust drive results. A leader’s focus should be on nurturing a culture that promotes ownership, innovation, and consistent improvement.

5. Prioritize Talent Development and Succession Planning
“John Johnson was the best I ever worked with because he didn’t just focus on performance—he focused on developing people for the future.” – Martin Freedland. Leaders must cultivate future leaders from within, investing in mentorship, training, and growth opportunities. This not only ensures continuity but also strengthens team loyalty and engagement.

6. Stay Grounded in Purpose: People First
“At David Weekley Homes, it’s always been about people—our team members and our customers.” – David Weekley. Even as market conditions fluctuate and business models adapt, never lose sight of the people at the core of the business. This includes employees, customers, and partners. Focusing on people fosters a resilient, customer-centered organization that thrives in adversity.

7. High-Performance Thrives on Constant Improvement
At the heart of high performance is an unyielding commitment to improvement—whether in processes, products, or people. The “Expedition Evergreen” initiative illustrates this focus on innovation and doubling growth while staying true to people-first values. The goal is to grow bigger and better by constantly evaluating what can be done differently and more efficiently.

8. Manage Change with Humility and Bravery
Living legends like David Weekley and John Johnson thrived because they embraced change with a rare blend of humility and bravery. Leaders must remain adaptable and open to new ideas while staying true to core values in a marketplace of accelerated technological disruption, rising costs, and shifting consumer demands.

9. The Power of Collaborative Teamwork
“Our flat organization has always been key to our success—no titles, no egos, just a group of people working toward the same goal.” – Chris Weekley. Flattening hierarchies fosters open communication, shared problem-solving, and team empowerment. Leaders must encourage collaboration across all levels of the organization to drive innovation and shared accountability.

10. Give Back: Success with a Greater Purpose
David Weekley Homes’ unique structure—where one-third of the company is owned by Charitable Trusts serving more than 100 charities in 35 countries—proves that successful businesses can have a transformative impact on society. Leaders should embrace a broader view of success, one that includes giving back and making a lasting difference in the world, empowering not just their teams but also their communities.