When Byron Lazine introduced George Laughton at BAM Camp 2025, he led with the numbers:
- 200+ agents
- 15,000 transactions
- $1B in annual volume
That kind of scale doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when a leader learns how to focus, adapt, and communicate through some of the toughest markets in history.
George got licensed in 2006, right before the housing crash. He bought three properties at “probably the worst quarter in the last hundred years to buy real estate,” all on option ARM financing.
His career started with disaster, but resilience kept him in the game.
Two decades later, his team averages nearly 2,000 transactions a year and more than $1 billion in annual volume.
At BAM Camp, George broke down the lessons that helped him grow, from implementing systems to creating better client communication and redefining what balance really means.
Systems vs Shiny Objects
Real estate has no shortage of distractions. New technologies, new strategies, and new platforms are everywhere.
George admitted he has felt the pull of chasing too many things at once.
“This is a very shiny object business. We’re always jumping from one technology to the next. When you feel like your business is doing that, you probably lack a really good operating system.”
That operating system, for George, was EOS, the Entrepreneurial Operating System introduced in the book Traction by Gino Wickman. With EOS, his team set annual reviews, quarterly goals (“Rocks”), and worked from a 1-3-5 model:
- One big goal
- Three strategies to reach it
- Five tactics per strategy
He gave an example of how his team attacked Phoenix’s declining listing success rate, which had fallen to 68%.
“Our goal is to close 650 listings. So the strategy was, let’s be 5% better to 10% better. And then we created five tactics within that strategy.”
Systems like this keep the team focused on execution instead of scattering energy across dozens of half-finished ideas.
The “Don’t Fire Me Report”
One of the tactics born out of that system was the “Don’t Fire Me Report,” created with input from Jimmy Mackin and Curaytor. It was designed to fix a common problem: sellers not realizing how much effort the team was putting into marketing their home.
“We realized that we were probably not communicating well enough to our sellers, all the things that we were doing on behalf of all the marketing and everything we were doing to get their homes sold. So we needed a better way to communicate to them weekly.”
The report includes aggregated data from portals, details on social media posts and ads, and showing feedback. It goes out every Tuesday, and George encourages agents to add a Loom video breaking down comps, competition, and next steps.
Byron connected the dots for the room.
“What George said is a video identifying: here’s where we’re at this week, this is the recap of the week, and this is the game plan moving forward.”
For George, video is about client impact more than reach.
“Our clients can never be the punchline. That is, without a doubt, one of our ground rules here.”
Balance Is BS
When Byron asked George how he balances everything, George didn’t sugarcoat it:
“Balance is BS… There’s burners in life and there’s times in the markets where you’ve got to crank up certain areas and crank down certain areas.”
Instead of chasing balance, George focuses on explaining the “why” to the people around him.
“Involve your family in your goals, involve your team in your goals, involve everybody around. You should know what your mission is and what your goals are, and everybody’s going to start buying into it.”
George Laughton’s story is proof that discipline and focus can outlast even the toughest markets. Systems like EOS and the 1-3-5 model keep teams aligned, while consistent client communication builds trust and protects listings.
For George, leadership comes down to clarity of mission and the ability to communicate it well to clients, to the team, and to family.
That’s what creates staying power in a business that never stops changing.
