By Michele Gillis
Staff Writer
Dane Leslie says he wanted to know what’s going on. What he didn’t know was that it would lead him to the job of president of the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors.
As a manager/broker of a real estate office, he realized that he wasn’t out in the trenches with his agents.
“You have to know what is going on,” said Leslie. “By being involved, I know what is going on.”
Leslie, the managing broker of the Watson Realty Mandarin South office, will be NEFAR’s 2011 president after serving as president-elect this year. His elevation was affirmed at last month’s meeting at the Jacksonville Marriott where his fellow officers also were selected.
He got out in the trenches by getting active with NEFAR and the Northeast Florida Multiple Listing Services in 1997.
His interest was MLS and he was president of that board in 2005. The next year, he was elected to the NEFAR board.
So, what made him decide to take the lead?
“I was asked to serve,” said Leslie. “The first person that really got me thinking about getting on that track was André Boutte. He’s the one that kept saying ‘When you are president...’
“Then, about four years ago, Glenn East contacted me and said they wanted to nominate me for secretary and would I serve? I said if the board wants me to serve as secretary, I will serve as secretary.”
Leslie said there is a core group of people who really get involved in the association and that’s something he’d like to expand on in his upcoming year.
“That’s why the Leadership Academy was started to try to draw out more people so it’s not the same core group people every year,” he said. “We need new blood and get the young people involved.”
Leslie has been with the Watson Realty Mandarin South office since 1995, starting as an agent and becoming the managing broker in 1997. He is single, lives in Julington Creek and has two children.
Born and raised in Jacksonville, he started his career in banking and then went into the psychiatric and chemical dependency healthcare fields.
“I worked for Charter Medical, which built and operated substance abuse centers,” he said.
That job caused him to travel a lot, so he came home to Jacksonville and became a Realtor.
Though he doesn’t have his plan laid out as of yet, Leslie does know he wants to stick to the strategic plan set forth by past president Millie Kanyar several years ago. He also said to keep an eye out for a survey that will be sent to members to see what they think he needs to do for them.
“I’m a firm believer in not guessing what they want, but asking them instead,” said Leslie.