John Wijtenburg's Linkedin Analytics

After participating in transactions totalling more than $500M, I can tell you that decision is everything. "It does not take much strength to do things, but it requires a great deal of strength to decide what to do." - Elbert Hubbard Decision is a tremendous act of leadership. It's where the magic begins. You only get good with practice. Make good decisions. Make bad decisions. Learn from both. There's no other way. What was the best decision you made this week?

Your business will break. Probably a few times each year. That's the nature of growth. A well-designed operating system is ready for this. Clear vision guides the direction. 12-week goal guides execution. 2-week sprint guides daily work. ...but the real secret sauce is what happens at the end. A thoughtful retrospective absorbs and operationalizes all the lessons gathered throughout. What is your process for process improvement?

Most popular business frameworks were built for software teams, not capital-intensive, trust-driven investment firms. They just weren’t built for real estate sponsors. You tried EOS and OKRs. You built dashboards, ran L10s, and tracked rocks. But you’re still the one holding the business together. Those other frameworks left you stranded. The reality is that real estate needs its own framework. That’s why we created the CRE Growth Operating System. CREGOS is a framework designed for: → Episodic income and capital cycles → High-stakes investor relationships → Execution under ambiguity → Sponsors becoming CEOs If you’ve outgrown the playbook - and you’re ready to lead differently - this article is for you.

Failure is safe. Success is scary. Once you see it, you can't unsee it. I'm always impressed by the level of stress a great founder can carry alone. It's monumental. I'm more impressed when they transfer it effectively. That requires a transformation. → Hiring a team → Installing a new system. → Delegating decisions, not tasks. That takes a leap of faith. You're no longer relying on your skill alone. You shift to faith that your system will make it work. Success demands that you become someone new and surround yourself with a new crowd. Failure keeps you in a comfortable, familiar place. This is why you self-sabotage along the way to greatness. It's the immune response to change. What is the easiest step for you to remove that barrier?

showing up > showing off. the algorithm isn’t your problem. inconsistency is.

You don’t have a capacity problem. You have a leverage problem. You closed more deals You built a bigger portfolio. But somehow… everything still runs through you. Most real estate sponsors think leverage = capital. Naval Ravikant points out that capital is just one lever. The real acceleration comes from combining all four: capital, collaboration, code, and content. I broke each one down in this new article: → How they work → Why they matter → Where most operators get stuck If you’re scaling but still feel stuck in the weeds, start here. Which lever will have the biggest impact for you?

Why are capital and deal flow the biggest bottlenecks in a business that demands them most? Interestingly, this mirrors where most consultants and coaches spend their time. 10% thinking argues for more effort 10x thinking demands a better vehicle The Sponsor's Forge pushes experienced CRE entrepeneurs to build that vehicle. Resilient systems → reliable outcomes DM me to learn how to start.

Culture is code. Best-in-class brands use all four forms of leverage to reinforce each other. Everyone in the SE US knows the tagline. "Publix. Where shopping is a pleasure." That is both code and content. It invites collaboration and capital. It's no wonder the grocer continues growing while competitors struggle to get by. How does your brand promise (code) reinforce capital, collaboration, and content?

Let’s get honest. Most operators aren’t stuck because of lack of capital or deal flow. They’re stuck because everything still runs through them. -The fundraising. -The underwriting. -The investor calls. -The team decisions. You’ve built a machine—but you’re still the engine. If that’s you, you don’t need to work harder. You need to build leverage. → Stay in your zone of genius → Keep what you love doing → Reduce decision dependence The best sponsors I know don’t just delegate tasks. They delegate decisions—and they build a system that makes that possible. This is exactly what we’re diving into in our weekly webinar. Look at The Sponsor’s Forge—our flagship program for experienced operators who are ready to scale without burning out. We go live Monday at 3:00 PM. Want to join us? Comment “WEBINAR” or check the link in the first comment. Let’s build a business that doesn’t break you. #cremanagement #scalingbusiness #realestateprofessionals #commercialrealestate #creinvestment

If you're not growing, you're dying. For me, Friday mornings are for Toastmasters. This is my forge and foundry. The hammer of refinement forms my speech. The crucible of coaching enlightens my senses. This is where growth happens for me. Where does it happen for you?