KW’s new CEO aspires to be ‘a force of stability’ 

Keller Williams' CEO position has been in flux over the last few years. Now, Christopher Czarnecki says he is ready to bring a steadying hand to the role.

Czarnecki, who became the CEO of the mega brokerage in March, has spent the past 60 days or so getting to know the team and familiarizing himself with the company's vast operations.

He became part of the KW family after Stone Point Capital took a major ownership stake in the company. Having spent much of his career in finance and real estate investment, Czarnecki felt like he was a fly on the wall when he attended KW's Family Reunion in Las Vegas in February, shortly before he stepped into his new role.

"One of the reasons I got excited about KW was just the passion of the people there," Czarnecki told Real Estate News prior to taking the stage at the T3 Leadership Summit on May 20. "I've continued to understand the passion of the people and how much they care about the brand. I want to keep seeing it evolve and grow." (Note: Real Estate News is an editorially independent division of T3 Sixty.)

Creating stability after leadership shakeups

While speaking to hundreds of real estate executives at the summit in Frisco, Texas, Czarnecki explained why he expects to stick around in a position that has over the past three years seen short stints from several industry leaders, including Mark Willis, Marc King and Carl Liebert.

"I feel like, as the person I am — who seeks to be a force of stability and humbleness and calmness — I want to learn first and foremost," Czarnecki said.

Giving Gary Keller time to focus on his passions

Czarnecki has respect for what KW Co-founder Gary Keller has accomplished through his work with the company. He views his own step into the CEO role as a way of giving Keller the time needed to pursue other interests, including education and writing.

With Stone Point's recent investment, the company can focus more on its agents and franchisees. "I really hope that translates into a winning formula for Gary, for all the folks we serve," Czarnecki said. "Hopefully I can make a difference with them over the long term."

The road ahead

Though Czarnecki is still evaluating the company's priorities, he has already tackled a few things that he said needed immediate attention, including investing more in KW's education platform and training center in Austin, Texas. KW is also bolstering its marketing efforts and actively recruiting for a new chief marketing officer. "These are not earth-shattering things, but we're hitting it right out of the gate," Czarnecki said.

He has also focused on rekindling relationships with partners in the field. Doing so is "going to be fruitful," Czarnecki said, because after the past few years of leadership changes at KW, "they haven't had that consistency, that stability and the ability to turn to folks to understand what needs are not being met and what could be done better."

"The way we win in the next 12 or 24 months is completely leaning into those relationships," he added.

While he wants to see KW back on a growth trajectory, it's also important to Czarnecki that those in the company think it's becoming a better place overall. "What I want to achieve is for that spirit to be back a little bit stronger than it is, and for people to get excited about being part of a company that values where they're going," he said.