[New] THREE PIECES OF ADVICE TO SHAPE YOUR LEADERSHIP

By Kevin DeLory, Chief Lending Officer and Partner, Equity Prime Mortgage

You either get “it” or you don’t … It sounds crass, but it’s really not. It’s more about self-awareness than anything.

“Leadership has been innate in me since I was on the playground with my friends, I’d be the first one to say, “hey, we’re going to do this, we’re going to jump off the side of the slide, let’s go do it.” It wasn’t my job to be a follower, I am a leader.” DeLory explained

Kevin went on to explain that one of the strongest lessons he has learned in business is authenticity. He believes that when you are working or dealing with someone who is inauthentic that those who are real will see right through it. Kevin built his success by being in the trenches, putting the time in, and learning as much as he could. As an Account Executive he earned the trust of his brokers, never asked of his underwriters anything he wouldn’t do himself, and always set the proper expectations; he likes to say, “bad news is a dish best served hot.”

Kevin was a leader without the title in his earlier years in the industry and was privy to real culture and real influence before it was made out to be the “celebrity status” it is today. Now some may even join a culture only for influence and that would be for the wrong reasons. According to Kevin, culture is doing the right thing, respecting each other, lending a hand because you want to see someone get better, not because you’re in it for yourself.

“There’s not much that brings me greater joy than seeing my team do well, some of those include winning the day and the month, being a father, and bringing business to EPM,” says DeLory.

Another rewarding piece of advice Kevin received in his career was to slow down and wait for others to catch up; everyone learns differently. Kevin deems this some of the best leadership advice he has ever received from a late mentor who has since passed away. He has taken that advice in stride and applies it every day to his leadership skillsets.

“I do find that slowing down and working through things to develop a plan is extremely valuable. However, I don’t wait until the end of the month to know if the plan didn’t work. I figure it out weekly. Leaders check in; leaders tweak the plan. Leaders trust their gut; follow their intuition, and know that one misaligned person can burn down any culture faster than an aligned person can build it up.” – Kevin DeLory

Lastly, to lead is to be loyal not because of the word but because of the action. Pay it forward and always put people before the profits, when you do that, more profits come than you could have ever imagined. Kevin is partnered with EPM not only for its values, culture, and belief in their people but their mission to empower PEOPLE more. “Our industry is all about the people” Kevin goes on to say… “When you have a strong community, anything is possible and we aren’t just EPM Wholesale, We Are Wholesale.”

Kevin DeLory has over 20 years of experience in the TPO space. Kevin has a leadership style that always puts him in the trenches working through any problem with his team versus a bird’s eye view from above. Kevin believes in the bottom-up philosophy that the leadership team at EPM has created. Kevin has several internal core values but among them his favorites are accountability, relationships over transaction, and integrity.

This team-oriented sales approach has gained Kevin results that he is very proud of. There is never a day that goes by where Kevin is not watching growth under his guidance, and the results speak for themselves. When Kevin sees a challenge, he jumps on it and is very quick to embrace the conflict head on so no outcome can ever be hindered with unacceptable behavior.

Today, Kevin is the Chief Lending Officer and Partner at EPM (Equity Prime Mortgage) where he thought culture was just a buzzword, and boy was he wrong. Kevin explains his journey at EPM as a complete 180. “Everybody speaks about culture, but nobody lives it like I have seen in this organization” said DeLory after celebrating his one-year anniversary in August of 2022.

More than anything, Kevin’s experience has left him an eager mentor. The greatest joy in Kevin’s life aside from his daughter is to help his team become the best that they can be. That means both in and out of the office. He learns from his people just as much as his people learn from him and for that he is eternally grateful.

Having been in the industry through its ebbs and flows, Kevin is familiar with the stresses and rewards, and can turn ANYONE into a high performer. His strong sales training ability mixed with his leadership and culture knowledge is a perfect recipe for anyone who walks through his door ready to learn and grow.

Kevin graduated from Rhode Island College and at one point thought he may have been a teacher but after seeing what he could do in the sales force, he never turned back. It is Kevin’s belief that a leader should: know the way, go the way, and show the way.

You can reach out to Kevin anytime by email at Kevin@epm.net or you can go to epmwholesale.com and fill out any form or see anything EPM’s team is up to there. You can also tune into his podcast, “The Whole Perspective” with his SVP of Lending at EPM and best friend of 30 years, Kenny Phillips. They air an episode every Friday at 11:30AM EST.

When Kevin is not at work or in the field, he truly is living the dream at home in in Rhode Island with his beautiful wife, Dana, their daughter, Brooklyn and as many dogs as they can manage. In his downtime, you can catch Kevin on the golf course, with friends, or with his family.