What You Don't Know About Russ Salzman
Position: EVP & CEO of the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM)
Location: Chicago
Responsibilities: Leads and supports the expanding international society of real estate management practitioners, who guide the organization’s domestic operations and global expansion (right now, it has 80 US and 13 global chapters that focus on advancing ethical standards and professional best practices in real estate management).
How he got involved in IREM: Was president of Chicago’s Magnificent Mile Association, a local chamber of commerce. IREM was an affiliate of the National Association of Realtors, one of Mag Mile Association's members, and knew of Russ’ civic leadership. When the EVP & CEO position opened in 2004, Russ was tapped to fill it.
Daily habit: Finding time for a fitness activity, whether running, swimming, biking or boot camp. Russ is an annual participant in triathlons and recently started running half marathons.
Favorite music group and song: “Sugar Magnolia” by the Grateful Dead. Each time the band is in town, he and his two brothers reunite to see them, a tradition since 1976.
Favorite movie: A Few Good Men, as well as the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises.
Favorite book: Chapman Piloting and Seamanship, which Russ—a licensed Coast Guard professional captain—says is the recognized authority on maritime skills and expertise.
Favorite place to sail: The beautiful freshwater Lake Michigan and the other Great Lakes.
Favorite food: Anything healthy, but particularly fish and veggies.
Favorite restaurant: Joe’s Seafood and Stone Crab in Chicago.
Favorite vacation: The annual Chicago to Mackinac yacht race—a 333-mile, non-stop, three-day journey to Michigan’s Mackinac Island—that Russ has sailed for the past 30 years.
Education and credentials: Bachelor's in business from Western Illinois University; a CAE designation from the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE); and the IOM designation from the Institute for Organization Management. He's been in nonprofit leadership for 30-plus years.
First job: A delivery boy for a local grocer and butcher in Chicago’s North Side, where he learned that service with a smile works pretty well.
Job in another life: Teach "Lessons of Leadership" through the skills and teamwork found in sailboat racing—based on his yet-to-be-published book, Leadership Lessons from a Life as a Sailor, as well as from his experiences as an Eagle Scout and camp staffer.
Item on bucket list: He’s heading to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota in 2016 (on his way to the ASAE convention in Salt Lake City) and expects to put 2,000 miles on his old Harley-Davidson.
Person he'd like to meet, dead or alive: He lives in the land of Lincoln, so Honest Abe.
Family life: Dad to a wonderful adult daughter, and his mother and two brothers live in the Chicago area.
Startling fact: He was a guitarist and vocalist in a rock 'n' roll band called Montgomery Street, which put out an album (Russ wrote three of the 10 songs) and performed 176 concerts over 14 years.
