The Secrets of Team Northrop

Creig Northrop is real estate’s version of Vince Lombardi: a 6-foot-7-inch former high school quarterback who preaches the twin gospels of competition and camaraderie
by Bill Briggs // photographs by Greg Murphy

The message on their BlackBerries carried a tinge of mystery and a dash of excitement: “Please come to the local movie complex tomorrow,” the boss requested, “and be there by 8 a.m.”

The next morning, as more than 60 puzzled agents, receptionists and couriers sunk into their seats in the otherwise empty Maryland theater, they were greeted with the scent of fresh popcorn and the booming voice of Creig Northrop, their team leader. He stood in front of the silver screen and began to reveal his reason for calling this unique meeting.

The previous weekend, Northrop had watched the film they were about to see, Invincible – the true tale of a downtrodden teacher who, after losing his wife and job, decides to attend a public tryout for his hometown Philadelphia Eagles. Shaking off the harshest year of his life, the teacher taps the support of his pals, outworks the crowd and wins a spot on the football squad. In late August of 2006, that gritty analogy connected with Northrop like a 50-yard bomb.

“He was so inspired by the message and how it related to the year we were having in a difficult market this past year,” says Karla Pinato, executive director of Northrop’s Long & Foster Real Estate team.

“To Creig, it was about character – how a person’s character is built when no one is looking. And it was about the determination to fight against all odds. In the movie, the media was beating down on this kid from nowhere the same way the media was down on the real estate market last year. Yet we ended up our year better (in home sales numbers) than we did the year before. It signified,” Pinato says, “how we work together.”

Meet real estate’s version of Vince Lombardi: a 6-foot-7-inch former high school quarterback who preaches the twin gospels of competition and camaraderie, who fervently spouts lessons on discipline and responsibility that he learned from his boyhood coaches.

Late for a meeting? Be prepared to stand and recite the mission statement in front of the entire room. Not being a team player? You’re sure to hear about it.

“I’m going to coach them,” Northrop says of his 31 fellow agents. “I post their numbers every month so that everybody can see. That’s competition. On the other hand, I want them to help each other. That’s the difference between a team and a brokerage.”  

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