The Leadership Mistake That Breaks Teams with Anthony Romano, CREtelligent CEO

What quietly destroys teams inside otherwise successful companies?

Not bad strategy.
Not market pressure.
But something much closer to home.

Anthony Romano has spent more than 15 years leading growth and transformation across the real estate finance and mortgage technology industries. Today, he serves as CEO of CREtelligent, a commercial real estate due diligence and risk management firm he joined to lead its strategic and digital transformation.

Throughout his leadership journey—from executive roles at CoreLogic and First American Financial to building companies of his own—Anthony has seen a consistent pattern: organizations struggle not because they lack strategy, but because their culture allows internal competition to erode trust.

In this conversation, Anthony and host Dave Osh explore the leadership behaviors that shape culture—and why the most successful organizations create environments where people support each other rather than compete internally.

Anthony also shares a personal reflection from his own family life that unexpectedly shaped how he thinks about teamwork, trust, and leadership.

Why it matters:
Strategy may define direction, but culture determines whether people actually move together.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why internal competition quietly weakens organizations
• How leaders unintentionally create cultural friction
• The connection between trust, alignment, and performance
• Why the strongest teams operate with mutual support rather than rivalry

About Anthony Romano

Anthony Romano is the CEO of CREtelligent, a commercial real estate due diligence and risk management firm. A veteran of the real estate finance and mortgage technology sectors, he previously served as Chief Revenue Officer at First American Financial and Executive Vice President at CoreLogic. Earlier in his career, Anthony co-founded CustomerLink Systems, a CRM technology platform, and was named an EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2023 Bay Area Award finalist.

About Dave Osh

Dave Osh is the founder of Varlinx and a transformation catalyst dedicated to evolving leadership potential and creating a ripple effect of unity in our divided world. His conversations surface practical, human strategies leaders can use tomorrow. Dave is the author of The CEO Potential: Transcend Self, Team and Organization for Lasting Success in the New Age of AI, and is known for his TED talk, Overcoming Bias to Unite Our Divided World.