The latest episode of Zonda’s Inspirational Leadership with the Best in Home Building podcast—the first of 2026—features an interview with Phillippe Lord, CEO of Meritage Homes, the fifth largest builder on the Builder 100 list.
In the conversation with host Mollie Carmichael, Zonda principal of master plan and product insights, Lord reflects on the habits and principles that have shaped both his career and the company’s trajectory. From defining personal “non-negotiables” to embracing constant reinvention in home building, he outlines a leadership approach rooted in discipline, humility, and a clear focus on what matters most, both in business and in life.
Give the podcast a listen, but also find highlight questions and sneak-peek answers from the episode below:
What do you think the Meritage differentiator is?
“Someone once told me culture eats strategy for breakfast. And that’s very true. But, I would say it’s even more true in home building than anywhere else because at the end of the day, your competitive advantage and your differentiator are your people. The greatest organizations in real estate have the best people and the best teams and great people, talent, and teamwork.”
Why home building for you?
“The number one reason I like home building is you have to reinvent yourself every single year. And it’s like a growth mindset. If you don’t have a mindset of wanting to constantly grow and evolve and change, this is just not a good business because everything that Meritage is right now, today, it’s not going to be three years from now.”
If you were to give any advice to a consumer today looking to buy a home, what would you say is the most important?
“I think do your homework. It’s an important decision. Make sure you studied the decision, really understand the product. Not all home building is the same. It’s important to understand the different things we all do when it comes to building a home.”
What do you look for in a great leader at your company?
“As you move further up in leadership at Meritage Homes, you need to recognize that you’re further and further removed from what actually gets done in this company. Having the humility to recognize that and recognize that it’s your job to remove obstacles so that those folks doing the work actually can go and perform it at a high level. That’s really for me what leadership’s all about.”
What do you love the most about your job?
“I think it’s just who I’m surrounded with. We got a great group of folks over here. Some of them have been here a while, some of them are new, all super talented, super smart. I like getting in a room with those different groups and talking about the business and realizing that we don’t all have the answers. We’re trying to get to the right answer together.”
Philippe, tell me who your top inspirational leaders are today.
“I’m going to go back to my mom again. I think that the way she looks at things, the way she seeks to understand, the way she makes people feel safe, psychologically safe more than anything else…And look, our chairman, Steve Hilton, he’s been an inspiration to me. He founded the company. He treats this company like it’s the first lot and home he built.”
