Mentoring was the hot topic Monday at the NASBP Annual Meeting. In fact, it’s been the theme of Lawrence McMahon’s year as the association’s president.
“Take every opportunity to mentor, because it is our future,” he told NASBP members in his address this morning. He spoke about how he benefited from help throughout his career and urged those in the surety industry to help groom the next generation as more people retire.
Mentoring, recruitment and leadership development are “very critical for this industry,” Bobby Reagan of Reagan Consulting said during a panel this morning.
Hiring new insurance producers can be beneficial, but even the strongest agencies have room for improvement in areas such as recruiting and finding a new generation of able buyers, Reagan said.
Reagan said that research by his firm showed a weighted average insurance producer age of 50.2, while “healthy” agencies typically have an average age of less than 50. That average is increasing, and so is the weighted average shareholder age for insurers, which is just slightly more than 54, he said.
The most successful agencies have a strong sales culture and exhibit leadership development as a core competency. “Industry specialization needs to be taken to the next level,” because that is a major factor providing a competitive edge, Reagan said.
Also during the panel, Dick Cummins, director of the Hollingsworth Leadership Development Program at Texas A&M University, said that when developing new talent, “the leadership clock is never off. You’re always being observed,” even in moments of impatience and insecurity.
A major part of leadership development is managing less experienced workers’ expectations, whether they involve salary or how early in the morning they should arrive at work, Cummins said.
Monday morning’s keynote speaker, Dr. Kevin Elko, emphasized consistency and positivity in mentoring and said, “What mentoring isn’t, what leadership isn’t, is letting the outside [influences] drive us.”
Elko said people needed mentoring in three areas: emotion, which involves building excitement over a vision; logic, which involves “keeping the main thing the main thing”; and process, which includes the development of positive “keystone habits.”
“Make sure your attitude is worth catching,” he told the crowd.
What creates an incentive to mentor other employees can range from financial to other types of recognition, Reagan and Cummins said.
It can be beneficial to hire a class of new producers to partner and encourage one another, while senior producers and junior producers can be paired as a team for a mutually beneficial mentoring relationship that also provides a financial incentive, Reagan said.
Within a family business, mentorship can be a challenging proposition. Cummins recommends having a formal process for bringing family members on board and knowing how to deal with issues such as divorce before they crop up. Reagan stressed the need to create a “level playing field” and avoid showing any preference among family members working at the same company.
It’s also crucial for mentors, coaches and supervisors to provide feedback as well as solutions in case an employee falls short in his or her duties, Cummins said.
“A leader gives people the opportunity to redeem themselves,” he said.