Episode 166: Your Weakest Link

Welcome to the Unstoppable Profit Podcast. This podcast will give independent insurance agents all of the tools to grow your business and live life on your terms. Wherever you are today, if you're starting with nothing or well on your way to the success you desire, with the right people, processes and promotions in place, you will be unstoppable. And now I'd like to introduce your host, Mike Stromsol.

Greetings, everybody. Welcome to the next episode of the Unstoppable Profit podcast. And today I'm going to bring you a very special message. Deep from the trenches, over 35 years of experience as a proud independent insurance agent, 100% of the time. And looking back, it's one of the most important things that I ever learned about the first P. And as you know, in the Unstoppable Profit Producer program, we operate on a philosophy called the three Ps. Excellent people working within world class processes and systems. And then you get to simply promote the heck out of it. Your result, you will grow your business, create wealth, so you can have more freedom to live life on your own terms. It's not easy because it was easy. Everybody would be doing it. But people who follow our philosophy have learned that they can do this and they can have freedom to live life on their own terms. So the affectionate first P, as we call it, the excellent people, or the sometimes not so excellent people on a team. And I just got off of a coaching session with a platinum coaching member who is experiencing the fallout of a not so excellent team member, which in many realms would be considered or was considered. What I want to talk to you about today, what do I want to talk with you about today? And that's your weakest link. So I'm going to take you back on a journey over about 20 years of my experience and learning about the weakest link in a business. Business is business. Business principles are business principles. The insurance agency business, frankly, is a business. And you have to consider that when you're thinking about your weakest link. So years ago I was invited to a very special private session. A small room of about 12 people. I was invited to a day to learn more, to learn more about becoming a greater insurance agency entrepreneur. And I am so privileged and grateful. Then I accepted that invitation. I went in that particular day, the teaching leader that particular day was a fellow by the name of John Jakes. Now, the backstory on John Jakes. John Jakes was an M and A guy, mergers and acquisitions. The thing about John Jakes, he only dipped down, as I said. Say down to agency acquisition, merger and acquisition play of about two and a half million in revenue. Revenue. So he didn't deal in smaller potatoes, so to speak. But I was privileged to be in the room with a guy. How awesome is that? So I learned from John that day two major things that I've never forgotten that I immediately went back and implemented in my insurance agency business that I things are good, never perfect, according to Fred Kramer, right. Did not get perfect, but I honed and I honed and I tested and I won and I failed and I failed and I failed and I failed and I won some more. And that's compensation structure mostly for producers. And I learned all about my weakest link. And again, that's what I want to share with you today, all about the weakest link in the business. And I've got another story from my journey as a proud independent insurance agent about the weakest link. So back to what I learned from Jake's. Jake's said in the people in the clients that he deals with, he recommends that people eliminate their weakest link every quarter. And I had to stop and think about, wait a minute, eliminate my weakest link every quarter. Tell us more all about what you're thinking about. He said, well, my clients and keep in mind, two and a half million in revenue, what is that, 25, 30 people roughly, maybe sometimes less, but you know, it's a larger team. Okay. He said the thought process and strategy for the agency entrepreneur always must be. You must be rating your people from top to bottom in your mind every single day. So who's your absolute top person and who's your absolute bottom person or your weakest link? You have to know that boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Every single day, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Every single day. You've got to know your top, top person in your organization all the way down to the weakest link. Case in point, the organizations he dealt with were 20 to 25 people and up, no smaller. He said, that's why I recommend that they consider if they've got somebody who's truly a weakest link. And that's where I came up with the destiny question. In our program. Anybody that comes in for their private one on, you know, one on one consulting with me over a six hour period, we talk about the destiny question with regard to their people. And the destiny question simply is based on what you know now, would you rehire that person, yes or no? Don't think, give me the answer, yes or no. And, and everybody that is not an absolute yes. They're struggling, they're squirming in their seat, the whole nine yards because they know what's a no, and I know it's a no. But we've got to move to improve. And so you can't. One thing I did learn also over time, through, oh, maybe hundreds of employees over time, one, you cannot change anybody, you cannot change anybody in the core of who they are. Two, because the DNA that they were given by their parents is their DNA, you can't change it. And two, you generally cannot change the beliefs and thought processes that are in their mind that were picked up over the first 18 years of their life, period. They are who they are and generally we cannot change them in who they are at the core, meaning attitude, character and everything else concerning that. Now, we can train them from a skill standpoint, but we can't change who they are. So with regard to your weakest link, if you got somebody on your team who is your weakest link, Jake's recommended back when that simply you need to eliminate purely from a business standpoint. And if, you know, if we've talked before or you've listened to me before or you paid attention to this podcast, first of all, thank you very much. Secondly, you know, there's two kinds of relationships out there in the world, personal relationships and business relationships. And they are two different things. This is simply a business relationship situation. So if you've got somebody on your team who is a weakest link and Jake's recommended, you've got to eliminate that weakest link at every opportunity. That's why you must always be recruiting so you have somebody to replace that weakest link. The, the culture result of that eliminating the weakest link is the rest of the team is going to say, wait a minute, what happened to Joe or Susie? Where did they go? Well, we've brought somebody else on to our team who we feel is going to be a greater contributor. And in that chair, they're definitely RPRs or what we call right person, right seat, and we've released them back to the marketplace. They're all, all going to notice that. And the more they see that and the more they notice that, they will know that this is a culture of achievement. This is a culture of we don't put up with average players or the realm of that, that we only accept excellent people working within world class processes and systems and then we simply promote the heck out of it. And that brings me back to a quote from Doc Rivers and I also heard the quote from Nick Saban. Two very championship caliber coaches within the coaching realm. If you're an average player, you want to be left alone because you want to be able to slide by. If you are a good player, you want to be coached. If you are a great player, you want the coach to tell you the truth every day. The great players want to know the truth. They want to be coached, they want to be led every single day. The weakest link, they just want to be able to slide by. But your business is only as good as your weakest link. Let me say that one again. Your business is only as good as your weakest link. So whatever that is, you have to consider that's what your clients and your communities and your team members are receiving. If you're satisfied with the weakest link, complacency kills. You must never be settled. You must never arrive. And I learned that from people that I've learned from over the years. You cannot ever get complacent. You must never be satisfied with your weakest link. And, and remember, you cannot change them. So don't let it happen to you. If you got somebody on your team right now that you then when asked the question, would you rehire that person again, yes or no? If you're saying no, you've got a weakest link and you have to know that's what your customers are receiving. Average service. Is that what you want for your business? Is that what you rep. Want your reputation to be average? Or do you want it to be good or do you want it to be great?

My hope, desire and goal is that you want it to be great and that you'll never be satisfied until you achieve greatness. And you find a way to build a culture that owns, that absolutely owns the greatness and their activities. They own their activities and they own their results of greatness. That's my hope, that's my desire for you. I'm going to take you in another situation. So, you know, I had that happen roughly probably more than 20 years ago now with Jake's. So I'm super privileged to have stood by the side of a business that actually just recently sold. But for 24 years from day zero, I was the independent insurance agent for that business. They grew up to be a $1.3 billion revenue company and super privileged to be in the trenches with them every single year. And I would read their financial statements every year so I could properly protect them. They became a, almost a national company. They operated in 31 states and they did a great job growing the company and it was A privilege and an honor to stand by their side. And as they continued to grow and they got to the point they were in another state, so I had to travel to their home office, if you will, in another state. I was over there about four times a year, meeting with the leadership team, just talking about how their business was growing and properly protecting them and everything else in that particular realm. So when they were about a seven or $800 million company, I was over at the home office and the founding CEO of the company, who I met because I worked with his sister, I worked with his sister in an independent insurance agency.

Oh, almost 30 years ago. And that's how I met the guy. He was selling pagers at the time and. Great guy, great guy. So I got to know him, he and he started his business a few years after I met him and he said, hey, I need insurance, can you just handle it? I said, no problem. And as they say, the rest is history. So I'm over there at their home office in the conference room, meeting with the leadership team, a number of people at the table on that particular day and I didn't see this guy very often. Okay. So that particular day he jumped into the meeting and he sat there the entire day time that we were doing the meeting, two or three hours, and it was awesome. I didn't get to see him very much because he become so successful growing his business. Great entrepreneur, by the way. So that particular day I so badly wanted to ask him a question, but it didn't seem like the right for him. So I said, hey, I'm going to send you an email and if you can get back to me, that'd be great. He goes, no problem, send me an email. So here is the email. Ok. I said, hey, great to see you. There was a question I wanted to ask, but it did not seem like the right forum. By the way, congratulations on your success. It has been quite an honor and a privilege to be part of the Go evolution. Ok, my question is, if you had to pick one thing that you have done that has made all the difference in, in helping you achieve your current level, what would that be? I continue to study success and I'm only curious. So I sent the email.

After a while, crickets set another email. After a period of time, Crickets sent another email. After a period of time, crickets send a text. Crickets sent another email. Bam. Got a response. Never giving up. Last for the rest of your life. According to Rudy Rediger from our Be Unstoppable boot camp of the movie Rudy, never give up. My hitting redial record is 11. That's right. I had a deal that I wanted to do years ago in the agency business. I wanted that deal bad. Couldn't get the underwriter on the phone. I needed it right at that moment. And hit redial 11 times. On the 11th time the underwriter picked up, I closed the deal. Never giving up lasts for the rest of your life. Back to our story. So I finally got a response and the entrepreneur who had grown from 0 to somewhere between 7 and 800 million at the time. And I wanted to query what's the one thing that's been the key to success? And. And pretty much verbatim, this is what he said. Sorry for the long time I've taken to answer your question, but I wanted to give it some thought. Well, I appreciate that. A thoughtful answer, that's always a good thing, right? He said simple. When I evaluate all the decisions that I've made and how I got there, there's one common theme and that's team. By the way, the definition of team. Together, everybody achieves. More simple. When I evaluate all the decisions I've made and how I got there, there's one common theme and it's team. You can't win if everyone does not have the same vision. I am only successful because of the balance you need within a team. And here's the key. After all, you're only as good as your weakest link. And that's the message I wanted to bring to you today. You're only as good as your weakest links. Jake said it, Kev said it. It's prominent throughout business. You're only as good as your weakest link. If you want to be average, so be it. I hope that's not you. If you want to be good, you're on your way. My goal is you are great. The iconic Les Brown who I've spent time with, the iconic Les Brown who said, if you do, it's easy. Your life is going to be hard. But if you do, it's hard, your life is going to be easy. Is it going to take time? Yes. Is it going to be easy? No. The only time success comes before work is in the dictionary. You've got to do the work, you've got to do the right work. And that's what we like to help, we love to help agents with all over North America is doing the right work consistently. That's how you will get to the point where you can live life on your own terms. And that's all we want for you. So let's talk about the weakest link and let's talk about why. If you're going to replace your weakest link and you're going to go out to the always be recruiting arena, which you should always be in, you should always be recruiting all the time. Because it's recruiting, interviewing, actually hiring, onboarding, training, motivating, accountability.

And ultimately leadership. And I'm likely going to build in a ninth segment in developing your first p your people within your business called ownership. It's brand new to my thought process. I'm going to figure it out for all of you and I'll probably build that into section number nine, right behind accountability before leadership. Because the ultimate goal is to build an organization that is built of leaders around us. Back to the matter at hand today. Your weakest link. Okay, so if you're going to eliminate your weakest link and go back to the always be recruiting, you're going to, you must, you must. Let me emphasize that you must.

Answer this question. Why should somebody join your team over and above any and all of their options available to them? They have options. So part of that one. Social proof, social proof, social proof. Credibility. What do your other teammates say? I know you all have a career page that is full of videos from your existing team members telling the world how awesome it is to be part of your team. Right? In addition to that, I'm going to wrap it with this today because I'm going to be talking about this in a future podcast.

You've got to have a plan. You've got to have a plan to share with them. People need to be able to envision the future in your organization, but your organization will not have a great future. If you're going to be satisfied with a team full or that has a weak link or multiple weak links, it's on you. According to David Goggins in the 4x4x48, which by the way, if you're familiar with what I just said, we have a cause, a massive cause that we're building within the independent insurance agency business for the next coming year to support David and his mission. Because we all have a duty and a responsibility. And I borrowed that from David. David said we have a duty and a responsibility to use the maximum capacity that we are given by God within our bodies and our minds. He said we have a duty and a responsibility to use it, not to leave it unused. We as leaders in business have a duty and responsibility to make sure to all of our team members to never have A Weakest Link. Don't let it be you. We have a duty and a responsibility to build a great business and the greatest land known to the history of man. You got this. We believe in you. And if you want to be in an environment of great people, I am proud to say I've got two tickets to Paradise. Because in paradise this year we're not only going to unpack everything about the Weakest Link, we're going to unpack everything about the people, the processes and the promotion. Just go to be unstoppable bootcamp.com that's be unstoppable bootcamp.com and get your tickets to Paradise. We're at Paradise Point in beautiful San Diego, California. I will see you there. I can't wait to teach you. I can't wait to help you grow, create wealth and have more freedom. Thank you for joining us on the podcast today and your action plan. Take it away from this podcast. Go evaluate your team. If you've got a Weakest Link or weakest links, do something about it. You always have to be recruiting and if you need any help with that, just reach out to us. We are happy to help you in any way possible. And if this is your first time on the podcast, welcome. My name is Mike Stromco. I'm widely recognized as a leading author, speaker and coach for the independent insurance agency industry. You can find me@unstoppableprofitproducer.com if you're interested in attending one of our virtual events or one of our live events. Our virtual events are at upp fast start. That's up.

Fast start.com and if you want to join us at our live event, simply go to be unstoppable boot camp.com that's your two tickets to paradise by the way. Both events are designed with some of our greatest money making strategies developed over 35 years of research in your industry as a proud independent insurance agent 100% of the time that will help you grow your business, create wealth so you too can have more freedom to live life on your own terms. And please make sure that you don't miss one episode of our weekly podcast. Just go to the top of our page@unstoppableprofitpodcast.com make sure you subscribe again so you don't miss one episode of with our money making strategies to help you grow your business. And you can also find the podcast out there on all the channels and including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and of course on our YouTube channel. Just go to YouTube, search Unstoppable Profit Producer. Click on that, go to the videos and all of our podcasts are there. You can see me as I'm passionately sharing with you this information and thank you for joining us. Until next time, get out there, make a difference, be unstoppable, leave no regrets, and remember, you got this. We believe in you and we want to help you get there. See you next time.

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