How Leaders Create Capacity, Not Just Results

Welcome to the Agent Leader Podcast. This is the podcast for insurance agency leaders to raise the bar, to challenge your thinking, and ultimately become your best version possible. My name is Brent Kelly. I am your host, delighted to be with you on this episode today. And today I'm going to talk about a topic that I don't believe we've ever discussed on this podcast before. You know, we've had conversations about sales capacity for insurance agencies. We've talked about service capacity with insurance agencies, but I've never really talked about it, depth of leadership capacity. And quite honestly, I'm a little bit surprised because there's such power, as we're gonna talk about today, and awareness in leadership capacity. So let me start with a question. What do you believe is limiting your agency's growth today? Now you can Answer that to yourself. Maybe you're driving a car, you're sitting at your desk, you're watching, you're listening to this podcast. There's probably a bunch of different answers of all the listeners to this podcast, but my guess is if I asked 100 agency leaders, I would probably hear things like recruiting, finding great people, sales, market conditions, relationships with our carriers, competition, time, right? And all, why all those things are certainly legitimate challenges. I can tell you that after working with hundreds of agencies over the past several years, I've become convinced that the greatest constraint isn't usually external. It's not external conditions that ultimately impact agency's growth. It's internal. It is this concept of leadership capacity. Most leaders spend their time trying to improve results. Again, not a bad thing, by the way, but I want to challenge that thinking today. I want to get you to think differently about this concept of leadership and leadership capacity. Because I don't believe that great leaders create results. What did you say? I don't believe great leaders create results. I believe leaders, great leaders create capacity and capacity creates results. That's going to be the focus on the podcast today. The better your leadership capacity, the greater your agency's ability to consistently produce exceptional results. So I want to unpack what leadership capacity really is. You might be thinking, what does that even mean, Brent? Why does it matter? And how do I, as an agency leader, increase it? So we're gonna talk about those ideas today. So before I get into some of the specifics, let's define leadership capacity. Leadership capacity is your ability to consistently create clarity. Clarity in your agency. Who are we? What are we? Where are we going? How are we gonna get there? It's about making quality decisions. That's part of leadership capacity. Certainly developing people is gonna help increase leadership capacity. It's about influencing behavior, the power of influence. And the last part I wanna share is it's about executing priorities without becoming the bottleneck. I will say that again. It's executing the priorities without becoming the bottleneck. Now, we work with agencies of all shapes and sizes, and whether an agency is at $1 million, $5 million, $10 $10 million, $50 million, $100 million, $150 million, every agency, every organization can get stuck. And what I've noticed, although there's different scopes and there might be some specific things that are different of agency sizes, typically it comes back to the leader or leadership team becoming a bottleneck. That's really what it's all about. So leadership capacity is your ability or the team's ability to consistently create clarity, make decisions, develop people, influence behavior, and execute those priorities without becoming that bottleneck. All right. Many leaders, most leaders become a bottleneck without ever intending to do so. This isn't a conscious choice. Gosh, I want to be the bottleneck for our agency. Of course not. Of course not. So we're going to be talking about that specifically today. I also want to let you know, as you're listening and you're thinking about your own agency, if you would like an objective snapshot of where your agency stands today, go to sitkins.com/get get my score. One of my missions on this podcast is to allow agencies to go in and take a look at their own agency. Take a few minutes, and our agency diagnostic resource is designed specifically for agency leaders who want to identify strengths, uncover gaps, and discover opportunities for growth. All right, so go to sitkins.com/getmyscore. All right, back to leadership capacity. Such an important conversation. Hopefully I've already got your attention. Okay, what does this mean? Well, I believe that leadership capacity has two dimensions. I think there's two distinct areas of leadership capacity. There's internal leadership capacity, and then there's external leadership capacity. So let's start with the one that most agency leaders overlook. Which one do you think it is? You got it right. Internal. Internal leadership capacity. Internal leadership capacity is your ability to lead yourself, to lead yourself. Before you lead anyone else, you have to lead you. Maybe you're like, okay, what does that mean? Well, ask yourself. Here's some questions to consider. Can I, you as the agency leader, can I stay emotionally steady under pressure? Can I make difficult decisions? Can I remain disciplined? Am I continuously learning? Do I protect my priorities? Do I manage my time intentionally? Do I consistently model the standards I expect from others? Again, I don't need to know your answer. That's your answer. But you cannot consistently lead an organization beyond the level at which you lead yourself. Leadership always begins in the mirror. Now, several years ago, I was fortunate to share the stage with John Maxwell. John, and you may know the name, he's a leadership expert. And again, I was able to get on stage and I had a 3-minute opportunity to speak at his international event. And this was with a crowd of over 2,500 people. Now, my story that I shared from stage was not about the next tool, the next resource, or even a specific strategy. It was about challenges that we face. And guess what? The greatest challenge that everyone faces is not external issues. We all have them. Those are real. It was about facing the challenge of truly being honest with yourself, being honest with yourself and leading the person you see in the mirror. That is the greatest challenge. For every person. I can tell you right now, as a person sharing thoughts on this podcast, that externally people will see things differently than what I see internally. Because guess what? I know thyself. And it's very easy to make excuses or say it's not a big deal or whatever the case is. But if you look in the mirror and go, hmm, am I really being honest with myself? Now, please note, this is not about perfection. This is not about putting this unending pressure that you'll never attain, cuz none of us are gonna be perfect. It's about being honest. Where are my gaps? Where are my blind spots? Where am I stagnant in my own personal growth? You know, John Maxwell, who I mentioned, and again, awesome opportunity to be part of that event and get on stage and speak. He's the author of one of, well, he's author of many, many awesome leadership books and communication books and relationship books, but he's, he's written one of the top leadership books of all time, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. And guess what the first law is? The law of the lid. The lid determines a person's level of effectiveness, and your leadership ability, for better or worse, always determines your effectiveness and the potential impact of the organization. So again, this idea of internal leadership capacity is really easy to overlook, right? It's really easy to overlook. But this comes down to this idea from this very simple analogy. And one of the things I think about, there's a lot of components to internal leadership capacity, is this: if you don't fill your own cup it's really hard to pour into others. And that's really what you're doing, right? You're filling your cup so you can better pour into others. So if you take that challenge on and really be honest with yourself and think about what gaps you have in internal leadership capacity, guess what? You can begin to shift that responsibility to increasing everyone else's, because external leadership capacity is your ability to increase the capacity of the people around you. So some more questions for you to consider, and you don't have to answer all of these, but hey, as, as I ask them, ask yourself, how well are we doing? How well am I doing? Can you create clarity? Can you build alignment? Can you coach? Can you hold people accountable? Can you delegate responsibility? Can you build trust? Can you develop future leaders? Because leadership isn't measured by how much you accomplish. That's why most agencies stagnate. Whether it's a producer or a leader, it's about how much I can accomplish. Leadership is measured by how much capacity you create in other people. Great agencies aren't built because one leader works harder. They're built because one leader develops more leaders. Great leadership has a multiplying effect. You know, I kid about this, but there's some truth to it. I'm not great at math. I can do basic math, but not a math expert by any means. But here's one thing I do know. I know that multiplication Division is way faster than addition. Okay. All right. That's why great leaders, they model standards and behaviors. They motivate through clarity of vision and purpose. And then guess what they do? They seek out next level leaders and they provide mentorship and guidance and they focus on their development, which creates a what? A multiplying effect. As agencies grow, as agencies develop, as you as leaders grow and develop, one of your goals should be How do I replace myself? Not because you're trying to get out of a job, but you're continuing upleveling your skills, your behaviors, your development, your clarity of the agency, and empowering others to take on bigger and larger roles. You're empowering others. See, here's what I see. Back to the bottleneck. Agencies grow. In fact, I'm guessing that probably every agency that's listening right now is probably growing to some degree, some faster than others, some more consistently than others, but agencies grow. But as they grow, business becomes more complex. And without realizing it, the owner starts answering every question right now. Again, we're talking about an agency maybe from the start, but this is true from agencies that are $10 and $50 and $75 and $100 million, whatever that apartment area is, that, that, that area starts to grow, becomes more complex. And we find out, well, I got to answer every question. I have to approve every decision. I better attend every meeting. I better solve every problem. I better make every difficult call. And at first it feels like leadership. I will lead through doing it all. But eventually it becomes the constraint. If every important decision requires your approval, you have not built leadership capacity. You've built dependence. And here's the irony. Many leaders think they're creating results when in reality they're limiting capacity. I know it's a strong statement, but think about that. If I do more, if I achieve more, if I, I, I, I'm creating more results, when in reality you're probably limiting capacity. So here are some warning signs, right? It's like you're driving your car and the light comes on. Here's some things to think about. Every important decision requires your approval. That's a warning sign. Your team waits instead of deciding. We can have all the conversations, but ultimately it's what this one person says for everything. If you're busy every day, that's probably a warning sign. If you're solving the same problems again and again, That's a warning sign. If you go on vacation and you get even more stressed, that's probably a warning sign. If at some semblance of your, of your psyche growth, right? Growth is great, but growth is also creating anxiety instead of confidence. That might be a warning sign, right? These aren't simply operational problems. These are leadership capacity problems. So I want to leave you with some things you can use, right? Some tangible things here. So how do you increase it? Now we've talked about internal, external. How do you increase leadership capacity? Well, here's hopefully encouraging news. Leadership capacity isn't fixed. It's not like, okay, I went to a session, I listened to a podcast, I read a book, it's fixed. It expands intentionally. And I'll tell you, this is exactly how our process works at Sitkins. And I'm not gonna get to all the details, but overall, just some basic things. Number 1 is to clarify. Clarify what matters the most. Align your people. So number 1 is clarify. Secondly is align your people, common language and culture. The next step of the process is execute the thing you said you were gonna do, which by the way, is the critical success factors. One of the problems we see with agencies, if you try to execute too many things. We also need to optimize, learn, adapt, repeat. Now think about those 4 phases differently. Clarify. When you clarify, it increases decision-making capacity. Alignment increases organizational capacity. Execution increases performance capacity and optimization increases future capacity. Everything we do ultimately increases— you got it— capacity. Leadership isn't about having all of the answers. Leadership is about continually expanding your own capacity while helping everyone around you expand theirs. I'm gonna leave you with some reflection questions. So before I wrap this up, and I wanna keep this pretty short, but hopefully hit you with some new ways of thinking. Again, maybe you've thought about leadership capacity, maybe you just named it something different, but for most agency leaders that I talk with, it's not something that's common. I never would've thought about that. So here's some questions to ask yourself. All right. Number 1, where am I becoming the bottleneck? Be honest. Like, take a step back and look and go, okay, what areas, what processes, what systems with people, where have I found myself becoming The bottleneck. Here's a big one. What leadership skill currently limits my organization? Now, this is a hard one because you gotta be honest and look in the mirror. What leadership skill? And by the way, there are absolute skills in leadership, but if you look back and say, okay, what leadership skill is currently limiting my entire organization? Here's a question I know that applies for almost all of you out there. What conversations am I avoiding? What conversations am I avoiding? What responsibilities should I be developing in someone else? Right? What areas do you have an opportunity to mentor and pour in and you're not? And here's a great question. What would have to change in me for my agency to reach its next level? I, I will tell you right now, and I, I hopefully read those slow enough. Go back and listen again if you need to, but those aren't easy questions, but they are leadership questions. Right? Important leadership questions. So lemme leave you with one final thought. What if your greatest opportunity over the next 12 months isn't another producer? It isn't another technology platform. It isn't another marketing initiative or another process. What if your greatest opportunity is expanding your own leadership capacity? Because here's what I believe: leaders don't create results. Leaders create capacity and capacity creates results. Expand your capacity. You'll expand the capacity of your people, expand the capacity of your entire team, and expand the capacity of your entire agency. And that's how elite organizations grow. One final action for you all. If today's conversation, and hopefully it did, challenge your thinking, don't let it become another podcast. I really enjoyed that. I got some stuff, but never applied. Here's my call to action to you again. Go to sitkins.com/getmyscore. No one is injured if you go to sitkins.com/getmyscore, but it is a very simple diagnostic. In a few minutes, you'll gain the clear understanding of where your agency is today, what might be limiting your growth, and where your greatest opportunities exist. Because awareness without action does not create change. Thanks so much for joining me again on another episode of the Agent Leader Podcast. Love a rating, love a review, love a share. And my challenge to you again, continue to raise that leadership Lit. Continue to raise your leadership capacity. Continue to develop the people around you. And remember, again, elite agencies don't happen by accident. They grow because leaders intentionally create the capacity for extraordinary results. Thanks for listening. I wish you all the best in your success. Take care. Hey there, agent leader. Brent Kelly here. Want to take just a few seconds to remind you that now is the time to create your true best version possible agency. If you go to sitkins.com/bookacall, sitkins.com/bookacall, we'll get to know more about your agency, conduct an agency assessment, and provide your agency with a customized plan to help you avoid some of the pitfalls, frustrations, challenges, and roadblocks to get your agency to true ultimate freedom and become its best version possible. It all starts by going to sitkins.com/bookacall.