The Four Leadership Principles Vital to Your Agency's Growth

A brand new year is upon us. And on the very first Agent leader podcast of 2018, we're going to talk leadership. In particular, the four vital principles that every agency leader must possess if you want to grow your agency. The Agent Leader Podcast is brought to you by the Sitkins Network. Sell more, retain more, Earn more. Learn more@sitkins.com that's s I t k I n s.com t s n well, hey there, friends, and welcome to a brand new year. 2018 is here. I'm excited, I'm pumped. Hopefully you can tell. Got lots of things that I'm working on and in the pipeline for this year and just ready to get going. I hope you are doing some of the same in your agency. And for those who have not listened before, my name is Brent Kelly. I am the host of the AgentLeader podcast. I'm also an executive coach and speaker with the Sitkins Group. And today on today's podcast, I'm gonna focus all about leadership. Obviously, the name of the podcast is the Agent Leader Podcast, but I wanna focus in particular on four basic principles. Basic to understand, maybe, but hard to execute, certainly, that are absolutely vital for your insurance agency's growth. All right, because, you know, the idea of leadership. First of all, leadership is used all the time, every day. You hear in business and in sports, in our personal lives. Right? He's a great leader. She's a great leader. Leadership on the team, leadership in your life. And I think it's something that's often discussed, but I know for me, when I use the term leadership and I'm talking with different people, I believe it's rarely understood. I know for many years I had a difficult time or really understanding what leadership was all about or even why it was so important. Now, I think like many industries, the insurance industry has been influenced by both positive and negative leadership. You know, today, with the rapid pace of new information that we get, the ongoing, you know, changing technology all the time, we've got a younger workforce. At least we're trying to get a younger workforce. I believe strong leadership is needed now more than ever before. I mean, I think it's always been important, but right now, 2018, a new year, the idea of leadership and what it means to insurance in particular an insurance agency, is so important. So first of all, let's just talk about what is true leadership, because I think it is often misunderstood. You know, for much of my life, I thought leadership really was about power or experience or position. You know, you have the power, you tell people what to do. Or maybe you've been there the longest, or maybe you just have the position. But what I've realized is that true leadership, you know, true leadership really isn't about any of those things. Now, I've got 17 years of insurance industry experience, and this is both from inside the industry, mainly as a insurance producer, and also now three years outside of the insurance industry doing coaching and training and speaking. And I can tell you on both sides, I have seen countless examples of both strong and weak leadership characteristic from agency leaders, from company personnel, from producers, from admin people, it doesn't matter, you name it. And I really discovered, as I've thought about this, four key principles of authentic and effective insurance leadership. The kind of leadership that truly stimulates growth for your agency. Right at the end of the day, hopefully it's about growth. Because I believe that by understanding and implementing these four leadership principles, I'm going to talk about today, into your life, into your business, that you will become a stronger leader, you will gain influence, and you will grow your agency. So I want to hop into these four. This is, hopefully, I don't want this to be too long of a podcast, but I want to get to all four of these and give them their proper due. And the first principle is this. You are only as effective as your ability to lead. You are only as effective as your ability to lead. See, there is no part of your organization that leadership does not impact. Now, when I first heard the phrase, this is from my mentor, I'm also part of the John Maxwell team, have been for several years. John says this, he says that everything rises and falls on leadership. Everything rises and falls on leadership. And when I first heard this, I thought, well, that's cute, that's catchy. But I didn't fully grasp the importance of the quote until I really started to examine my own leadership experiences. And then I started, I began to work with numerous insurance organizations across the country and to really understand that your ability to lead determines your effectiveness, Period. I often work with insurance agencies. I often work with even company leaders who feel stuck. All right? They're looking for the next new idea or new process to implement. And although they may be searching for a new idea or process, what they're really looking for and what really what they need is improved leadership ability. You know, sometimes it's hard to look within when you feel like you could have solutions that are on the outside. And I'm not here to say that outside solutions aren't available. Certainly at the Sitkins team, we do training and coaching, but you have to understand that real change starts from the inside. See, whether you're leading your agency team, you're leading your clients, you're leading your community. Leadership is truly the lid, the cap to your potential. And the higher your leadership effectiveness, the higher is the lid on your potential. Again, everything, as John Maxwell says, everything rises and falls on leadership. And again, I used to think that was cute and catchy, but it's true. When I work with agencies, I see it firsthand. So let me ask a question. Why do so many organizations fail to develop leadership ability if it really is everything rises and falls on leadership. If you see great agencies who have great leadership, and you see agencies that are stuck or stagnant or struggling, that don't, why aren't we working on it? Well, why are we lacking in just the number of positive leaders? Well, I think there's countless reasons. You could go on and on, but I believe the bottom line is that great leadership takes daily hard work. And I'll discuss in the third principle later. It doesn't happen overnight. When I work with growing agencies, there's always one common theme. Successful agencies, successful companies in general, they understand and they live out the principle that everything rises and falls on leadership. And they work every day on becoming better leaders. Which, guess what, means they become better people. There's no magic leadership pillar potion. You don't go to a two day seminar. You've got to be intentional about developing your leadership ability. And here's something that's really important to understand, especially if you're an agency principal. And again, we're going to talk about what leadership really is in a second. But if you're an agency principal, understand this. If you feel your leadership is a 2 out of 10 or a 6 out of 10, your effectiveness as a leader will never rise beyond that number until you're willing to invest in your own leadership development. Right? If you are 2 out of a 10 in leadership your agency, it's going to be about a 2 out of 10. I see it all the time. If you're a 6 out of 10, it's going to be about a 6 out of 10. Alright? At some point you're going to hit your lid. Now, since I truly believe that everything does rise and fall in leadership, there isn't a better investment you can make than in your own leadership development. So again, principle one is you're only as effective as your ability to lead. Principle two, and I was hinting at this a second ago, leadership is not a title. I recently had a meeting this wasn't that long ago with an insurance agency leadership team. And after the meeting, I had a private conversation with one of the team members. Now, this was a team member who didn't have the highest position or title, but they had something that the others didn't have, and that was something called influence. And this is what this person told me. She said this. She said, you know, Brent, I don't have the highest title or any ownership or even the most experience at this agency, but I can tell you that if I left the agency today, I know that most of the agency staff would want to follow me because I have the most influence. See, in that statement, just exemplify what true leadership is all about. See, leadership is influence. It's not title, it's not position, it's not experience. As I said at the beginning of this podcast, I think leadership is often misunderstood. And while you can have title and influence, and by the way, there is some positional influence, I don't doubt that. But I'm talking about true influence when people really want to follow you as a leader. And again, I'm saying, whether you are a agency owner or a producer, or you're an admin or a service person who's following you. Right? It's not the title that gives you influence. You know, when I was an active insurance agent and early in my career, I went out and got my CIC designation, the title on my card didn't give me more clients. It doesn't work that way. Sometimes the words leadership and management, they get thrown together as if they're the same thing, you know, And I think that both leadership and management are important for organizations, but they are different skills. And I think it's important to understand that leadership and management is not the same thing. See, management is focused on maintaining systems and processes, whereas leadership is about influencing people. See, again, both attributes are important. We need managers. There's no doubt about that. We need people to maintain systems and processes, but we also need leadership that has a vision and that is good at influencing people. They're not the same thing. Former Chrysler Chairman and CEO Lee Iacocca, he commented this. He had this great quote. He said, sometimes even the best manager is like the little boy with the big dog waiting to see where the dog wants to go so that he can take him there. True leadership is about inspiring positive change. Are you a change agent? You know, hear those terms, but that's what leadership is about, right? You're like, oh, I want to follow that person. I also used to think that leadership was about the position you held. And I mentioned earlier I was an insurance producer. And although the title of producer or agent doesn't sound like a leadership position, nothing could be further from the truth. I talk to insurance agents all the time who say, well, you know, I'm an insurance agent and you can hear it in their voice. But let me ask a question, especially to the insurance agency leaders and again, I've signed these myself. But why do you think that most insurance agencies ask producers to sign a non compete agreement? Yes, there are certainly financial considerations, I get that. But think a bit deeper. Who has the greatest influence on the most important relationships in your agency? The clients in every organization. Who has the greatest influence on the most important relationships? Well, it could be the account executives or CSRs as well, but certainly it's the producers. At least it should be. And that is influence. In my 15 years of insurance production, I don't know of one client who did business with me because of a title that I either gave to myself or someone else gave me. As Stanley Huffy said, it's not the position that makes the leaders, it's the leaders that makes the position. And the same is true of agency leaders I've worked with and that I've worked for. Some of the most influential people I have worked for did not have the highest position, but they did have the most influence. So how do you know if you have influence? If leadership is influence and not title? Well, the best indication is who's following you. And this is true of you often look at, well, how's the leader doing? Well, look at your followers. And again, if you're an agency principal, well, that's the people on your team. If you're a producer, an agent, how about your clients? How about prospects? Are they following you? There's an old proverb that says he who thinks he leads but has no followers is only taking a walk. Who's following you? Are they going where you want them to go or are they wandering off in their own direction? Regardless of your current title, your position or your experience, how can you gain more influence as a leader? Well, there are several ways to gain influence, but I want to focus specifically on two that I'm going to talk about in these next two principles of insurance leadership. So how do you gain influence? Well, let's talk about that in principle number three. And principle three is this your greatest leadership challenge is you the greatest leadership challenge you're ever going to face. The hardest person you're ever going to lead is that person that you see in the mirror every morning. Before you can lead anyone else, you must first be able to lead yourself. And that's why I believe that the highest calling of leadership, the highest calling of leadership is self leadership. When I conduct a live training on self leadership, I often demonstrate the power of self leadership with a couple of drinking glasses. And the first example, I try to pour an empty glass into another empty glass. Obviously we know that nothing happens. And too often leaders try to serve others without filling their own cup first. It simply doesn't work. Now, in the second example, I pour water into the first glass. The water represents self leadership through personal professional growth and training and development of any kind. When you begin to grow yourself, you can then be more effectively, more effectively grow those around you. You know, the great thing about self leadership is that it's never ending. You can always reach right for your water to fill your cup. Because guess what happens when you continue to fill your cup and it overflows? You can continue to pour out into others. But for you to fill your cup first, guess what? You've got to be thirsty. Roger Sitkins, my mentor and president of the Sitkins group, who I work with, often talks about that the 2 percenters, that only about 2% of agency leaders really want it. And we see that in the numbers. You know, one of the top characteristics I see from the best leaders, that they are lifelong learners. No matter what they know, no matter what they have learned, the most successful leaders are always hungry to learn and grow more. I learned this firsthand in my very first paid speaking engagement I ever did. This was with an agency that I had worked for and had great success. In fact, I was speaking in front of a room with very talented producers, some producers who had mentored me. And what was interesting was the ones that I was most fearful to speak in front of because I just thought maybe I wasn't good enough or why they need to listen to me. These people are already making really good money. But it's amazing to me though, the people that made the most money, right, those that had the most success were the ones that asked the most questions and were the most interested. Why? It's not about the money, man. They're lifelong learners. See, leadership is a process, not an event. These type of people, these successful people, these agency leaders, they don't attend a workshop or take one class and go, got it. In fact, the more top leaders learn, the more they realize how much more there is to learn. Just like interest in your bank account, leadership compounds the skill of leadership compounds in One of the keynotes I give. I talk about this at the beginning of a keynote about agency growth and self leadership. I talk about how I hit one of the lowest points in my personal and professional life in 2003. At that time I was deeply in debt. I was unmotivated. I was unsure of where to turn. I had no confidence. It was embarrassing. And in that year, it was when I very. It was the very first time I was introduced to a guy by the name of Jim Rohn. Now Jim has since passed away, but he has a number of books and audios. You can find Jim Rohn talk about him many times. But I listened to an audio recording of Jim Teach and I realized that all the problems that I was experiencing. It's so easy to blame people and say they should do this and why didn't this happen? It was all because of me, self leadership. And when I understood this, I started to make some changes in my attitude and habits. Very small things. And I can tell you that although I've had some successes and I've had many failures along the way, I'm continuing to grow and develop every day myself as a leader. It never ends. I always want to aspire to do more and learn more. See, Jim said something. My favorite quotes of all time. And I've never forgotten this quote. I use this oftentimes in my training. But he said this. He said, work hard on your job, make a living, work hard on yourself, make a fortune. Work hard on your job, make a living, work hard on yourself, make a fortune. Now I was 25 years old when I first heard that quote. And at the time I wasn't really sure what he meant. I was confused. What do you mean, don't work hard on your job? Well, he wasn't saying that. He was saying work hard on yourself. Now when I look back now 15 years ago, reflecting on those words, I realized it was some of the wisest advice I've ever received. So let me ask you a question. How are you growing and developing yourself every day? Are you in the constant process of growth or have you become stagnant? See, self leadership is a lifelong pursuit. It's a process, it's a daily pursuit. John Maxwell says as well. He says the secret to your success is found in your daily routine, a daily pursuit. Self leadership isn't easy, but it's extremely rewarding. And that's why I really feel that self leadership is not only the highest calling of leadership, it's the most challenging and most people won't do it. So as Roger Sitkins would say, be a 2 percenter. Alright, final principle we've talked about the first three, number four, is that leadership is about adding value to others. It's about one thing. I'm sure you've heard the expression, you can't see the forest through the trees. See, this expression is used when you get so caught up in the details of a situation that you often miss the point of a situation. I have that all the time. You get so into something, you don't really see the big picture right in front of you. And I think this is very true in leadership. See, leaders commonly get caught up in micromanaging details that they forget the most important purpose of of leadership. Why should you even care? Because the most important part of leadership is to add value to those people that you're serving. Otherwise, why are you doing it? The bottom line in leadership isn't how far we advance ourselves, but how far we advance others. Think about that for a second. How do you know if you're adding value? Ask yourself one simple question. Are you making things better for the people who follow you? I've talked before in podcasts about emotional deposits and withdrawals. Are you making emotional deposits in people every single day? Not too long ago, a mentor of mine shared a really important aspect of adding value to others. He said, to add value to people. Well, first you got to value people. And it was kind of tongue in cheek. But think about that for a second. We often try to add value or value add, especially the insurance business, to others, to clients, to people on our team, when maybe deep down we don't even know if we value them because we often use the term value added when it comes to products or services or experience. But if the person or business that you're trying to add value to doesn't first feel valued, there is little that you can do that will make an impact on their life. I was recently working with an insurance leader who truly desired to add value to his team, but said that he doesn't always show it. He's frustrated with that. I admit I don't often show it. And he mentioned an example some days with his high workload, he didn't feel he had time to say hello or acknowledge the team when he was in the office. What a leader must understand is that effective leadership is work. First of all, it's work and that leadership is first about people. I told him, I said, listen, there's nothing more important you can do than than to first love your people. It is truly relationship business and it Wasn't that. He didn't. Of course he did. He talked about it. He goes, I just get busy and I forget. And I said, I understand. It reminds me of a great quote. It says, silent gratitude is no gratitude at all. You've got to constantly reinforce that as a leader, to your team members, to your community, to your clients, to anyone you're involved with. Adding value is also about listening. It's almost impossible to lead anyone or anything when you haven't listened enough to know how to best serve them. This is true in leadership sales or anything where you want to add value to someone. The best leaders I have spent time with, they listen, they learn, and then they lead. See? Listen, learn, then lead. So what will becoming a leader who is consistently adding value to others do for your leadership? Well, first of all, you're going to earn loyalty, you're going to accomplish more. You will grow your book of business. You will know that each day you're making a positive influence on those you serve. Adding value is true to the greatest purpose of leadership. Alright, so those are the four principles and I'm going to highlight them again here in a second. But here's the bottom line before I give a quick overview. As I said on the outset of this podcast, the insurance industry is desperately seeking leaders. Leaders who inspire, who encourage, who add value, and who are consistently growing themselves so they can help grow the others or other people around them. So what kind of leader are you? Are you wanting more for your agency, for your team, for your clients, for your partner carriers and for your community? Here's my wish for you in 2018. And you're listening to this later in the year. Well, it's my wish for you later in 2018 and in 2019. And how about forever? Here's my wish for you that you will be a growing leader who desires to make a positive impact on everyone around you, regardless of your title, your position or your experience. If you seek influence with others, you must continually develop your leadership skills. So what are those four principles of insurance agency leadership? Here's the four again. Quick overview. Number one, your effectiveness is determined by your ability to lead. You're only as effective as you are in your leadership skills, so get better at it. Number two, leadership isn't a title. Nothing behind your name makes you a leader. No position makes you a leader. It's your ability to influence others positively and ethically. Your influence is leadership. Number three, your greatest leadership challenge is you self leadership. If you want to pour into lives of other people, you've got to first pour in yourself. And that's a big challenge. Because when you look in that mirror every day, you know the truth. Right? You can't blame anybody else. It's about you. Number four, the foundation of leadership. What is it all about? It's about adding value to others. If you wake up every day and go, how can I add value to other people? You're going to have a pretty good day. That's what leadership is all about. So let me wrap this up with one final thought. If you want to grow your agency, regardless of what your role is in the agency, become a leader that others will follow. Thanks for listening to another episode of the Agent Leader Podcast. I'm certainly honored you joined me today. And if you like this podcast, this is adding value to you and your agency, team and your life. Please go to itunes and give me a review. I would much appreciate it. Quick reminder as well. If you want to learn more about the Sitkins Network and how we help your agency sell more, retain more, and earn more, visit sitkins.comtsn that's S I T K I N S.comtsn.