Continuing the planning theme, here is one of our most popular planning articles. Originally published in March 2010. ========================================== In a previous article about Managing Employee Performance, I talked about helping supervisors proactively manage their employees by engaging with them in a meaningful and productive way. When you help your employees take responsibility for their own success, you will feel the results in their level of return on engagement, as well as the positive impact on your company’s productivity and profitability. To create this level of active engagement, it is critical to tie the vision of the company to the…

Every company should have a plan. A plan of where the company is going. A plan for everyone in the organization to follow and rally around as enthusiastic supporters of a larger goal.We all want to be working toward a higher purpose beyond the next task on our to-do list. What we come into work for every day needs to be connected to that larger goal that the whole team is working together to achieve. Create a theme. The company plan will likely be comprised of several large objectives to reach the Big Goal, but it should all be drawn…

I recently read an article in the Wall Street Journal about the investment that Liberty Media Corp is making into Barnes & Nobel. The article was noting the difficulties facing BN, and competition was top of the list. The competitors listed were Amazon.com, Google Inc., and Apple Inc.Wow! When I read that list I was struck at how the landscape has changed so dramatically that these technology companies are the biggest threat to the bookselling giant. (Amazon.com has become such a retail behemoth that I hardly remember they started as a bookseller.)A couple of days later, another article was published…

So, what happens if you work in an organization that doesn’t effectively communicate the vision from the top of the organization? What power do you have? Is there anything that you can do if you’re not the CEO or on the executive team?Yes.I read a blog post at LeadershipFreak.com by Dan Rockwell entitled “Full Steam Ahead!” It was an overview of the book by the same name by authors Ken Blanchard and Jesse Lynn Stoner. The post itself was very interesting and thought provoking about organizational vision and how we can create inspiring visions for our own sub-sets even if…

I don’t know about you, but I know about a grand total of 5 people (outside of those in family owned agencies) who had planned for a career in insurance.  It seems that most of us sort of wander into the business by accident.  However, at the same time, it’s amazing about how many stay once here. Stigma Yeah, there is the stigma of being an “insurance salesman”, but when you look past the stereotype to the reality of what we do, it really is an amazing way to make a living.  It’s an industry where you can maintain an…

I live in St. Louis.   Which, by unwritten law, makes me a huge Cardinals fan.  Since there is no minimum age for said unwritten law, my 11 year-old son is also a huge Cardinals fan.  And, of course, by some unwritten subsection of this unwritten law, our favorite player is Albert Pujols.Now, you may or may not know, that at the end of this season, Albert will be a free agent.  This brings up the possibility that he could (god forbid) play for another team next year.  As you might expect, this has caused no small amount of anxiety for…

Broker of the Year. That’s quite a title to achieve. There are thousands of licensed independent benefits agents, and to be selected as THE one that is considered a stand-out takes a pretty different twist on the usual in order to be selected.This year, Benefits Selling magazine selected Mark Lacher, partner with Lacher & Associates, as their 2011 Benefits Selling Broker of the Year. There has been a lot of excitement generated about this: an on-stage presentation at 7th Annual Benefits Selling Expo in Nashville, TN, press releases, Tweets shared, and a great spread in the Benefits Selling magazine with…

When undergoing a major change in your business model, the way you introduce the model, and make the necessary cultural changes, has to be done with very direct messages communicated and acted on repeatedly. Major initiatives are not best accomplished by incremental changes.Price Pritchett & Ron Pound wrote a hard-hitting guide about managing the cultural change process, “High Velocity Culture Change, A Handbook for Managers”. I’ve read this book a few times, and each time I find myself nodding and agreeing at the premise of their arguments about how best to make those changes and make them stick.I’ve read a…

We have had the great pleasure of spending a total of five full days recently with one of our new member agencies doing both strategic planning and sales training.  I point out the two activities because the sessions gave us focused time with the leadership team and then with the sales team respectively, giving us different perspectives. Respect What is very apparent is the strong culture that exists in this agency.  It is an organization where there is a great deal of respect.  Everyone genuinely appreciates the contributions of others in the organization.  They take what they do very seriously,…

"Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat. Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win. Opportunities multiply as they are seized." – Sun Tzu Sun Tzu was a military strategist famous for his military treatise, The Art of War. While I hesitate to compare the attack we are facing as an industry to military action, and in no way want to demean the efforts of the brave men and women who fight for our freedom, there is no…