Imagine better profits: Part one

Rough Notes, Sep 2000 by Thomas, Lynn

The new marketplace requires imaginative leaders who can inspire

Ever the past few months, I have been working with (many insurance companies and agencies, assisting them in creating innovative and different ways to Wow? and delight their clients and employees in order to keep them for life. What has been most surprising to me is how many people are quick to "kill" a budding idea. I watch as some brave soul suggests one. Rather than coming together to discover a way to develop it into a truly brilliant, profit-- generating idea, his/her colleagues seem to be almost relieved when it is "killed:' Why are radically new and different ideas not being spawned in the insurance industry every day?

This is the new millennium. A new decade. A new year. A new day Our world is dramatically changing-consider how NASDAQ plummets and then soars, how Silicon Valley watches Seattle and the federal courts, how mega mergers occur on a weekly basis, how telephone computer connections are being rapidly replaced by cable connections offering lightning speed, how AOL buys Time-Warner. Silicon Valley, alone, produces 64 new millionaires every 24 hours.

We are witnesses to a revolution that is greater than the industrial revolution. This is the learning age, the information age, the speed age. What is the insurance industry doing to become an active, frontline player?

Recently, I heard author and business strategist Tom Peters speak. Using Sony as an example of how to operate in this new age, he said that the maximum time lapse permitted from the generation of an idea to prototype is five days. I've observed that in the insurance industry it usually takes more than five days for people to think-if they need to talk-to decide to meet-to discuss if they need a new idea.

Peters also said that the only rational approach to today's economy is for companies to do, do, do, and then think-because only with that much activity do people have something meaningful, rich and rewarding to think about. Most companies think, think, think, and then do. According to Peters, because their planning process is archaic, they lose priceless time, rich opportunities, astute insights and that edge that keeps a company sharp, daring, bold and a player.

To attain these qualities, companies need passionate leaders to inspire our imagination. Managers are obsolete. We need leaders who can act as mentors and coaches.

Albert Einstein said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge." How can the insurance industry leapfrog other industries, fire up its people's imaginations, allow them to recapture their passion for their richly rewarding and joyous work, and rapidly advance to become a serious player in this new, unpredictable economy?

The following is my recipe for becoming a leader in this crazy, brawling business world that operates without any rules.

Lead with a passionate vision and unquestionable confidence in a clear direction

Be aware it is a performance, so watch your behavior since everyone scrutinizes it

Be courageous

Take risks

Be uncomfortable

Be passionate

Be a dispenser of enthusiasm

Hire poets, musicians, actors to design your products **

Inspire

Listen

Care

Hire Generation X people as fast as you can and allow them to embark on radically new ventures

Maintain an insatiable appetite to learn and hire people who are eager to learn

Know that the real competition is not for marketshare but for mindshare and heartshare

** According to Steve Jobs, the "secret" for Apple's repeatedly dazzling new designs is: "Design is not a part of product; it is the soul of it!"

Author's note: In Part 2 of this series, our topic will be the `Recommended Actions For The New Brand of Leaders."

The author

Lynn Thoma.% JD, is president of2lst Century Management Consulting Inc, located in Waltham, Massachusetts; a firm specializing in customer loyalty and

customer retention with a specialty in the insurance industry. In addition to her consulting work, Thomas has written for numerous publications and has been a speaker at hundreds of conventions She may be reached by e-mail at lynnthomas@ 21stcenturymgmt.com or by phone at (781) 899-4210.