Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Silas Jessup, Executive Sales Leader at HealthMarkets Insurance Agency. We hope you enjoy Silas’ wisdom and perspective.
For the past 15 years, I have worked as an insurance advisor in the individual health, life, and Medicare markets. Much of my time is actually spent on leadership in addition to personal advising that I do for clients. As Tim Leman might say, I am really in a “player-coach” role where I work with clients but am also responsible for recruiting, hiring, training, and mentoring a team of 40+ independent contractors. While I always enjoy the work that I do directly with clients, I am passionate about the time I spend in leadership.
I am a business partner, friend, investor, psychologist, marriage counselor, financial advisor, coach, and a portal to resources. I am also responsible for enticing, cajoling, encouraging, prodding, counseling, correcting, supporting, and pushing this team to drive their business and develop a practice that will allow them to accomplish all of their personal and professional goals.
It is challenging to keep our advisors focused on what matters, especially in the changing landscape of the ACA implementation. Most of these advisors are very independent, type-A personalities - and it is often the image of a professional cat herder that seems to best characterize my day-to-day operations.
Our advisors earn their compensation solely from commission and incentives, so we are truly paid proportionately to our talent and the work we do. This is an important detail because it illustrates that I do not have the typical employer leverage of providing a salary and/or benefits.
During this last decade, I have mentored several advisors, as they have taken their own steps into leadership. When each advisor was promoted, I shared the following thoughts with them.
I wanted to provide a few thoughts and ideas for you, based on my experiences. I would encourage you to be mindful of the characteristics I believe must be in the heart of any great leader.
In our business, great leaders must be humble and they must demonstrate a nurturing desire or willingness to serve the advisors they lead. Good leaders must first become good servants. They must always be aware of how they are acting and reacting, as they understand that everyone around them is looking up to them for direction, guidance, and affirmation. As Tom Landry wrote, “Leadership is a matter of having people look at you and gain confidence, seeing how you react. If you're in control, they're in control.” The art of engaging people and persuading them to make a conscious choice to believe in you and follow you can be a difficult task.
Dwight Eisenhower said that “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it." I would add that it often involves a delicate manipulation of ideas and perceptions. In this business, we must guide, encourage, support, and often coddle our advisors to ensure they accomplish the most they are capable of achieving. Truly attaining someone’s respect and loyalty is one of the most difficult tasks to accomplish, but one of the most powerful ways we can engage with the advisors we serve.
Regardless of whether we fill a leadership role that includes a title or not, every one of us is consistently thrust into various leadership roles daily. I encourage you to be aware that folks around you are constantly watching, evaluating, and making judgments based on how they see you react to situations. How you respond and react in your day-to-day operations is a direct reflection on you personally and on the organizations you represent.
What’s The Risk?
Failing to recognize the influence you have on those around you can have a significant impact on both your personal and professional relationships. While image and perception do not reveal everything about an individual's character, they are certainly windows into the core of what a person values.
I encourage you to be vigilant about understanding the perceptions of those around you. By properly managing these perceptions, you can establish value as an influencer. Influencers have the unique opportunity to change the trajectory of the lives of those around them. Leaving a positive legacy and being an encouragement to those around us can be more fulfilling than the monetary goals we may achieve.
Looking back over my time in leadership, I’ve been blessed to be surrounded by many incredibly talented and hardworking advisors. They allowed us to achieve incredible growth in our business every single year. As our industry faces continued volatility I still look forward to getting up every morning and leading… or herding these “cats.” I have found that helping others achieve their dreams can be just as rewarding as achieving my own personal goals.
This content was written and shared by guest blogger Silas Jessup.
Silas Jessup has worked as an insurance advisor and consulted with individuals and small business owners since 2001. He works to help clients protect their assets while also implementing strategies to mitigate rate increases and maximize any available tax advantages. He is also a recognized Medicare specialist. Silas partners with top insurance carriers to provide clients with access to private Health, Life, Supplemental, Long Term Care, Disability, and Medicare Insurance options.
Silas is also as an Executive Sales Leader with HealthMarkets Insurance Agency. HealthMarkets is the single largest distributor of private individual health insurance in the nation. In this role, Silas recruits, hires, trains, mentors, and motivates a team of over 40 insurance professionals in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. HealthMarkets advisors meet with clients by individual appointment to review their situation, analyze their options, and provide informed counsel.
Connect with Silas on LinkedIn.
