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Tonight's the night. You look great and feel better. By midnight you'll be America's Broker of the Year. Before leaving your suite at the Greenbrier you stop at the mirror to straighten your tie. With a confident grin you think, "Mirror, mirror on the wall who's the greatest of them all?"

You remember when grandpa started the business. The only requirement for success was to show up and work hard. Your dad took over in different times -- he had to plan and build in wiggle room for contingencies. You envy their simple world.

You moved your agency from the software and technology of yesterday into the cloud world of tomorrow. You hired three high-tech Millennial nerds that any agency would love to have. You solved the succession problem by positioning your son and grandson in responsible roles and perpetuated your management team by hiring the daughter of the CFO, your operations guy's nephew and the children of two key producers.

Your book is 22 percent of the agency volume and it's not going anywhere because every one of your insureds is in your Country Club. Your producers are the secret and you honor them. Yours is a sales culture.

You've managed the great divide between the old timers that have been with you for decades and the new Gen Ys that are the future. In reality, your culture is more divided than the Congress. You just do a better job than President Obama at bridging that gap.

Suddenly the mirror interrupts your fantasy. "Leader, leader from the past, your success will not last. Your words tonight will ring hollow. Your culture is such others will not follow."

You are shocked. "What the hell does that mean? What's wrong with my culture?"

Tomorrow's world is more diverse. For every insured business and individual there are unlimited options. Talented employees are volunteers. The future will be client defined and client driven not product and producer driven as it is today. You must respond to the market -- the market won't respond to you. Your existing culture is the limitation of your possibilities.

Max DePree said, "The first role of a leader is to define reality." Consider the family organizations below. Where are you?

On the left side of this scale are the Flintstones on the far right are the Jetsons. Inside of these two ends are the Andersons (Father Know Best), All in the Family (the Bunkers), and the Huxtables (Cosby Show). As you laugh about the absurdity in this model, you discover the first reality. Everyone in your organization will know some of these benchmarks -- few will know all. We're not one world. It's important that everyone understands the culture and embraces their fit in it.

If you can't decide by organization where you are positioned, choose the leadership style that mirrors what you do (vs. what you say you do).

Maslow explained unmet needs motivate. Most know his hierarchy. Think about it: the Flintstones were about survival, Jim Anderson was about assuring security to the compliant members of the organization that he controlled, Archie was an "angry Jim Anderson" because he was losing control and his "team" wasn't compliant. The family was challenging Archie and demanding acceptance.

Clair and Cliff Huxtable, a leadership team, were about the development of their team members and finally Jane and George Jetson pursued self-fulfillment. Technology provided free time and access to the world's knowledge necessary for anyone and everyone to be whatever they wanted to be.

Think now about the management styles and employee skills necessary then, now, and tomorrow. From left to right -- we've evolved from teams that had to do as they were told, to individuals that had to think on their own, to a future where individuals must create and innovate for a world yet to be defined.

Your future success is dependent upon establishing and sustaining a culture that assures you the "talent team" necessary to distinguish yourself in the marketplace as it is and as it demands you to be. The most talented individuals and best clients have unlimited options -- their choices determine your future.

Where are you on this continuum? Will the marketplace embrace your culture as it is? What culture assures your future success? Can you get there from here? Really?

February 27, 2012

Copyright 2012© LRP Publications