| EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S PAGE |
It’s All About Attitude
Don’t Let Agency Staff Lose Site of That
E
very year in late-July Big ‘I’ state executives from
around the country come together at their
annual conference. This year it was held in
Branson, MO. The purpose of the meeting is to
gather and exchange ideas of how other states are serving
their membership. The conference offers discussion on
top issues facing the industry, information from vendors
with products that could benefit members, and plenty
of ways that the national and state associations can work
together to leverage resources. I always enjoy seeing my
counterparts and bring back some good ideas on how we
can evolve. Of all the presentations, there was one that
to my surprise, contained a simple message that I wanted
to bring back to members. We don’t really think about it
or discuss it much but what we do and how we do it is all
about our ATTITUDE.
Sam Glenn, a motivational speaker from Carmel, Indiana,
provided the opening presentation about the role
ATTITUDE can play in life. His message is that everything
we do follows our attitude and that your attitude is a
“choice not a chance.” Attitudes are contagious and can
deeply influence operations. He pointed out that “attitude
determines altitude,” so you cannot be as successful without
a positive outlook.
DAVID HULCHER
for greatness in others and
KAIA Executive Director
help bring that out of them.
And don’t be afraid to reach
out to someone as a mentor. Spend time with young agents
in your office helping them be successful, not only with
their professional development, but with their attitude and
approach. Your helping them be successful will light a fire,
not only within you, but also within your young employees.
Allowing staff to participate in KAIA’s Young Agents
program can help with this and realize that this program
is for all positions in the agency – producers, account reps,
and CSR’s.
Many of you may have had employees that you’d wish
they’d spend more time working on themselves than just
the job. Sam suggested we all do an “attitude appraisal”
or what he fondly refers to as a “check up from the neck
up.” For me this presentation was a reminder to bring a
positive attitude every day, to be yourself, and that humor
can propel us through adversity. As “attitude determines
altitude,” Sam said you can proactively decide to be an
“eagle or a duck.” What do you want to be? If you haven’t
taken the time to think about the role attitude plays in your
agency, give it some thought.
As an agency leader your attitude is critical in setting
the tone for agency staff. If your agency has a toxic
environment, accountability starts at the top. Constant
complaining accomplishes nothing but weakening attitude
and can drain the life out of the agency. Not everyone
may be able to be super positive all of the time, but those
are times as a leaders that you can “share a piece of your
attitude.”
Personally, I see that stressful situations can have a negative
effect on my own attitude. As leaders, sometimes we may
need to lighten up. A good sense of humor can be a huge
asset in influencing your staff. The reason is that a good
sense of humor can help staff connect with each other.
“Adversity doesn’t make an appointment” and “finding
humor in our storms” allows us to lead in hard times.
Some