COMMENTARY
Time to ask questions
If there ’ s one thing we ought to be learning from these strange times in which we ’ re living , it ’ s that we are seeing fairly clearly how much we don ’ t know . When is it safe for our communities to open up more broadly ? What ’ s the best option for the kids and school — virtual , face-to-face , or some combination ? What ’ s the appropriate balance between the health of the economy and the health of our citizens ? And on and on and on .
Top producers never stop trying to improve , OR LONGER . I attended the virtual MDRT Annual Meeting and noted how many of the presentations were about selfimprovement , both as a person and as an advisor . These top producers never stop trying to improve .
Lessons for life
The uncertainty can be pretty tough to swallow at times , especially for those of us who take a little too much pride in our own success . ( I assure you , I see my own reflection in the computer screen as I type that line .) Worse than that , it can be both tough to swallow and disorienting all at the same time .
But there ’ s a lesson we can learn , I think . And this is a lesson for life in the big picture as well as our businesses in the smaller picture . That lesson is that we can and should be constantly learning from others as we navigate success . And asking questions of ourselves and others is a great way to learn .
Uncertainty is certain
These are just a few examples of the kinds of hard questions you can ask to improve yourself and your business . There are plenty more that you ’ ll come up with on your own . The important takeaway , in my view , is that we can ’ t assume that our business lives will continue to go well as long as we do what we ’ ve always done . In addition , we make a huge mistake if we tackle our business with the assumption that we all have the answers . If we learn nothing else from this pandemic and its effects on all of us , it ’ s that uncertainty will always be with us . And to fight uncertainty , we have to start by asking good questions .
Charles K . Hirsch , CLU
Chuck Hirsch is the former editor and publisher of Life Insurance Selling magazine . He continues to contribute to insurance industry publications , in addition to providing consulting and marketing services through his firm , Hirsch Communications Consulting , LLC . He can be reached at Charles . k . Hirsch @ gmail . com .
40 Perspectives Q4 2020