Risk & Business Magazine JGS Insurance Magazine Fall 2017 | Page 4

Empower Your Passion
Preparation, Preparation, Preparation
P
assion is an intense emotion
or a very strong feeling about
a person or thing or a positive
affinity towards a subject.
Anyone who knows me knows I
have a passion and consider myself blessed
because of it. I have a passion for saltwater
fishing that has led to a passion for
tournament fishing. In tournament fishing,
you are putting yourself up against the
best-of-the-best of like-minded individuals
with the goal of being one of the best that
day. While fishing is typically an individual
effort, tournament fishing is a team sport
where you rely on all team members to do
their jobs and “boat the fish.” I typically
tournament fish with the same team of 5–7
guys whom I know I can rely on and who
have a similar passion as I do.
We’ve fished a number of tournaments
over the years and for many years without
much success. I knew we were all good
fishermen and didn’t understand the lack
of success we were experiencing. We were
“weekend warriors,” many times going up
against full-time crews, professional mates,
and captains with much more time on the
water than us. I felt we should be finishing
higher or, at the very least, better than
other “weekend warriors.” What was it that
allowed equally talented people to have
greater success than we were having? Was
there something they did that we didn’t do,
or do as well?
The answer came to me while walking
the docks and watching other crew
members getting ready for the next day
of tournament fishing. These weren’t
4
guys hanging around shooting the breeze
or having a beer and telling jokes. They
weren’t treating this like another day out
on the water. Fishing, after all, isn’t named
catching, is what you often hear. These
crews were treating tournament fishing
like a professional job and attacking the
task with a more logical, professional and
dedicated manner than we had been doing.
Once I recognized this, I immediately
starting putting this new philosophy to
work. Many times, I found that the answer
to our lack of success was preparation,
preparation, preparation.
We usually checked our equipment at
the beginning of the season and made
changes when something broke or if we
noticed something wrong. Now we started
checking our lines for nicks or abrasions
immediately upon returning to the dock to
see what stress, if any, may have occurred
in that day’s fishing. Instead of occasionally
checking our drags (the amount of pressure
you put on a fish when trying to land it),
we checked it daily. We made sure all of
our connections and knots were properly
tied and all of our baits were undamaged
and would “swim” like a bait fish once
in the water. Preventative maintenance,
addressing issues before they became
problems, and identifying our team’s
strengths and weaknesses would help us
towards that winning goal.
Instead of spending five minutes each
day looking at the charts, water temps
and currents, we would spend a few days
tracking the water currents, movements
and temperature changes. We quickly
BY: KEN HAGER, AAI, CIRMS
PRINCIPAL, JGS INSURANCE
realized that if we saw something at “x”
position today that looked favorable, later
that day or the next it would most likely
have moved to “y” or “z” position. In other
words, we started to pay more attention
to the details and preparations that would
lead us to the outcome we desired. We
worked together as a team to do the tedious
tasks as well as the exciting part of having a
nice fish strike our line and having the real
battle begin.
We find that this is true in our everyday
jobs as well. Most people are in their chosen
profession because it was something they
held an interest in, that they enjoyed doing.
Over time, many lose sight of the reason
they chose their careers and may become
disenchanted. You can coast along and do
well, perhaps even getting somewhat ahead
and moving up the corporate ladder. But
once you rediscover or allow passion and
preparation to enter the picture, you will
find much more reward and enjoyment in
even the dullest aspects of your job. +
Ken Hager began his insurance career more
than 30 years ago at JGS Insurance. Ken’s
current role as Chief Operating Officer at
JGS began in 1997. Since that time he has
been a guiding force in the direction and
success of the JGS enterprise. Throughout
the years, Ken has remained engaged with
his customers and intently focused on
their needs. He intently understands the
risks associated with his clients operations
and has been uniquely able to offer them
superior solutions to their business needs.