Weedin 360

Hole #11 - Harbour Pointe Golf Course

Tiger Woods is arguably the most skilled golfer of all time. At the writing of this article, he won for only the second time since his infamous personal meltdown brought him back to earth. Regardless of his personal behaviors and choices, there is no doubt that for a period of a dozen years, he was not only the best golfer on the planet; he was the best at his craft in the entertainment industry (athletes, actors, singers, etc). And, Tiger Woods had a coach.

The fact is that Woods and other top line professional athletes like Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, and Serena Williams having coaches, goes unnoticed and with no fanfare. It’s a given. Singers have voice coaches. Actors have acting coaches. Dancers employ coaches. Coaches and mentors are considered essential to develop skills and accelerate growth and development.

Let’s take a closer look at Tiger Woods and what coaching has done to enhance and accelerate his career…

Shortly after Woods won his first Masters title by a landslide, he went about developing a new swing. He hired a new coach and set the wheels in motion to “reinvent” his swing and his game. Fans and analysts thought he was crazy? Why fix something that is so not broken? The end result is that Woods became even more dominant and more consistent. The coaching had vaulted him past being really good and into legendary status.

After Tiger’s personal life fell apart in front of the world and injuries forced him to miss needed practice time and rounds, he set out again to “reinvent” himself again. Armed with new coaching, he set the stage to work on his game. After his recent win and momentum, he may be nearing the lofty heights he had set for himself. The only way he could get there was with a coach honing his enormous skill; holding him accountable; and offering new strategy and technique for his age and physical limitations.

In business, the top executives and “rainmakers” all use coaches. Why? For the same reasons that athletes, actors, and dancers do. To challenge, motivate, cajole, and improve their craft. The irony is that the top 1% of income producers use executive coaches and mentors like Marshall Goldsmith, Patricia Fripp, and Alan Weiss; while the vast majority of professionals who struggle to make ends meet on a daily basis don’t invest in themselves through coaching.

You can’t be brilliant by yourself. Athletes and other celebrity from the entertainment world have always known this. Kobe Bryant employs five new coaches every summer to help him improve his game, even after multiple world championship rings and Most Valuable Player trophies. Woods has hired new coaches to hone his game in an effort to return to the greatness he once had. Both Bryant and Woods know that no matter the length of time you have in the “game,” you are never too old or experienced to learn. In fact, it’s those that are most ready to learn new things and be “coachable” that continue to get the most out of their talent. The most effective rainmakers in the insurance industry are beating the tar out of their competition because they use coaches and mentors.

Here are 5 reasons you need to consider using a coach…

1. Skill development. In sales, your skill set needs to include powerful use of language, visioning, overcoming objections, and fighting through gatekeepers, to name a few. The solutions are not always evident and a strong coach will guide you through strategies to create and enhance these skills. Practicing conversations and interactions is a lost art among most insurance pros. In my experience, the majority just “wing it.” Coaching will speed up the success rate of these communications and deliver quicker results.

2. Feedback. When I coached high school basketball, my teams and I would watch game film. The video never lied. My feedback to them was invaluable because I would point out areas of weakness and areas of strength to work on. How do you know you did something well (or not) without an objective voice?

3. Feed Forward. Executive coaching guru Marshall Goldsmith coined a concept called “Feed Forward.” Feed forward is about creating solutions in the future and forgetting the past failures. Once we’ve acknowledged our mistakes, then coaches provide constructive “to do” strategies to hasten development. Feed forward comes from observation and compelling questioning that peels away at the onion to reveal real barriers to progress. This can only be accomplished with a trusted coach.

4. Sounding board. Sometimes you just need to let off steam. You need an ear to vent to; someone to simply listen. In most cases, bosses, sales managers, and spouses are not good options for this. A coach is a safe place to vent anger and frustration; as well as a place to celebrate successes.

5. Accountability. From den mothers to drill sergeants; teachers to athletic coaches; parents to pastors; we’ve all had someone keep us accountable. In your business life today, it’s harder than ever to find that accountability partner. A coach takes on that role and without baggage or excuses, holds you to the things you know you need to do to be successful. As with a sounding board, those other important people in your life are often ill equipped to objectively be that person; or will let you off the hook too easily.

Bottom Line

You can’t be brilliant by yourself. Everyone needs a coach. In the entertainment world, coaches are often less skilled than their mentorees; yet have a unique ability to ignite their talent and get them to perform at their maximum capability. Coaches in business elevate their mentorees to the same level of success and help them thrive personally and professionally. Not employing that kind of help is not only foolish, but also selfish. Think of all those who could be helped, yet never will.

Allowing yourself to be vulnerable and be coached takes immense self-confidence. The financial and time investments are usually dwarfed by the return of increased revenues, more discretionary time, and improved life balance.

Tiger Woods utilized coaches that ranged from his own father during his childhood; to his coaches at Stanford; to multiple big name golf coaches like Butch Harmon and Hank Haney. If a guy like Tiger Woods, who may be one of the greatest competitors of all time, can be coached, why wouldn’t you?

The reality is that insurance professionals, who overlook being coached because they think they can do it on their own, usually never reach the apex of their talents and thus fail to earn the income and life they could have realized. Those insurance pros that accept the challenge of being coached will reach greater heights in their career and enjoy the fruits of that success both professionally and personally.

The first tee is right this way. Are you ready to play?

© 2012 Dan Weedin. All Rights Reserved

I was speaking to a group of CEOs last week on the topic of risk management and insurance. A good question came from one of them that required a little too big of a list for the time allotted. I promised her a write-up on my blog. The question was, “How do we know what kind of insurances to be concerned about? Is there a list we can use?”

Your wish is my command as one genie once said…

This list is fairly exhaustive and certainly every policy here is not needed by every business. That being said, it acts as a good checklist to get you started:

1. Commercial Property (including Business Income)
2. Commercial General Liability
3. Commercial Auto (including liability, medical payments, uninsured motorist, physical damage, and non-owned and hired auto…but that’s it)
4. Workers Compensation (in WA State you get it through the state under labor & Industries)
5. Commercial Umbrella
6. Employment Practices Liability (you being sued by an employee)
7. Employee Dishonesty Bond (an employee stealing from you) Read an interesting article in Puget Sound Business Journal on this from a Microsoft employee stealing from them
8. Cyber Liability – This is the new hot policy. Very important – ask your agent!
9. Professional Liability (aka Errors & Omissions)
10. Liquor Liability
11. Pollution Liability (perhaps including Underground Storage Tank if applicable)
12. Inland Marine Floater (for unusual property items or instruments of communication and transportation)
13. Fiduciary Liability
14. ERISA Bond
15. Products Liability (for those that can’t get it through the General Liability)
16. Reputation Risk
17. Motor Truck Cargo (if you haul goods owned by others)
18. Aviation
19. Flood & Earthquake (see Difference in Conditions – DIC policy)
20. Key Person Life Insurance
21. Group Medical (including Dental & Vision)
22. Short and Long Term Disability for group or key people
23. Long – Term Care for key employees

This is off the top of my head. There may be more specifically needed for certain industries. They often get lumped into Inland Marine. Like I said, you definitely don’t need them all. The question is – are there one or two that you don’t have, but need?

© 2011 Dan Weedin. All Rights Reserved

September is a busy month. Not only is school re-starting everywhere, but it’s the “National” month for a couple of areas that I deal with. You may have known that September is National Preparedness Month (after 9/11), but it’s just come to my attention that it’s also national Life Insurance Awareness month.

Interestingly enough, I’ve had a couple of clients lately inquire about their life insurance. For some reason, people of all age and income ranges try to avoid the subject, but it’s the one insurance you are guaranteed to use. Or at least your family and business will be able to use!

Here are three reasons you need to review your life insurance at least every two years…

1. Things change. Let’s face it, things change more now than they ever did. Job security, global business, war, the economy…you name it and it’s probably affecting you. Your life insurance is probably obsolete after 3 years, so you need to stay ahead of the curve. The benefit amount and maybe even beneficiary should always be reviewed and changed if needed. The only thing worse than not having life insurance is having the wrong amount go to the wrong place!
2. It’s still cheap. Well, okay inexpensive. People are living longer, healthier lives and the rates for life insurance is one area of insurance that isn’t rising. You can get very affordable rates to start or increase your insurance, even if you’ve got a few medical issues.
3. Investment. Regardless of whether you are a proponent of term or permanent life insurance, you must at least consider the investment possibilities of life insurance. There are policies out there for some of you that can earn cash value to be used later in life. At the very least, you’ve made an investment in paying off your final expenses so that someone else doesn’t have that burden.

Final thought from a business perspective. If you’re a key person in your business then that business is financially hampered if you die. It’s just as important to an organization to have life insurance on its key people as it is for a husband or wife to have insurance on their spouse. I recommend you park yourself in front of a competent life insurance professional and find out what your options are.

© 2011 Dan Weedin. All Rights Reserved

Watch Video

60% of criminal hacker activity is against employers with less than 100 employees. This Wall Street Journal video is must see for any business, especially you small ones. This can completely kill your business. It’s a topic in my August Business Killers subscription. If you want to continue to stay up to date on perils that can cripple and/or kill your business, you need to become a subscriber for only $50 a month. The business you save might just be your own!

Subscribe to Business Killers today!

© 2011 Dan Weedin. All Rights Reserved