I’ve been hosting The Enlightened Agent podcast since March 2021. In Season 1, we celebrated Enlightened Agents…those who did outstanding work to protect the businesses that shape the world. In Season 2, we focused on a crucial topic for the industry: diversity, equity, and inclusion. In the meantime, I had my ear to the ground listening for pressing issues that needed to be discussed. During my compelling conversations with insurance industry leaders like Chip Bocaccio from Trusted Choice and Ellen Willadsen from Holmes Murphy, I’ve stumbled on something that is near to my heart as a former consultant and founder of a B2B software company in the insurance industry—change management.
Change management refers to a framework designed to deal with transitioning from a company’s current state to its desired future. It encompasses precisely how the company will achieve its goals, incorporating new processes and fresh technology. A straightforward procedure can ease the transition, particularly in helping employees adapt to new things.
Over the past five years, the insurance industry has encountered several waves of change, mainly related to the introduction of modern technology and the examples of their use with upstarts like Lemonade and Root. Leveraging new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and machine learning have been crucial to the success of these businesses and inspired others to do the same. But embracing change is no easy feat. Ensuring a cost-effective and efficient implementation presents a huge challenge, particularly when applying everything company-wide.
At Broker Buddha, I’ve always wanted to identify and celebrate our industry’s champions. That’s how our podcast got its name…The Enlightened Agent. So, in this new series, Champions of Change, I’ll be talking to the leaders who use the best change management methodologies to become loved by their teams while making their projects - and their companies - successful. From just a few conversations I’ve had so far, it’s clear that the entire industry has much to learn from these innovative leaders.
One of the things I love about hosting my podcast is that I’m constantly learning, and this series is no different. Listeners can expect me to dive deep into the benefits and challenges of change management, and break down my guest’s knowledge of best practices to help every listener benefit from the information.
I’ve already released episodes one and two from the Champions of Change series: One is a discussion with Casee Shelton, Commercial Lines Marketing Lead at Brown & Brown Tacoma; we discussed Brown & Brown’s movement towards a centralized customer relationship management system (CRM) and how there’s no set formula for successful business-wide change. I also had an enriching conversation with Andrew Robinson, Chief Executive Officer at Skyward Specialty Insurance Group, about how ensuring that management views change as a positive opportunity, allowing them to guide others successfully.
More episodes to come, so make sure you subscribe to the podcast to get notified when it comes out!
I hope you enjoy the series just as much as I do, and if you’re a fan, please feel free to share with friends, family, and colleagues. Also, if you have any guest suggestions, reach out and let me know!
Keep it simple,
Jason Keck
CEO
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