LEADERSHIP Tour of Las Vegas’s Zappos office helps inspire agency culture focus Leadership is multifaceted. But at its core is responsibility foorganizational culture—designing, developing, and nurturing the shared values that drive how organizations operate. Author and former MIT Sloan School of Management Professor Edgar Schein put it this way: “[T]he unique function of leadership that distinguishes it from management and administration is … concern for culture. Leadership begins the culture
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A supportive boss and a refusal to conform to stereotypes paved the way for this agency president This month Rough Notes presents the first profile in a new series titled “Broken Glass.” In this space you’ll meet women who have defied stereotypes, shrugged off detractors, and leveraged drive and determination to achieve top leadership posts in the traditionally conservative independent agency arena. This month we’re profiling Dawn Law, a 30-plus-year
Third generation learns by doing as principal “retires” after six months The Wilkinson Insurance Agency in White House, Tennessee, was founded 60 years ago by J.M. Wilkinson as a sideline, to supplement his banking salary. Manley, as he was called, was manager of Farmers Bank and had studied banking. But he saw that having the ability to offer insurance to his banking customers was a win-win that provided clients with
Smooth sailing so far, but uncharted waters ahead One could say that today’s surety business is like a ship slowly cruising after having passed through turbulent waters, but heading into new waters that may hold either promise or peril. A little more than a decade ago, surety business was convulsed by huge loss ratios and massive consolidation. An industry accustomed to loss ratios at or below 25% saw the number
LEADERSHIP Observation, attention and focused incentives can drive improved organizational results Caleb was a surprise. My husband and I—serial animal rescuers—had just two elderly dogs left. We had talked about possibly taking a break from dog ownership once they passed. We thought, “Why not take a little time off?” That all changed when I found Caleb running around a main road a couple of blocks from our house. This was
