Strategies for navigating industry complexities and helping clients reduce plan for risk
Learning to proactively shape
the future can profoundly contribute to your agency’s growth and well-being.
By Carolyn Smith, APR, TRA
Recently, Joyce called Beyond Insurance about her frustrations with the lack of progress toward her mid-sized agency’s growth targets for 2024. She found herself overwhelmed by concerns about what lay ahead, ranging from market volatility and impending elections to the threat of natural disasters, economic unpredictability, talent scarcity, rising claims expenses, and regulatory uncertainties.
Unfortunately, Joyce has spent the past year in survival mode, navigating tightened budgets and prioritizing day-to-day operations in anticipation of potential challenges. These worries consumed her thoughts, making it difficult to concentrate on her agency’s goals.
Rather than leveraging lessons from her past challenges and focusing on a brighter future, Joyce continued to operate her business with a short-term perspective. She instructed her team to prioritize revenue generation over cultivating client relationships.
Consequently, her sales team adopted an aggressive approach, emphasizing product features and pricing, while the agency became solely focused on generating quotes and chasing the 90-day bid.
Ultimately, Joyce’s inclination to prioritize the present erased her need to plan for the future, a lapse that often leads agencies into mediocrity, inertia, or outright failure over time.
Why couldn’t Joyce recognize and seize future opportunities? According to Thomas S. Bateman, DBA, in “The Most Powerful Mindfulness Is Future-Focused” (published in Psychology Today), certain barriers hinder our ability to fully embrace future mindfulness. Surprisingly, the obstacle lies within our own neurological wiring, requiring us to rewire our brains to become more future-focused and effectively navigate the changing environment.
- The unfortunate allure of the present
Although most leaders acknowledge the importance of focusing on future growth, they often find themselves pulled back into the demands of the present. Whether it’s extinguishing yet another fire, meeting quarterly earnings targets or attending operational meetings, addressing immediate concerns can feel more manageable than navigating future uncertainties.
Moreover, in the short term, the market often rewards the prioritization of present challenges.
This tendency to prioritize the present is a common phenomenon. In the book The Time Paradox, authors and researchers Philip G. Zimbardo and John N. Boyd explored the concept of time perspective and reported that:
- Only 16% of individuals possess a true future-focused mindset, recognizing evolving trends and taking proactive steps to adapt.
- Another 14% of individuals are past-focused. These are the individuals who actively resist change and harbor skepticism about the success of current trends.
- Most people, around 70%, fall into the middle category: present-focused. When confronted with the notion of a changing world, their response typically revolves around the immediate priorities of the current quarter. Their actions are often driven by immediate rewards and costs, leading them to favor the familiar over change and overlook the importance of long-term consequences. They are comfortable prioritizing the present over the future, routine actions over innovation, and continuity over adaptation.
This “present-focused” mindset is arguably the least advantageous of the three. While beliefs held by past-focused individuals can be disproven, present-focused individuals often adopt the language of future-focused individuals while behaving like those who are past-focused. It’s as if they acknowledge the premise of change but proceed to steer toward potential pitfalls, nonetheless.
Being future-focused doesn’t require clairvoyance. It’s not about predicting the future, but rather capitalizing on forethought, preparing for various potential scenarios based on observable changes in the present. The key is to maintain flexibility, preserve options for adaptation, and choose to do something different.
Sometimes, it’s as simple as recognizing shifts in the local community or industry and taking proactive steps in response. For instance, at Wade Associates in North Carolina, Cheryl Nabell, president, and Jim Roberts, COO, serve as archetypal future-focused leaders who exemplify a forward-thinking mindset. Instead of solely focusing on short-term plans, they prioritize long-term vision and strategy.
Nabell practices “prospection,” the mental process of thinking about and anticipating future events, possibilities, or outcomes. She and her team actively imagine potential scenarios, consider various options, and plan based on those considerations. Prospection plays a crucial role in their decision-making and goal setting, as it allows them to anticipate challenges, set objectives, and take proactive steps to achieve desired outcomes.
“Prospection helps us navigate the complexities in this industry and prepare for what lies ahead,” Nabell explains. “We also use this with clients by focusing on the Beyond Insurance Process and assisting them in reducing and planning for risk.”
Four strategies for getting from the now to the next
Undoubtedly, prioritizing future-oriented thinking yields substantial benefits for businesses. So, how can a dedicated agency leader adopt this mindset?
- Use the power of “yet” and “next.” Psychologist Carol Dweck’s research on growth mindset emphasizes the importance of using language that encourages perseverance and the belief in one’s ability to improve over time. The phrases “power of yet” and “power of next” encapsulate this idea, highlighting the transformative potential of adopting a growth mindset and reframing challenges as opportunities for growth and learning.
“Yet” implies that although a goal or skill hasn’t been achieved or mastered now, it’s still attainable with effort and perseverance. It reframes setbacks as temporary and motivates leaders to keep pushing forward.
For example, if someone asks if you have implemented a new tool at your agency, you could respond, “I haven’t done that yet,” which implies that you will consider this action for the future. Or, if asked whether you hold a designation, you could respond, “I haven’t finished the designation yet,” implying that you will earn it soon.
“Next” suggests a forward-looking approach, emphasizing the idea that there is always a next step or opportunity for growth. It encourages leaders to focus on what they can do next to progress toward their goals, rather than dwelling on past failures or limitations. An example next is, “I will implement that process next.”
Together, “yet” and “next” inspire resilience, optimism, and a proactive mindset, empowering leaders to confront challenges, extract lessons from failures, and persistently pursue improvement.
- Monitor your time and thought process. To transition toward a future-oriented mindset, begin tracking how you allocate your time. This can be as straightforward as categorizing or color-coding your daily schedule based on whether meetings involve reviewing past events, addressing current issues, or planning for the future.
For instance, if you’re focused on closing a quarter with your team, your attention is primarily on the present, and you are probably not discussing future-oriented topics. In response, proactively initiate conversations that pivot your mindset toward long-term vision and strategic planning on a regular, recurring basis.
- Instill the value of future-focus in your team. The late Steve Jobs of Apple fame used to hold annual retreats with his top employees. At the conclusion of each retreat, he would gather everyone in front of a whiteboard and pose the question: “What are the 10 things we should be doing next?”
A flurry of suggestions would ensue as people vied to have their ideas included. Jobs would diligently record them all; yet following extensive deliberation, the group would narrow it down to a list of ten. Subsequently, Jobs would decisively eliminate seven of them and declare, ‘We can only do three.’”
This exercise underscored the importance of future-focus to his employees. “Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do,” Jobs emphasized in his biography, Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson.
Similarly, in his TED Talk, Google CEO Larry Page admitted that, in 2005, he “felt guilty for wasting time” working on Android. Now, he realizes, “That (feeling guilty) was stupid; it was the future.” Page urged viewers to mentally mind-travel beyond the ordinary so they can embrace bold innovations, create revolutionary change, and shape a future where humanity is served in extraordinary ways.
- Engage with forward-thinking peers. Dedicating time to connect and collaborate with peers who prioritize future-thinking is essential.
Jim Roberts, a member of the Beyond Insurance Global Network (BIGN) advisory board, underscores the need to surround yourself with a trusted circle that will challenge you to focus on the future. He actively seeks the perspectives of his peers, openly discussing pressing issues and challenges, contemplating potential innovations, and outlining future initiatives he intends to implement.
To Jim, the synergy of his peer-to-peer network and future-thinking is undeniable. By tapping into the wealth of knowledge and experience within the BIGN, Roberts stays ahead of the curve, anticipates emerging trends, and proactively shapes the future of his agency.
The future remains open to possibilities
“We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future,” philosopher Bertrand Russell once said.
Learning to proactively shape the future can profoundly contribute to your agency’s growth and well-being. The sooner you cultivate future awareness and take corresponding actions, the greater the potential impact. Isn’t it time to grow obsessed with the future, open your mind, and create a more favorable future?
The author
Carolyn Smith, APR, TRA, chief training officer for Beyond Insurance, creates and delivers transformative programs, including the Trusted Risk Advisor certification, BIGN Producer Boot Camp, and Quest for Success, that have positively impacted the lives and careers of countless professionals. These programs help industry professionals build a career that they love and achieve the success they deserve.
