Since I joined LOGiQ3 a couple of months ago, I have been diving head first into building my knowledge of our business, our processes, our people and, of course, our customers. While I have been in the insurance industry my entire career, this is the first time I have been part of a professional services firm supporting the industry. So, while knowing how insurance and reinsurance works is important, much more important is knowing how to successfully operate a business that supports other companies via expert knowledge and resources. Recently I shared a number of early observations with our internal team—both positive and critical. I believe we have a lot going for us at LOGiQ3, such as:
Originally Published in the The Stepping Stone, August, 2014. Copyright 2014 by the Society of Actuaries, Schaumburg, Illinois. Reprinted with Permission.
Author - Raymond E. DiDonna
photo by Joseph Ma. Rosell on Flickr
Managing with Metrics:
A popular definition of a leader is someone who produces superior results through the work of others. Two of the greatest challenges a leader faces are knowing how to build a high-performance team to achieve superior results and then instituting the mechanisms necessary to actually create that team. Now, there are several key areas that a manager must focus on, such as creating a team vision, providing consistent coaching and mentoring, and rewarding outstanding performance. In this article, however, I want to focus on Managing with Metrics as a key driver of creating a high-performance team. And this concept applies equally to the team as a whole, as well as its individual members.
According to the 2007, 2009, and 2011 benchmark studies performed by Prosci, Inc., a world leader in change management research, ineffective sponsorship from senior leaders was identified as the #1 change management obstacle. Said differently, the top reason that change initiatives (such as system implementations, organizational structure changes, etc.) fail is due to ‘lack of leadership’. That’s right…’lack of leadership’. Not too little funding, not bad project plans, not resource constraints, but ‘lack of leadership’. In addition, Prosci’s research also found that most change initiatives with effective leadership met or exceeded expectations. So, I think we have a pattern here. Projects with effective leadership succeed, while projects with ineffective leadership fail. Maybe I should just end this paper right here.
But, I won’t because there is more to say, and more to learn. Prosci goes on to identify the three key behaviors of effective sponsors:
- Active and visible participation
- Building support with peers and managers
- Communicating directly with employees
September 23, 2013 TORONTO – The official scheduled speakers to the first TEDxKingStreetEast event - The Power of a Question is officially announced. TEDxKingStreetEast 2013: The Power of a Question is taking place on October 9, 2013 at the Enoch Turner Schoolhouse in the historic area of Toronto, ON.
