Effective Executive

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Effective Executive

• University of Iowa,
• Oct 3, 2007
• Bruce W. Butler, FSA, MAAA

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GOALS

• Assist you
• Encapsulate lessons learned
• Assumption you all want to succeed, to be
  successful
• Rules of the Road
• Not a presentation
• Participatory
• Takeawayswill provide a summary

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Getting started

• Key positions in a typical insurance company
• CEO
• President/COO
• CFO
• CIO
• HR
• LEGAL
• INVESTMENTS
• MARKETING SALES
• Chief Actuary
• Chief Auditor
• Chief Underwriter

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Some givens

• Key concern of (almost) every employee his/her
  family
• The executive can not do it all
• There is never enough time or to do
  everything the executive would want to get done
• People will do what they want to do, what they
  are good at
• Hence, one of the keys to effective management of
  your staff is to match what needs to be done for
  the organizations benefit to what the individual
  likes to do and is good at
• Virtually all people want to do a good job, want
  to be good at what they do
• Competition is out to beat your organization
• Change is a constant
• What customers want expect
• Speed at which market changes
• The organizations expectations of you your
  staff

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Some givens (contd)

• While there will be many great people within an
  organization, there will be people whose motives
  goals appear to be
• Different than yours
• Contrary to yours
• Puzzling
• Irritating
• Selfish
• The challenge is to work through those issues in
  a fashion that promotes collaboration
• Finally, one of the, if not the most, key facts
  in a persons promotability is the opinion of
  acceptance by his/her peers

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Key roles of an executive

• Staffing development
• Planning
• Budgeting
• Directing/organizing work
• Fact finding/development
• Developing a vision/seeing around corners
• Motivating employees and others within the
  organization
• Collaborating/working with others toward a common
  goal
• Monitoring measuring

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What makes for a winning organization or company?

• Focus on the customer
• Fact driven
• High standards
• Reliability of its products services
• Impatience with anything that gets in the way of
  doing the right things of doing things right
• Sense of urgency
• Anticipation/willingness to change
• Affordable products
• A good price/value equation
• Metrics based
• Continuously raises the bar
• For its products services
• For its employees

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Hence key attributes of an effective executive

• Fact based
• Collaborative
• Market focused
• Cost conscious
• Focuses on staff
• Sets maintains high standards
• Mentors, encourages, promotes
• Weeds out
• Knows when to stick up for employees when not
  to (hint when they are wrong or behaving poorly)
• Flexible
• Sorts out key versus trivial
• Focuses on the win versus who gets credit

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Key attributes (contd)

• Competitivebut knows the real competition is the
  other companies
• Appropriate amount of pride, ego
• Intelligence, smarts
• Organization, time management
• Workable, appropriate sense of humor
• Ability to make keep friends
• Willingness to pitch in get a job done
• Ability to manage upward, across, down in the
  organization
• Seen as an answer person, a problem solver, a
  problem recognizer, but not a problem creator

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Key attributes (contd)

• Politically smart but not an office politician
• Examples
• Know when how to criticize boss
• Avoids criticizing boss in public
• Avoids criticizing boss to employees
• Knows when how to disagree with boss
• Starting point for the disagreement is on the
  facts
• Overall be the person in the organization with
  whom everyone wants to work

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So what does an effective executive do?

• Remembers virtually everyone has family ties
  concerns
• Works hard, but maintains work/life balance for
  himself/herself and encourages employees to do
  the same
• Works smart
• Focuses on the marketplace
• Develops facts to help understand marketplace
• Anticipates what marketplace, customers want
• Focuses on facts
• Starts meetings with focus on facts and on
  getting concurrence on the facts to the maximum
  extent possible,
• Where there isnt concurrence on the facts
  considers measures to get concurrence
• This could include postponing the meeting until
  those in disagreement on the facts can resolve
  their disagreement
• Collaborates with others in the organization

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Effective executive to dos (contd)?

• Treats all people within outside the
  organization with respect
• Only way to live
• And, you never know who you might end up
  reporting to or needing help from
• If you treat others disrespectfully, you (rightly
  so) get a reputation that entails a long hard
  road to recover from
• Focuses on his/her employees development
• Mentors
• Puts his/her staff in positions/situations to
  win, to shine
• Sets up situations for his/her employees to
  showcase their talents
• This is much more effective than telling others,
  including your boss, how good your employees are
• Weeds out those not suited for the work

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Effective Executive to dos (contd)

• Continually raises the bar for him/herself
  employees
• Continually invests in himself or herself
• Gets along without necessarily going along
• Stays in control of self in stressful situations
• Knows when to use appropriate humor
• Asks questions listens, listens, listens
• Communicates early often
• Seeks feedback on
• Himself/herself
• Staff
• Products services
• Delivers on promiseson time

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So what can an actuarial student do in college
in early years in employment?

• Pass exams
• Read WSJ and/or Business Week, especially Jack
  Suzy Welchs column, or other business magazines
• Ask questions of those around you, particularly
  those higher up
• What do they do why?
• What are the issues they are dealing with?
• What are their biggest concerns for the business?
• Observe the behavior of the corporate executives
• Be willing to do what needs to be done in a day
  not just what is in your job description
• But avoid stepping on toes by taking over
  others jobs
• Apply the golden rule day in day out

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To Dos (contd)

• Collaborate
• Build your contact listfrom day 1 with the
  names of effective people, people who can get
  answers to questions, people who can help
• And, strive to be one of those persons yourself

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What success do they get from this?

• Emotional satisfaction-- knowing that
• You have done your best in a winning way
• You will get to be on the teams going forward
• The words people use to describe you are
  positives
• Hard working
• Smart
• Collaborative
• Real human being/good person
• Maintains balance
• Ego fits through the door
• Plus

• Financial success

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Wrap up

• Is the preceding difficult? YESbut way easier
  than not following it, of doing things the hard
  way
• Regardless of the level you aspire to, many of
  the above are key