In this eight-part series, Carl Van, author of The 8Characteristics of the Awesome Adjuster, shares his thoughts onthose characteristics. The series is to serve as a sort of road mapfor those interested, at least at this stage, in knowing what ittakes to be among the top in their field, the elite.

Awesome adjusters are the elite, the top 10 percent. Awesomeadjusters come in all shapes and sizes, all colors and sexes, alleducational and intellectual levels. As different as they are,however, they also have a great deal in common.

“There is very little difference between people, but that littledifference can make a big difference,” said W. Clement Stone,founder of Combined Insurance Co. and author of Success Through APositive Mental Attitude. “The little difference is attitude. Thebig difference is whether it is positive or negative.”

Enough has been published on the subject of positive attitude tofill an ocean, so repeating it here would serve no purpose. It mustbe said, however, that the very best adjusters are people who lookfor the positive in all situations. Overwork is an opportunity todemonstrate work ethic. Making mistakes is an opportunity to learnsomething new. Being asked to do more than anyone else is anoutward expression that someone thinks more of you than anyoneelse.

Managers just love to deal with awesome adjusters because oftheir attitudes. They do not get bent out of shape when asked tohelp out. They question the status quo without waging war againstpolicy or procedure. They always have suggestions for improvementwhen they express concerns. They look for ways to make somethingwork, rather than building cases for why it won't.

Plenty of solid technicians are bad adjusters because theirfocus is on discouraging others instead of encouraging themselves.My advice to those who wants success in claims is to start byworking on their claim attitude. To do that, you must stop lookingat all of the work, and start looking for the opportunities. Isuggest by beginning with deciding what you want, what is importantto you, and making sure that it is something you can reasonablyachieve. Then, give yourself a taste.

To be sure, giving yourself a taste is the hard part. To bereally motivated to do anything, you have to stay away from the“imagine this” technique, and give yourself a taste. Many self-helpauthors suggest acting as if you already have achieved what youwant. If you want to be a person whom others respect because ofyour positive attitude, pretend that you already are that person.The more you can pretend that you have what you want, the more yourattitude (and your actions) will be tailored to fit with it.

Accentuate the Positive

Another great technique is to practice rephrasing the things yousay and hear in order to find the positive. Here are some standardcomments that I have heard claim people make. Do any of them soundfamiliar?

• I have too much work.
• My manager gives me all the difficult files.
• Customers are always complaining.
• If this job were easier, I would like it better.
• No one helps me unless I ask for it.
• My job is nerve-racking. One little mistake could cost thecompany thousands.
• The only time I see my supervisor is when I make amistake.
• I always have to go to conferences and review them for everyoneelse in office meetings.
• The insureds are so needy. I wish they'd leave me alone.
• I am the only one in my office with any experience.

See if you can reword the comments to point out the positive.Keep in mind that all of the comments are valid, but see if you canchange them around just a little so that they seem positive insteadof negative. If you can, you are ahead of the game.

While you are thinking about rephrasing those comments, let meplead guilty to falling into the “I got it so bad” trap myself.Once, in my claim manager days, I was in my boss' office, and I waswhining and complaining like you would not believe. I was sayingthings like, “The other managers wanted me to do this, and HR askedme to do that, and I worked on a project all day Saturday, and nowI have to do this traveling, blah blah blah.”

I was complaining, whining, and crying for five, six, maybeseven minutes or so. I whined and complained and whined some more.(I figured I was bound to get a company car out of this orsomething.) The whole time I was complaining, my boss was juststaring at me, waiting for me to finish.

I finally ran myself down and stopped. He looked at me for a fewseconds and said, “Carl, are you finished?” I said, “Yeah, I'mfinished.” “Good,” he said, “because I want to remind you ofsomething.” And I said, “Yeah, what?”

“Carl,” he said, “you asked for this job, remember? You sathere, in this office, and went into detail about how tough this jobwas going to be and why you were the only person I should select.You practically begged me for this job. Twenty-two people appliedfor this job, Carl, and you got it. I saw something in you I didn'tsee in anybody else. Maybe I was right, and maybe I was wrong, buthere's your chance to prove it either way.”

Slumping down in my chair, I listened as he continued, “If youwant an easy job, go to McDonalds. A little buzzer goes off whenthe fries have to come out. If that's what you want, no hardfeelings. Go. But before you leave my office, Carl, let me remindyou of something. You got something 21 other people didn't get; yougot the chance to prove you could do this job. No one else even gotthe chance. So do what you want to do.”

Now, this wasn't a “Win one for the Gipper” speech; this was a“Get out of my office because you begged me for this job” speech.Guess what? He was right. I had begged him for that job. I sat inhis office for four hours interviewing for that promotion yet, onceI got the job, all I could see was the hard work. All I could seewere the demands and the tough things I had to do. I knew it was atough job, which was why I had asked for it in the first place. Ijust could not see the opportunity anymore.

My boss recognized that all of the extra hard work I was goingto have to do was my opportunity to prove that he was right forhiring me in the first place. All of that hard work was myopportunity to show that I was the right person for the job. Thehard work was the challenge that I had wanted, and would producethe satisfaction I would feel from knowing I could do a difficultjob that not many could do.

Somehow, my attitude had gotten turned around and I found myselflooking for the wrong things. It was not entirely my fault, Isimply had not been trained. Trained in what? The key in knowinghow to recognize opportunity when it is there.

To show you what I mean, I have rewritten the comments as Ibelieve an awesome adjuster would have seen things.

• I have too much work, but at least I have job security.
• My manager trusts me to handle the difficult files.
• Customers need my help. That's my job.
• If this job were easier, the company would not need me and justhire someone less talented.
• I am left alone to do my job.
• oI have a job that is important and requires thoughtful care.My company trusts my decisions.
• oMy supervisor does not hover over me and lets me do myjob.
• oI am trusted to interpret important information and help trainothers in my office.
• oThe insureds are very needy. If they weren't, anyone could dothis job.
• oI am relied upon in my office because of my experience.

Spend just one week pretending that youalready have what you want, and rewording every negative commentyou say or hear, and you will see an immediate change in yourattitude toward your responsibilities.

You can be stressed out that you have too much work, or you canbe relieved that you do not have job security concerns. You can befrustrated that your manager expects so much more out of you thananyone else, or you can feel proud to be such a valuable asset inthe office. You can be irritated that customers complain, or beglad that you have a job where people need your help. Just keep inmind that, either way, it is a choice you make.

Awesome adjusters know that having a positive attitude isnothing more than deciding what to look for. They know that, onceyou allow yourself a taste of positive attitude, job satisfactionwill go up and stress levels will go down. Then, if you like theway that tastes, go ahead and indulge. Keep eating up that positiveattitude. Don't worry; positive attitude is the ultimate diet. Highon energy, with no fat and no carbs.

Carl Van is president and CEO of International InsuranceInstitute and dean of he School of Claims Performance. He can bereached at www.insuranceinstitute.com.