Despite countless works published about "how to" achieve effective leadership, an effective leader isn't necessarily a successful leader. History is replete with examples of those who have steered their many followers off cliffs or simply maintained the status quo, only to find themselves and their followers behind the times.
In the forefront of effective and successful leadership in insurance today are the members of our 2009 All-Stars team. This prestigious group shows us what has been proven to work, contrary to the how-to approach that merely tells us--and as the familiar disclaimer goes, results can vary. So, please turn to page 14 to learn from some of the greatest IT talent in the industry.
Another example on the subject of leadership and innovation appears on the Knowledge@Wharton Web site, which published an article reporting on a Wharton roundtable discussion a couple of years ago. At that event, industry leader C. Robert Henrikson, chairman and CEO of MetLife, remarked: "I can't wake up and say, 'It's good to be a fast follower.'"
Henrikson's point was to be an insurance leader, a carrier must "get out in front of consumer behavior. That is what will be the differentiator in our industry." He advocated that all parts of the organization have a sense of the customers' business to anticipate their needs and develop innovative ideas.
The sphere of insurance IT encompasses two customers--internal and external. Henrikson's belief holds true in either case. Driven by that understanding, IT can provide the innovations that propel a company forward--even if one small step at a time.
In the recent Tech Decisions' "State of the Market" Web seminar (see our Web site to link to the archived version), Craig Weber, senior vice president, insurance practice, at Celent, shared two relevant points. One, innovation very often isn't related to technology per se--carriers try to insulate technology from most users--but around service delivery. "When we talk to insurers about the ways they want to innovate, they look at product, pricing, communications models, but it really has to be viewed as a holistic package of service. It's product, price, delivery, and service experience that allow agents and customers to feel differently about how they interact with a carrier."
Weber's second point is "carriers can be paralyzed by not wanting to take too big a jump and not knowing what direction that jump needs to go in." His suggestion is to think about innovating as both a long-term vision and very short-term tactical steps.
Leaders guide their organizations and show them the way forward. They communicate the vision and inspire commitment to it. We hope you will be inspired by the leaders whose special talents we recognize in this issue.
