NU Online News Service, Sept. 22, 9:04 a.m.EST

INDIANAPOLIS—Effective leadership within the membership of theNational Association of Mutual Insurance Companies will promoteincreased success for the association and its members, says theassociation's new chairman.

In his inaugural address before the membership meeting here forNAMIC's 106^th annual convention yesterday, ChairmanJames Kennedy, president and chief executive officer of Ohio MutualInsurance Group, based in Bucyrus, Ohio, says leadership and itspower to improve an organization will be the central theme for hisone-year term.

“Leadership is a subject you are going to hear a lot more offrom me over the next year because I firmly believe that everyproblem we have in our government, our business and in our societyhas its fundamental root cause in the absence of, or a failure ofleadership,” says Kennedy.

The time is now, he continues, “to ratchet up the leadershipcapabilities within the community of mutual insurers.”

He defines leadership as someone taking the initiative to haveinfluence over a situation because leaders want to take action.

It is also a mindset, he says. “One does not need a title, aposition or a spot on a roster to want to take action and makechange.”

The easiest way to understand the power of leadership is byexamining where leadership failed, says Kennedy.

For example, with the Enron debacle and Bernie Madoff's Ponzischeme, Kennedy says the failure of leadership was the day theyforgot their mission. He believes they did not start off theircareer's intending to “have such a negative effect” on society.

However, he says, they “lost their mission, misplaced theirvalues; they forgot what they were all about.”

NAMIC's vision of leadership is to aspire to pull “usforward every day,” and to “provide positive contributions tosociety” through a sound and ethical insurance industry.

These values, he says, hold mutual insurance companies togetherand point NAMIC's members in a direction to have a positive impactin the areas they serve.

Because NAMIC members seek to hold to these high ethical values,they will not fall into the kind of moral failures Enron and Madofffell into, Kennedy says.

He says he plans to take this message around the country andexpand on it in the coming months to other members.

Kennedy refers to Immediate Past-Chairman Sandra G. Parrillo,president and CEO of The Providence Mutual Fire Insurance Co., andher leadership skills during her one-year term.

“She demonstrated her vision, her mission and values with greatpassion,” says Kennedy. “She never forgot the mission of NAMIC andshe never let the rest of us forget it either.”

He also offers an observation from Warren Buffet about mutualinsurers, who said that mutual companies combine “a strongcorporate personality and a great culture; and they work miraclesevery day.”

Kennedy says that if mutual insurers “hang together with onecollective voice and think like leaders” focused on their vision,mission, and values “then I am firmly convinced that there isnothing that we cannot accomplish.”