As today's claim professionals deal with multiple catastrophe claims in addition to everyday claims, we are bombarded with a variety of news and social media signals. This bombardment emphasizes the need to develop our communication skills as well as provide value to our employers and customers. With Superstorm Sandy and Blue Ocean strategies, it's hard to keep up and keep your head above water. And what about us? Don't we get to have an active say in our careers? How can we plot a course through these rough seas and gain footing on career terra firma?

It's often not until we reach the sunset of our careers that we reflect on the decisions that got us there. Yet our careers—our lives—are nothing if not the sums of the decisions we make (or don't make) every day. Given that, how can we more proactively manage our career outcomes?

You can map your 21st century voyage by using these destination points:

Set goals. What's your final destination? You have to at least think about it before you launch. It's okay to be flexible; create supporting, intermediate goals that work toward that final destination, understanding that you can make adjustments. Maybe it's okay if you never arrive at your ultimate destination, as long as your journey progresses. Whatever your career goals are, tell people about them. Your manager can't help you advance if she or he doesn't know your goals.

Track with professional development. Make this a lifelong journey, and not a “once and done” trip. Target the type of training and development that supports you at every stop along your career journey, as well as optimizes your continuing education (CE) opportunities. The Institutes' Associate in Claims (AIC) designation provides practical and relevant claims-handling skills and technical insurance knowledge to help you advance in your career.

Use mentoring. Are you a mentor? Are you willing to be mentored? Consider both roles, including getting involved with young people, and you'll be sure to benefit from both.

Do you have klout? An article in the October 29, 2012, edition of Fast Company magazine observed that in today's competitive business environment, the difference between success and failure on the job is finding the proper balance between traditional intelligence and social connectivity—networking. Even the professional organizations you're involved with should be online. In the new economy, hiring managers may increasingly favor those individuals with a high “klout score,” which measures social influence. If you aren't visible on social media, then you are invisible.

EQ or IQ? If you don't understand the question, then you need to navigate the 21st century workplace. High conventional intelligence (IQ) is just fine, but you also need to develop your emotional intelligence (EQ) to succeed in the workplace. Working with people means working with their emotions as well as your own. The foundational research on this topic was cited in Daniel Goleman's book, Working with Emotional Intelligence. Recently, Forbes magazine reported on research conducted by the Carnegie Institute of Technology, concluding that 85 percent of one's financial success was because of skills such as personality, communication, negotiation, and leadership.

Dare to be different. Are you willing to step up in your company or in life when the need arises? Do you have the skills, knowledge, and attitude (SKAs) needed to be that “go to” person? Sometimes this means being willing to invest in yourself for training and education to develop those skill sets, even if your employer won't. Or having the courage to make a move to an employer that values the same things that you do. For instance, are you a thought leader in your field? Do you have passion for what you do? Can you be relied on in times of crisis management? Is your work ethic beyond reproach? Are your core values in sync with your employer's? Are you customer-focused? Do you have fun doing what you do? If you weren't who you are right now, who would you want to be?

Cultivate collective wisdom. Do you understand the power of teamwork? You are not on this voyage alone. Surround yourself with a top-notch crew. Use them. Consult with them. Develop better decisions together as a team than you ever thought possible struggling onward alone. Crewmates will change over time, and sometimes the conversations will be difficult, but the storm clouds will always clear in the end.

Voice of the customer. If your customer were one of many voices in the crowd, then would you recognize that voice? How well do you know your customers? How close do you stay to them? Do you understand and anticipate their needs? Are you gathering signals from the marketing periphery that could influence their decision-making? Do you share their hopes and dreams? Steve Jobs knew that customers ultimately do not care about products per se—they care about what products do for them. He believed customers care about “… themselves, their hopes, their ambitions.”

So focus on the dream, not the product. Steve Jobs once advised an executive who asked for advice when charged with reinventing the Disney Store product line to “dream bigger.” Hemmed in by an ocean of claims, as a claim professional, if you dream bigger, keep your hand on the rudder, and your eye on the horizon, you, too, can steer your career successfully to your ultimate destination over the long term.

Know your customers. Make their business your business. When handling a claim, you must learn about the insured and the claimant, but it should not stop there. For claims professionals, the customer includes your employer. In this day and age, it is not enough to be good at your job; you have to understand all facets of the company's business. For independent adjusters, success depends not only on doing a good job but also on being a well-run company. If you work for an independent, then you should know the ins and outs of your employer's business as well as the insurance industry.

Embrace change. The amount of change that is occurring in the claims profession is staggering. Technology changes the way we do business and the courts change the meanings of the policies. Be on the lookout for the next big change, such as digital recorded statements, and try to ascertain the impact it will have on you before it gets to you.

Set high ethical standards for yourself. Be an example to others of how to conduct your daily activities. Ethics are defined as the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group. Each of us has our own set of ethics that we have internalized. In addition to what each of us has internalized, as adjusters we have to avoid conflicts of interest and use good claim handling practices. Ethical issues confront adjusters every day. What I want to impress upon you is the direct connection between ethics and professionalism. It does not matter whether you are a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) or a Registered Professional Adjuster (RPA) with a code of professional ethics you must follow.

Everyone who wants to be considered a professional should strive for a high ethical standard. Too often, we do what is expedient and expected, rather than standing up for what we believe to be right. The deserving professional is one who meets and maintains the ethics standards and competency standards that are significantly higher than the minimums required by the profession. To support and encourage the study and practice of business ethics, The Institutes have added an ethics requirement to all of our designation programs. We believe that ethical behavior is critical to preserving the trust on which insurance transactions are based and the public's trust in our industry as a whole.

Mary Ann Cook, MBA, CPCU, AU, AAI, is vice president of knowledge resources for The Institutes in Malvern, Pennsylvania. The Institutes are the leader in delivering proven knowledge solutions that drive powerful business results for the risk management and property-casualty insurance industry. Cook can be reached at cook@TheInstitutes.org.

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Steering Your Career Through Choppy Waters

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