This week, Marshall Kath hands over the reins to a new NAPSLO president. To hear Mr. Kath tell it, in many respects it took little effort to lead an already well-oiled organization.

"I was handed an ongoing, living body of work and had a year in which I was part shepherd, part steward," said Mr. Kath, director of industry relations at Black/White Associates in Henderson, Nev., and former CEO of Colemont. "The good news is the weight of what needs to get done doesn't just get dumped at the door of the president. Really, the work is constantly ongoing-- you're just providing guidance and direction when and where you may be asked."

More specifically, Mr. Kath called the existing infrastructure--the organization's full-time staff based in Kansas City, its committees and the executive board--"a pretty effective and efficient machine."

Although Mr. Kath rattled off several of NAPSLO's accomplishments looking back on his year as president, he insisted the staff and its membership prove every day the organization is on good footing and will be long after he leaves.

"In these times we have lost very few members. We think NAPSLO's value proposition is very compelling. Our dues structure is appropriate but not burdensome," he said, noting the active volunteer participation of approximately 300 members. "Businesses continue to view NAPSLO membership as meaningful and really important to our business."

A LEGISLATIVE VICTORY
After nearly two decades of pursuit, Congress included surplus lines modernization provisions in the NonAdmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act (NRRA), which, according to Mr. Kath, streamlines the payment and allocation of surplus lines premium taxes and appoints the insured's home state as the standard used for surplus lines transactions that cut across multiple states. Mr. Kath praised Executive Director Richard Bouhan and his assistant, Cheryl Rupp, for their ongoing efforts on federal legislation; he also cited Director of Government Relations Steve Stephan, who in effect "has 50 clients," in addition to working with Mr. Bouhan on the federal level.

"There are 50 states in the U.S. and Steve does a great job not only with keeping up with what's going on, but also working with those people in the states," Mr. Kath said.

LEADERSHIP SCHOOL BOLSTERS EDUCATION
Building on the success of its E&S School and Advanced School, NAPSLO conducted its second annual Leadership School in conjunction with the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. Designed for the industry's senior leaders, the course's attendance exceeded expectations and feedback was very positive, according to Mr. Kath.

Under the leadership of Admiral Insurance Company's vice president of marketing, Letha Heaton, NAPSLO also saw the restructuring of its Mid-Year Leadership Forum into two events, a Town Hall and a four-person panel of senior members. Ms. Heaton, who serves as NAPSLO's Mid-Year conference chair, and her committee members overhauled the format and lengthened the conference by a day to cater to the event's 550 attendees.

"We were very pleased with the way that worked out. There were a lot of accolades from our membership, so we think we've got [the Mid-Year conference] dialed into members' needs," Mr. Kath said.

Education and community were not limited to those on the cusp of the C-level in Mr. Kath's year at the helm. NAPSLO's Next Gen group, a consortium of the organization's younger professionals, has formed its own board and has members sitting on each of NAPSLO's main committees in just its third year of existence--bringing a valuable perspective to the leadership of NAPSLO, Mr. Kath said.

MONITORING BROAD TECH TRENDS
Mr. Kath also reflected on the technology-oriented conferences and initiatives in which NAPSLO participated over the year. Mike Ardis, NAPSLO's director of communications and technology, leads the organization's involvement with the Agents Council for Technology (ACT), a subsidiary of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America, that focuses on retailers. Ardis served as a co-chair of a subcommittee working on surplus and specialty lines issues. In addition to ACT, NAPSLO was represented at gatherings of the Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development (ACORD), a group that sets data standards for the larger insurance industry, and the annual automation conference of the American Association of Managing General Agents (AAMGA).

Mr. Kath stressed that NAPSLO still serves as a watchdog rather than an agenda-setter for its members when it comes to technology, and he stressed again that the people under him are primarily responsible for its integration into the profession.

"Our membership has never asked us to lead the charge in terms of keeping up with applications and making recommendations. That gets done within the halls of our membership. What our members have asked us to do is keep them addressed of the broad trends," he said, adding that findings get communicated through newsletters and committees.

KEEPING THE ENGINE RUNNING
If Mr. Kath has any recommendations for the incoming president based on his one-year tenure, his advice is simple--let people do the jobs they are already doing well. In addition to Mr. Bouhan, Ms. Rupp, Mr. Stephan and Mr. Ardis, Mr. Kath singled out NAPSLO's other full-time staff--Debbie Hill, Jennifer Hague, Vicky Fleming and Kathy Poulson--for their efforts in improving the organization's meetings, events, technology initiatives and general accounting and administration. He also urged his successor to recognize the importance of its hundreds of volunteers.

"These are people who give of their own individual time, and then their employers financially support this and recognize they will give up time on the job to get this work done," he said.

In addition, Mr. Kath insists that the relatively large 17-member board does not have too many cooks in the kitchen.

"You don't really see boards that size in the for-profit world, but there's a good representative cross-section of our membership on that board," he said.

In essence, since NAPSLO's well-developed infrastructure and its creative personnel continues to effectively serve its steady membership, Mr. Kath strongly recommends acting as a "guide" as opposed to a leader --just as he did the past year.

"Listen well and then, maybe, act accordingly. I've not known of any NAPSLO president to do things in haste, but we're all served well by just listening well and then acting out of, and from, that."

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Kath Reflects on Leading an &quot;Effective and Efficient Machine&quot;

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