We talk a lot in the pages of NU about the looming succession crisis: How is the industry going to respond to the brain drain as experienced baby boomer executives retire—in droves—over the years ahead?
Of course, a lot of our coverage is focusing, as it should, on solutions—like how the industry can attract and retain top talent from leading universities (our most recent effort here was our Feb. 13 cover story on State Farm's College Sales & Marketing Competition).
But the retirement issue begs another question: What are all these still physically hale and mentally sharp insurance experts going to do when they call it quits from their "real" careers?
To find out, we put editor Mark Ruquet on the case, and he located five producers who have recently exchanged full-time, top-level jobs at agencies for other activities that are proving at least as rewarding—everything from starting new businesses to devoting dozens of hours each week to laudable causes. Check out what your peers are doing, starting on page 16.
Now, we realize that this feature is not hard-hitting news—but we're also pretty sure that it's going to be a popular piece.
And this leads to a broader point: The great preponderance of our articles, both in print and online, should—and do—offer in-depth analysis of the most current and critical industry trends. But we also want to leave some room for more personal reports.
The best professional journals—which NU strives to be—need to balance rigorous news reporting with an element of the community newspaper: providing a forum where the achievements and interests of our fellow readers can be shared.
After all, as we're told in our story on "What Risk Managers Want from Brokers" (starting on page 20), personal relationships matter in this business—matter a great deal, in fact. As one risk manager remarks: "You have to like the people you work with."
So take this as an invitation to tell us your stories: Of course, we'd love to hear from other recently retired executives who are going down interesting, post-insurance paths.
But let's not discriminate by age, either: I bet—rather, I know—many of our readers are engaged in press-worthy activities outside the 9-to-5 (or 7-to-7) world of the office. So all you hidden rock stars, artists, philanthropists, coaches, novelists, volunteers, athletes, actors, inventors and entrepreneurs—drop us a line and let us share your accomplishments with the NU family.
Bryant Rousseau
Editor in Chief
brousseau@sbmedia.com
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