1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,720 As far as I'm concerned, learning how to delegate and what to delegate is probably the entrepreneur 2 00:00:05,720 --> 00:00:09,000 of the business owner's most important skill. 3 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:11,360 Doing it all yourself is recipe for failure. 4 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:17,400 So I guess my advice is if you can outsource, outsource, do that when you have employees 5 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:23,400 in the office or now we're hybrid or remote or what have you, but in your organization 6 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:29,120 determine what tasks they're best at, what they're better than you at, and keep those 7 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:31,120 things that you're better at. 8 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:44,520 Welcome to the Executive Connect podcast, a show for the new generation of leaders. 9 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:49,520 Join Melissa R. Skog as she speaks to a wide variety of guests that bring new insights into 10 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:53,120 leadership, prosperity, and personal growth. 11 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:58,920 While no one has all the answers, by building a community of open-minded and engaged leaders, 12 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:05,920 we hope to give you the tools you need to help you find your own path to success. 13 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:12,920 Welcome to the Executive Connect podcast. 14 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:18,920 Today I'm excited to speak with Stacey Julianki, Chief Riegel Officer at Florida Nitsala Insurance 15 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:22,920 Company, to talk about his journey into a billion dollar business. 16 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:23,920 Welcome Stacey. 17 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:30,920 Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be on your show and I feel honored to be 18 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:34,920 here. I know you get a lot of great guests, so maybe I'll live up to the rest of them. 19 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:36,920 We'll find out at the end of this, right? 20 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:37,920 Absolutely. 21 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:44,920 And I'm like I normally do. I'm just going to jump right in and ask you a few questions. 22 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:50,920 So can you share with our listeners some key strategies and decisions that have helped you 23 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:54,920 to put your heart in the middle of the day. 24 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:56,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 25 00:01:56,920 --> 00:01:57,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 26 00:01:57,920 --> 00:01:58,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 27 00:01:58,920 --> 00:01:59,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 28 00:01:59,920 --> 00:02:00,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 29 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:01,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 30 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:02,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 31 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:03,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 32 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:04,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 33 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:05,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 34 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:06,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 35 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:07,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 36 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:08,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 37 00:02:08,920 --> 00:02:09,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 38 00:02:09,920 --> 00:02:10,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 39 00:02:10,920 --> 00:02:11,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 40 00:02:11,920 --> 00:02:12,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 41 00:02:12,920 --> 00:02:22,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 42 00:02:22,920 --> 00:02:24,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 43 00:02:24,920 --> 00:02:25,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 44 00:02:25,920 --> 00:02:26,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 45 00:02:26,920 --> 00:02:27,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 46 00:02:27,920 --> 00:02:28,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 47 00:02:28,920 --> 00:02:29,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 48 00:02:29,920 --> 00:02:30,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 49 00:02:30,920 --> 00:02:31,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 50 00:02:31,920 --> 00:02:32,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 51 00:02:32,920 --> 00:02:33,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 52 00:02:33,920 --> 00:02:34,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 53 00:02:34,920 --> 00:02:35,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 54 00:02:35,920 --> 00:02:36,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 55 00:02:36,920 --> 00:02:37,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 56 00:02:37,920 --> 00:02:38,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 57 00:02:38,920 --> 00:02:39,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 58 00:02:39,920 --> 00:02:40,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 59 00:02:40,920 --> 00:02:42,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 60 00:02:42,920 --> 00:02:43,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 61 00:02:43,920 --> 00:02:44,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 62 00:02:44,920 --> 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questions. 132 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:25,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 133 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:26,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 134 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:27,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 135 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:28,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 136 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:29,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 137 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:30,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 138 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:31,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 139 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:32,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 140 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:33,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 141 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:45,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 142 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:46,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 143 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:47,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 144 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:48,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 145 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:49,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 146 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:50,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 147 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:51,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 148 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:52,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 149 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:53,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 150 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:54,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 151 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:55,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 152 00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:56,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 153 00:04:56,920 --> 00:04:57,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 154 00:04:57,920 --> 00:04:58,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 155 00:04:58,920 --> 00:04:59,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 156 00:04:59,920 --> 00:05:00,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 157 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:01,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 158 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:02,920 I'm going to ask you a few questions. 159 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:04,920 Jeff Bezos did and Steve Jobs did. 160 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:04,920 Jeff Bezos did and Steve Jobs did. 161 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:05,920 Jeff Bezos did and Steve Jobs did. 162 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:05,920 Jeff Bezos did and Steve Jobs did. 163 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:06,920 But a lot of people don't. 164 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:06,920 But a lot of people don't. 165 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:07,920 They kind of come in. 166 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:07,920 They kind of come in. 167 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:08,920 And these heavy hitters already. 168 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:09,920 And I didn't. 169 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:09,920 And I didn't. 170 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:10,920 I came in as an individual, corporate lawyer, 171 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:11,920 I came in as an individual, corporate lawyer, 172 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:12,920 I came in as an individual, corporate lawyer, 173 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:12,920 I came in as an individual, corporate lawyer, 174 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:13,920 I came in as an individual, corporate lawyer, 175 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:14,920 I came in as an individual, corporate lawyer, 176 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:15,920 I came in as an individual, corporate lawyer, 177 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:16,920 I came in as an individual, corporate lawyer, 178 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:17,920 I came in as an individual, corporate lawyer, 179 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:32,920 I came in as an individual, corporate lawyer, 180 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:36,920 I came in as an individual, corporate lawyer, 181 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:38,920 I came in as an individual, corporate lawyer, 182 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:40,920 I came in as an individual, corporate lawyer, 183 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:42,920 I came in as an individual, corporate lawyer, 184 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:44,920 I came in as an individual, corporate lawyer, 185 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:47,920 I came in as an individual, corporate lawyer, 186 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:50,920 I came in as an individual, corporate lawyer, 187 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:53,920 I came in as an individual, corporate lawyer, 188 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:55,920 I came in as an individual, corporate lawyer, 189 00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:58,920 I came in as an individual, corporate lawyer, 190 00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:00,920 I came in as an individual, corporate lawyer, 191 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:02,920 I came in as an individual, corporate lawyer, 192 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:04,920 I came in as an individual, corporate lawyer, 193 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:06,920 I came in as an individual, corporate lawyer, 194 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:08,920 I came in as an individual, corporate lawyer, 195 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:10,920 I came in as an individual, corporate lawyer, 196 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:12,920 I came in as an individual, corporate lawyer, 197 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:16,920 we also want the agents who sell our policy and recommend us happy. 198 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:20,920 So he brought that perspective of being an agent 199 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:23,920 and what agents want and what agents need in order to succeed. 200 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:26,920 So again, we didn't start off as some high-falutin presidents 201 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:28,920 of some insurance company. 202 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:32,920 We started off as two regular guys who came from 203 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:34,920 you know, normal middle-class backgrounds, 204 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:36,920 and but we decided we wanted something more 205 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:37,920 and we thought we could do it. 206 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:40,920 We were crazy enough to think that we could start an insurance company. 207 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:44,920 And then we got some people who actually had some money 208 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:46,920 to join us and get that dream off the ground. 209 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:48,920 So I think that's the perspective that I bring. 210 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:52,920 Which is fantastic, just hearing your story 211 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:56,920 because Florida Peninsula is one of Florida's top. 212 00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:00,920 It's one of the largest homeowner insurance companies, isn't it today? 213 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:02,920 It is, it is. 214 00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:06,920 And we're part of what we call the Windward Risk Manager Group. 215 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:08,920 And we have Florida Peninsula Insurance Company. 216 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:10,920 Edison Insurance Company. 217 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:14,920 And as of last week, we got approval to start 218 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:16,920 Ovateon Home Insurance Exchange. 219 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:20,920 So we have three insurance companies under a belt, 220 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:22,920 along with the claims processing company, 221 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:24,920 Acacia's Agency. 222 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:28,920 We also have a reinsurance advisory and reinsurance company. 223 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:32,920 So we have a bunch of companies under our kind of holding group. 224 00:07:32,920 --> 00:07:34,920 So we've really grown beyond that. 225 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:37,920 But yeah, we started off and then we were Florida Peninsula Insurance 226 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:39,920 and since then, we've grown into those other areas. 227 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:43,920 And we're really kind of a full service property company. 228 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:47,920 And when you add it all up, we're definitely in the top maybe four or five insurance carriers 229 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:51,920 in terms of homeowners and property in the state of Florida, 230 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:55,920 which is one of the biggest states in the country, especially for insurance. 231 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:59,920 Congratulations on that and your team. 232 00:07:59,920 --> 00:08:03,920 And you touched on it a little bit at the beginning delegation. 233 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:07,920 I think that's something a lot of people I interact with, 234 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:11,920 or leaders I hear about have a hard time delegating in cases where, 235 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:15,920 oh, I'll just do it. It takes me five minutes or 10 minutes to explain. 236 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:19,920 So I want to kind of jump into talking a little bit about delegation 237 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:27,920 and what, from your perspective, are some key principles for effectively delegating any task. 238 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:31,920 And how do you apply that to your team? 239 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:36,920 As far as I'm concerned, learning how to delegate and what to delegate is probably the entrepreneur, 240 00:08:36,920 --> 00:08:39,920 the business owner's most important skill. 241 00:08:39,920 --> 00:08:43,920 Because again, as we talked about the beginning, doing it all yourself is recipe for failure. 242 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:47,920 And so, for instance, in my personal life, I don't write my own checks. 243 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:51,920 I'm not good with the finances. I'm a lawyer, I'm an adjuster, I'm a coverage guy, 244 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:55,920 I'm an operations business person, but I'm not a financial guy. 245 00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:59,920 And so I have a bookkeeper for years, write my checks and balance my checks book. 246 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:02,920 I'm not good at that. I delegated that to somebody. 247 00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:08,920 So I'm freed up to be a husband and a father and a business person and to run my business that way. 248 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:14,920 But in the office, it's important to delegate because until recently, when we started the company, 249 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:18,920 we started this company in 2004, launched it in 2005. 250 00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:21,920 We had eight employees, six of us were the founding partners. 251 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:23,920 We only had two employees working for us. 252 00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:25,920 And now we have over 300 employees. 253 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:32,920 At the beginning, it was hard to delegate. But what we did before we had the employees is we outsourced. 254 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:38,920 We delegated those functions that we didn't know how to do or couldn't do as well to outside people. 255 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:42,920 So the stuff that we delegated were things like answering the phones. 256 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:48,920 Why hire 30 people to answer your phones when you can hire a service that will do it professionally for you? 257 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:51,920 You need licensed people, they'll do it. You want it 24 hours? 258 00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:54,920 They'll hire people in different parts of the world to answer your phones. 259 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:58,920 So you have to decide what you need to take. 260 00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:00,920 What is the best thing that you know how to do? 261 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:04,920 What do you hit but act? And what do you just not want to deal with? 262 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:06,920 Do I want to sit there answering phones? No. 263 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:09,920 Do I want to make sure that do I want to sell my policy? Yes, I do. 264 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:11,920 Do I want to market? Yes, I do. 265 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:16,920 Do I want to deal with customer issues that are large scale problems if they arise? Yes. 266 00:10:16,920 --> 00:10:22,920 But answering phones, mailing out the policies, receiving the money, depositing it in the bank. 267 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:30,920 No, I'm not doing that. And so we delegated to great outsource partners at the beginning that helped us grow. 268 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:32,920 And so that was the first type of delegation. 269 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:37,920 But once you're in the office, you have to make sure that you don't hold on. 270 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:40,920 What is that 30-spectacle hold on? Hold on loosely. 271 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:42,920 But don't let go. Don't let go. 272 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:45,920 But you do have to have other people doing the work. 273 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:49,920 And so what you want to do is you want them to do the work. 274 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:54,920 You do not want to micro-manage because then you're just doing the work yourself. That's silly. 275 00:10:54,920 --> 00:10:56,920 But you also want to audit their work. 276 00:10:56,920 --> 00:11:00,920 I'm not saying that you should let people do something in your business and never look at it. 277 00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:07,920 Even if they're super smart people, it has to be something that goes for your values and your mission in the company. 278 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:11,920 So you need to audit the work they're doing, but you don't have to do the work they're doing. 279 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:21,920 So I guess my advice is if you can outsource, outsource, do that when you have employees in the office or now we're hybrid or remote or what have you. 280 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:31,920 But in your organization, determine what tasks they're best at, what they're better than you at, and keep those things that you're better at. 281 00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:37,920 And make sure that you oversee them, but that you don't get into the weeds because you're wasting your time and you're frustrating people. 282 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:42,920 I don't need a boss or a partner telling me, this is how you have to write that sentence. 283 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:46,920 Because as long as there's those spelling errors, you write the sentence the way you want. 284 00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:48,920 You format the letter the way you want. 285 00:11:48,920 --> 00:11:54,920 You handle it the way you want as long as it gets done into the quality levels that we've set. 286 00:11:54,920 --> 00:11:58,920 So I think that's what I would say to most people in the business world. 287 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:09,920 I love it. I think managing teams and delegation, you know, is key to be able to let people do things the way they do it. 288 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:12,920 And I always say keeping them on the yellow brick road. 289 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:16,920 So give them the autonomy to do their job, the best of their ability. 290 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:28,920 And if there's things in ways that it could do better or they're not doing, sharing that with them and getting and really collaborating with people to service your customers. 291 00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:33,920 The way that's your brand and is well received in the industry. 292 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:43,920 So kind of zoning in a little bit deeper, pulling that on you back a little bit more in the world with everybody who wants everything in an hour or yesterday. 293 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:49,920 And people are overloaded with technology and really cognitive overload. 294 00:12:49,920 --> 00:13:02,920 How do you, you know, maybe up and coming executives, how do you help them manage large teams of people and complex problems where it's high stress. 295 00:13:02,920 --> 00:13:12,920 And so you have people that are delegating tasks and you're still overwhelmed with all of the things that are coming at you. 296 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:21,920 So how do you manage, I guess the better question is how do you manage large complex companies and problems that you can delegate some of it. 297 00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:27,920 But at some point, a lot of times I hear from leaders that they're constantly being bombarded. 298 00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:31,920 They delegate one thing and 12 more things happen and they delegate something else. 299 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:34,920 And they're just constantly being pulled all day every day. 300 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:45,920 So there are lists of things to do, you know, five things today, 10 things tomorrow. How do you manage that in high performing teams? 301 00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:49,920 Well, the first thing I'm going to tell you is that there really is no absolutely easy solution. 302 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:52,920 People are going to be overwhelmed in today's day and age. 303 00:13:52,920 --> 00:13:57,920 People want it fast. They need it now. They're not willing to be patient for the most part. 304 00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:07,920 And so you have to adapt to that. You can train your customers in a way to say, listen, you wouldn't want to order a pasta dish, I'll say because I'm Italian. 305 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:11,920 You wouldn't want to order a pasta dish and it comes out 30 seconds after you ordered it. 306 00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:16,920 You'd be very suspicious of a gift that came out of the kitchen in 30 seconds, right? 307 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:21,920 So sometimes speed isn't always what the customer really wants, what they want is quality. 308 00:14:21,920 --> 00:14:27,920 You know, they don't want to wait 30 days for a claim to be processed or they don't want to wait at 45 minutes for the phone to be answered. 309 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:31,920 But when you do pick it up, they want to make sure that you answer the question correctly. 310 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:41,920 So I don't want to oversell the speed item. I think we need to train people that especially customers that if you want something good and something done right, it's going to take time. 311 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:49,920 Whether that's food or whether that's insurance, if I come out and do your claim and a day later, the claim is closed, you're going to think I didn't look at everything. 312 00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:59,920 So I need to make sure that people spend time on claims or policies or marketing to make sure that you have exactly the highest level of quality before you put it out into the world. 313 00:14:59,920 --> 00:15:02,920 But I really think you said that. 314 00:15:02,920 --> 00:15:08,920 Yeah, no, I really feel like some people want everything so fast and something they got to put back and say no. 315 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:16,920 I don't want it so fast. You want it done right. If I can do it right and quicker, you know, what is it? There's there's there's there's you want something cheap. 316 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:28,920 You want something fast and you want something high quality, but you only get to pick two out of those three right. There's a triangle. You can't have all three. You can pick, you know, cheap and fast. You could pick, you know, good and fat. You know, but you can't pick all three. 317 00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:34,920 And so what we're trying to offer is the best of all world, but there's going to be some time delay in that there always will be. 318 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:46,920 And so you asked about managing teams and I guess my first thought is you can't cure normal. It's normal to be overwhelmed. It's normal to not to always have lots to do and you're not going to get away from that. 319 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:51,920 If you think there's a product that will make this easy, you do not need to be in business. 320 00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:59,920 Everybody who's in business no matter what level you're at, you already know that it's going to take a lot of hard work and it's going to be a lot of headaches. 321 00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:07,920 And you're going to keep ad vill and motrin and tile and all in business, my friend. Right. You know, welcome to adulthood. Hope you like ad vill. 322 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:15,920 So that's how it is. So what I would say is, yes, look for products and computerized items that will help you stay on task. 323 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:24,920 Don't waste your time with stupid meetings, but have a meeting when necessary to go over to make sure that everybody is doing what they have to do. 324 00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:34,920 And divide tasks up appropriately once you divide it up the task appropriately though, if you're graded social media, I give you the social media part when we launch this company. 325 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:37,920 We just did we launched probation home insurance exchange. 326 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:42,920 That's not if it's been years since we launched another company the last time we launched Edison. 327 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:50,920 After we bought it and relaunched it was 2010. So we're just, you know, it's been a long time since we had launched something that large. 328 00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:56,920 And there were a ton of moving parts were regulated industry. And though it's even harder to do that. 329 00:16:56,920 --> 00:17:04,920 We can't just start selling policies. We have to have state approval and regulatory approval and approved forms and we have to run actuary numbers. 330 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:14,920 And so what we did is we utilized once a week, not every single day, everybody had a certain task and at the end of the week we went through the list. 331 00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:22,920 We had a project manager who asked everybody what they did, what needed to be done next and what was stopping them from going forward. 332 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:30,920 So in one instance in order for us to get our middle of chef to credit cards and certain things like that and payments for our bank. 333 00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:40,920 We had to give them our insurance number or an AIC which is kind of a it's the number of your insurance company with the network association of insurance commissioners. 334 00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:49,920 But we were still waiting on that because we had to get our actual certificate of authority from the state to request that to give it to the banks and the credit card companies. 335 00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:59,920 So we understood what we needed first to go next and we heard that because every week we didn't keep asking why don't we have this we knew that we needed a to have the to have see. 336 00:17:59,920 --> 00:18:11,920 So you've got to make sure that you have either a product or a way of tracking items and then you delegate we talked about delegating those small tasks to the individuals that have to do it and then follow up. 337 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:24,920 Don't have wasteful meetings if you don't have any new information but set a regular time and make sure that people have that info and find out what they need next what's on that shopping list next in order to get to the end result. 338 00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:32,920 But if people think there's some easy solution that hey I managed huge projects and I don't you know I'm waking up at three in the morning thinking I forgot something. 339 00:18:32,920 --> 00:18:46,920 That's the way it isn't when I retire and I've got my fly fishing rod and plan the piano in the afternoons then I'll worry about it but right now I'm knee deep in it and you know in the heat of battle you just going to have to put up with the bullets flying over your head. 340 00:18:46,920 --> 00:19:01,920 I absolutely agree I was just chuckling when you were saying that you know people I've gotten emails from people will send me an email it says 10 o'clock in the morning and five minutes later they're like did you read my email I'm like no I didn't read your email and I. 341 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:13,920 I laugh because this is the world we were in and so I use a lot of really like you mentioned do we need to have a meeting are we just meeting to meet do we need to waste that hour so really. 342 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:28,920 Laying out your day at the beginning of the day and and we've become you know a culture where every email needs to be responded to right away the problem if you're in response mode all day you're not moving your business forward so. 343 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:57,920 You know the tool that I use is turning my email off and really focusing on what are the things I need to get done oh there's seven meetings on my calendar for which I'm not needed at because I can delegate to the people on that call three of which I am which frees up four hours so I think you you nailed it is it is a lot of hitting the ground running and and but really thinking where you need to be and if you don't need to be somewhere don't show up right. 344 00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:26,920 I agree and I'll decline meetings or I'll click on maybe you know and they'll say you're not I'm not going to show up and I'm like look you don't need me I'm chief legal officer of the company and you're going to be going over individual files and listen to something really big you don't need me and sometimes I intimidate you know I'm funny I don't take myself that seriously but you know sometimes when people are the chief legal officers in this meeting the whole meeting changes I don't want that I want you to tell me what you need and get. 345 00:20:26,920 --> 00:20:55,920 What you need and we'll try to help you get it done so I don't need to be in a meeting it will actually sometimes run smoother you know my business partner cland he's he serves as the president of the company kind of runs the day to day operations underwriting sales marketing and if he walks into the room even though he is the nicest teddy bear sweet guy hysterical but he walks into a room and you know the some of the employees you don't know him as well get very intimidated and it cuts down the conversation. 346 00:20:55,920 --> 00:21:24,920 So if you don't need to be there don't but you like you said plan your day out in the morning or the day before figure out where you have to be because you've actually got it not just be responding there's actual work to do to push the business forward what our next plan how are we getting to the next level how are we serving our customers even better and if all you're doing is responding to emergencies you're not going to get to that level and I think too many entrepreneurs business owners like you said they try to respond too quickly you know what's the best way to do is to get it done. 347 00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:42,920 So I'm going to be researching this and I'll get back to you as soon as my research complete is complete that's it now they know you got it right as not like which even worse they email you and then if they're in the office they walk into your office to ask you if you got the email. 348 00:21:42,920 --> 00:22:01,920 What isn't the whole purpose of emails you don't walk in my office and ask me if I got it no do you want to get my office and I work hybrid I'm three days in the office two days remote or in meetings and so when I'm in the office sure people want to walk in but don't send any email just walk in and say hey what do you think about the Jones deal and we'll talk about it you know. 349 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:29,920 It's funny I know I have all these things that keep popping in my head you can't make this stuff up and I think you know I have a lot of friends there entrepreneurs and the ones that have been very successful is they they lead themselves and they like you mentioned in the beginning they delegate the things they don't need to do like you know building or whatever it is that they're not good at and they really know themselves and what they're good at and what they're not good at and they delegate out. 350 00:22:29,920 --> 00:22:47,920 And they build teams of people around them where they're weak and I think you talked a little bit about letting your people lead and I think that is something that you know a lot of is hard for a lot of leaders that I've heard in my time as a leader. 351 00:22:47,920 --> 00:23:16,920 Oh I can't let you know a junior person sit in on senior meeting because I'm the senior person and so you know talking a little bit about that you know you're the senior the chief legal officer you have people below you and how do you build trust in your people below you to empower them to make decisions where they don't have to go back and say okay Stacy here these 20 things are you okay with this and this and this and this and this and this and how do you empower your people to take action. 352 00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:36,920 On things well first of all you have to make sure you don't you're not someone who fire hoses their idea that I don't know if you've heard that term we use that in our office you coming with a great idea and someone just just turns on the water and fire hoses you and says now that I give terrible they'll never work and then you're not going to bring up an idea later. 353 00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:55,920 So it all company we don't do that and if we see that we're doing it we take a step back and say wait I apologize I might have been fire hosing you I don't mean to let's discuss your idea because sometimes ideas not every idea is great right there are seas of greatness and almost every idea and it's important that we hear you out because 354 00:23:55,920 --> 00:24:14,920 at one point you will come up or someone will come up with an idea junior person that will change your company it's happened in our company it happened it and law firms where I've worked at where they said we should go into a certain area of law and we had never thought about it we researched it and it became something that started generating at that time 30% of our law firm revenue. 355 00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:32,920 So my my real thought process is to make sure that I am open minded to people number two I also want to make sure that I support them it's been said that your success is really related to how often and how well you give away the credit. 356 00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:56,920 So if I take credit and I'm stcg and I'm you know no it's not going to work I give my junior people and people on my same quote level my partners credit I will say that it was this person's idea even if it was 50 50 it was the person's idea they came up with that I give them a lot of credit because not only do they grow in their own eyes like wow you know he's giving me credit. 357 00:24:56,920 --> 00:25:25,920 It also their abilities and their responsibilities and the confidence they have the confidence that the rest of the board or the other leaders have in that individual grows because they're like wow you really here she really came up with that idea and so you push your own people so you got to support them and support them publicly so in that team's meeting in that zoom meeting in that physical meeting in the office you have to say yeah Jane or Joe they came up with this idea I was really impressed and you know wow Jo and Jane came up with that idea. 358 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:53,920 That's terrific you want to make sure that you give away credit the people who all the credit you know those people they're the ego centric there I don't like those people I don't want to work with those people it doesn't mean you can't be proud of yourself right you graduate or medical school you should be super proud of yourself you started business that gets to a billion dollars I'm proud of myself and everybody that help does get there but to walk in and think that I'm the guy who did it all that silly it's kind of productive and it's not true. 359 00:25:53,920 --> 00:26:22,920 So you let people know that could be again with that kind of of of assistance and backup and props as we say it can also be with bonuses we give out bonuses again insurance company so you know we're always careful about how we spend our money but if people do a good job you damn light there entitled to some bonus okay and it's got to be reasonable but you want people to know that we appreciate what you've done and we're also going to compensate you for it and that goes a long long way into the day. 360 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:51,920 Yeah I just heard something recently with a friend of mine who is a executive at a major hospital here and they were talking about finding the lower you know the janitorial team and and lower non executive people to come up with solution to their biggest problems so some of the lowest tiered people in organizations are solving some of the largest problems for these mega businesses and the most important thing is the most important thing is to have a better job is to do that. 361 00:26:51,920 --> 00:27:20,920 And so I think you nailed it is really getting you know there's seeds of greatness I love that in every idea whether that's today or tomorrow it's up to the the leaders to make that decision but I think you know breaking making and creating an environment where no matter what your title is your empowered to share it and creating a culture like that will really drive businesses forward because a lot of times the the higher you get an organization is the farm. 362 00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:49,920 Remove you are out of the actual business and I think you touched on it a little bit at the beginning where you were bottom right so you've seen all all layers all things you can you instantly have that commonality with your staff hey yeah back in the day I was doing this I was taking out the trash when I was you know the first 10 employees at our company and so I think that that gives you more credibility with your people and because sometimes I think executive. 363 00:27:49,920 --> 00:28:18,920 I think executives are you know like people see them as super heroes right I'm never going to be an executive I'm never like that guy or that girl I don't have those skillsets but I think you hit on it and touched on it a little bit at the beginning it takes time and to to to learn these layers I don't know if you have any other thoughts on that you know I do one of the one of the items that you started hinting at which I really want to point out to business leaders is to remember that it's not just that you want to do the right thing and you want to do that. 364 00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:47,920 You want to get the right thing and you want to get people's opinion because you want to you know pump them up and you want to get their ideas yes you do but they're also lower to the closer to the problem that you are so I also have an associate in risk management and we talk about risk centers and so you have the guy at the top saying well this is what dangerous in that area this is what we should be looking for no you have the guy or the gal that's actually doing the stamping on the you know on the press say look we could this is dangerous and here's how to make it safer you know I'm the executive I've never 365 00:28:47,920 --> 00:29:16,920 pressed metal but you go down to the factory workers and they say this is what we need they are in the line stop asking the generals what they need ask the private athlete infantry men or woman what they need in order to defend themselves right it's the same thing it's not just that that we we know a lot and we do a lot of knowledge from our level and I've been through there but you know what it's changed in 20 years it's changed in 30 years and so I need to know what's going on what are they seeing what are coming up and what are they doing? 366 00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:45,920 and you know what the most kind of me saying well I would have said this two years ago but I didn't want to say anything no you are in the front of the option you are there how is what's going on I mean take a look I always say I don't want to have the Nova moment the Chevy Nova they went to go sell it in Latin America and they have anybody who spoke Spanish are in their marketing team they would have realized that Nova means Nova it means don't go means doesn't go they were trying to sell the Chevy doesn't go 367 00:29:45,920 --> 00:30:14,920 the Chevy doesn't go in in a car chair that that's the dumbest thing I and they're you know have somebody who speak Spanish on there I want to speak Spanish my wife's Hispanic and so you know have someone who understands that right otherwise you you just try to sell something that can't be sold it's I don't want that Nova moment I want to make sure that I get the people who are quote at that level in the trenches because I was there but didn't need the information so I can solve the problem if you do that you're going to be there. 368 00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:18,920 You're going to be successful 99% of the time. 369 00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:38,920 Absolutely I love it I love your energy Stacy I love how passionate you are and just on this area of delegation so want to just kind of enclosing one last question any kind of final thoughts and delegating and leadership that you want to share with our executive listeners. 370 00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:59,920 Number one I would say try not to be a control freak I think those of us that are business owners and entrepreneurs and those of us who are also parents right we want to control everything and sometimes right you gotta let your kid pick what they want to eat listen they don't like the spinach don't eat spinach maybe they like something maybe they're like corn maybe like broccoli maybe like carrots you don't force me to eat spinach. 371 00:30:59,920 --> 00:31:19,920 It's the same thing at work we don't have to force everything every square peg into a round fuller vice versa we have to let we have to let people figure out what works best for them some people like to work on an apple computer some people like to work on a windows computer we have both in our office because virtually all of our system they're in the clouds so it doesn't matter. 372 00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:48,920 The point is why am I gonna force everybody to use a system they're not that they're not into I love apple products but I don't understand apple computers like apple laugh if I don't I don't understand the language how it works I I get the wrong thing I keep getting definitions coming up I don't understand it I like windows some people hate windows and they like why do you have to force people into one thing figure out how they best work and let them do it that way you've got a step back it's okay my life my work I don't understand. 373 00:31:48,920 --> 00:32:14,920 My work I'm not going to control everything because what I want to control really is the outcome not the input I want to control the fact that we're going to make money serve our clients well serve the customers well serve my employees well serve my agents well and serve the community at large well but I don't need to tell them exactly how that has to get done I have the higher smart people and let them do the job. 374 00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:32,920 And so that's the last thing I would say to entrepreneurs business owners and people out there that are on the way to becoming business owners are executives it's it's in everybody they've just got to keep doing that and you know follow some of our advice follow the advice to hear on your podcast because there's always a lot of good information coming out on the weeks. 375 00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:56,920 Yes thank you for that Stacy and I know one of the things I've always subscribed to and I love hearing what you just mentioned is find your gift and give it away and I think you're doing a tremendous job sharing your gift and your energy with the world and it absolutely shows in your business and so I just want to thank you thank you your busy man I want to thank you for being here today on the executive connect podcast. 376 00:32:56,920 --> 00:33:01,920 Thank you so much for having me and I'm a huge fan is terrific much appreciate. 377 00:33:02,920 --> 00:33:16,920 You've been listening to the executive connect podcast if you have questions or ideas on how to bring leadership to your next level email us at executive connect podcast at gmail.com 378 00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:21,920 And don't forget to subscribe so you can catch every new episode until next time. 379 00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:26,920 [Music]