We partner with others to barter tasks and resources as well as to synergistically enlarge our vision. We let them do what they enjoy and are good at so that we can do what we enjoy and are good at. The only trick is to find people who love to do things that we do not enjoy and partner with them to do it.
Dr. B. Curtis Hamm received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and is Professor Emeritus of the Spears School of Business and Consultant to the Oklahoma State University Foundation.
You have to get people to make good decisions. Wherever you are in life, good or bad, it’s because of the choices you make. Choose to succeed rather than fail. Choose to work hard rather than to loaf your way through it. We had a plan, a vision and we wouldn’t compromise our core values.
Lou Holtz at his induction ceremony into the College Football Hall of Fame
I got the following from an email sent by Workforce Recruiting:
NORTH AMERICAN RETAINED SEARCH REVENUE GROWTH VS. YEAR EARLIER
(Percentage change)
| Q1 ’08 |
Q2 ’08 |
Q3 ’08 |
Q4 ’08 |
Q1 ’09 |
||
| Korn/Ferry Intl. | 9.6% | 9.1% | -2.2% | -29.5% | -42.8% | |
| Heidrick & Struggles Intl. | -7.3 | -1.4 | -0.2 | -14.7 | -40.0 | |
| Total | 1.9 | 4.1 | -1.3 | -23.1 | -41.7 | |
|
||||||
If you are looking for work it is critical to do your homework about a prospective employer. There are companies out there in trouble. For example, check out this excerpt from a recent SEC 8K filing. To be clear, this filing is not from an insurance company and is used here solely for illustrative and educational purposes. The company who filed this report is real. Would you take a job with this company? Do your homework.
Item 8.01. Other Events.
Company Actions Regarding Liquidity Position
The Company is, and expects to be, in default under a number of its financial obligations to its lenders and venture partners, including under certain loan agreements and other funding obligation agreements, and has commenced discussions to restructure these obligations and potential related claims. The Company has sought, and continues to seek, waivers with respect to such defaults, and is seeking to reach negotiated settlements with its various creditors in order to preserve its liquidity and enable it to continue operating. The Company believes that it will be in the best interests of all creditors to grant such waivers or reach such negotiated settlements with the Company and has entered and is seeking to enter into standstill agreements with a number of its creditors similar to the Standstill Agreements described in Item 1.01 of this Current Report on Form 8-K. However, there can be no assurance that such waivers will be received or such settlements will be reached, and, depending on the materiality, such discussions and agreements may or may not be separately disclosed in the future. If the defaults are not cured within applicable cure periods, if any, and if waivers or other relief are not obtained, the defaults can cause acceleration of certain of the Company’s financial obligations, which the Company may not be in a position to satisfy. The Company is also engaged in discussions with various venture partners and third parties regarding the sale of certain assets with the purpose of increasing liquidity and reducing obligations to enable the Company to continue operations. There can be no assurance that any of these discussions will result in the consummation of any transactions, and, depending on the materiality, such transactions may or may not be separately disclosed in the future.
What do you do with books after they have been read?
Like most avid readers I like to keep a lot of my books. So I’m into bullet points 1 & 2. But to avoid bullet point 3 you need a plan. My plan is to give most of my books away. I’ve created a sidebar link that will take you to a list of available books on Bookins. The only cost to you will be S&H charges. Check it out.
The insurance industry has shed 8,140 jobs since November 1, 2008. This is according to Bloomberg News and Challenger,
Gray & Christmas, the Chicago-based outplacement firm. I intend to continue writing posts on job search sites and articles of interest for underwriters who may be searching for their next opportunity. If you are searching out of necessity feel free to contact me and I’ll do what I can to help.
And with this post, I’ve started another intermittent series titled Survival Strategies. I hope you find this useful and best of luck in finding what you’re looking for.
I came up short in my 2008 efforts to read a book a week. Every year I have the same goal – read a book a week. Hitting or exceeding that number is not the point. The point of this simple exercise in goal setting is establishing motivation to read. The beauty is in the simplicity. One. You know when you are on track. You know when you are off the pace.
Last year I read or listened to 40 books. I got busy with other stuff and my reading got less time. But the end of 2008 marked the completion of five years of practicing this simple success strategy. Over that time period, I have read 256 books or 0.9846 books per week. So while I missed my goal in the short term, over the longer term I am reading about one book a week.
Here are some strategies I plan on using in 2009 to raise my average to 1.0:
Tune in next year, same place. I’ll report on my 6 year average which, hopefully, will be >1.0.
One of my less than normal habits consists not only of the number of books I read, but also the manner in which I read them. At any given time, I could be reading between 8-10 books, each at a different stage of completion. I rarely read just one book at a time. So to sooth my latest obsession I’ve started reading Manias, Panics, and Crashes by Charles Kindelberger. I expect the same type of lessons learned from reading Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay. Remember that the good times never last as long as you would wish and when times are bad things do eventually get better.
Different perhaps, but better.
I changed the theme of my blog and hope you like it. The new appearance is clean and easier to read than the last theme. Of course, I reserve the right to revert.
The time usually spent on reading and writing this past month was completely devoured by reading and staying current on the global financial meltdown. It is at precisely times like this when we try to figure out what’s happening and what it means to each of us. After absorbing a riduculous amount of information I came to the realization that this was becoming an obsession. As events continue to unfold I’m certain my obsession will only get worse.
OK. What if I manage a life underwriting division for an insurance company? I thought about the possibilities and decided to make some predictions. If I’m wrong, who cares? But if I’m right, my blog traffic will go through the roof.
In no particular order this is what I think could happen.
Peter Drucker once said there is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all. There will be new and better models for the underwriting function that at present do not exist. If you’re excited about remote underwriting, the future gets even better with talent spread around the world, web meetings, office-less office workers, and more.
I’ve just finished reading the best book on the prevention and management of Type 2 diabetes. The recommendations in Beating Diabetes are based on evidence from a randomized controlled clinical study called the Diabetes Prevention Program.. This book needs to be in your underwriting library and would make an excellent text for training purposes. But for those of you who may not have the time to find and read the entire book, I’ll summarize the key points:
The book focuses on weight loss strategies and lifestyle modification. Get it, read it, live it.
lifeunderwriter.net 
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