To jumpstart US job market, turn workers into owners / The Christian Science Monitor – CSMonitor.com
Success
A New Paradigm for Education
Reining in College Costs – BusinessWeek
In the “learning” paradigm, the teacher is not the expert provider of knowledge, but rather a guide who first specifies what students are expected to learn and then lays out pathways they can follow to meet the learning goals. The teacher becomes a supporter, a collaborator, and a coach for students as they learn to evaluate and gather information, test ideas, and explore their application to different issues and problems. Students begin to learn how to develop and pose their own questions and to explore alternative ways of finding and framing answers. So instead of working only to master the subject matter of a course, students are developing the skills to learn on their own. They no longer wait to be taught—they come to realize that, if they are to succeed, they must take a good deal of responsibility for their own learning.
Read this article written by Michael Bassis, President of Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah. We need to rethink corporate training methods if you agree with Mr. Bassis’ paradigm shift assessment.
The Ant Tribe
I’m of the opinion the global economic recession will be long and nasty. Read this article if you think the job market in the US is bad. A few years back I posed the following question to an unemployed friend,
“What are you going to do if what you’re looking for doesn’t exist anymore?”
Survival Strategies – A is For Attitude
Lou Gehrig’s famous speech was reproduced in yesterday’s local newspaper. It was the first time I read the entire speech. This speech was an awesome speech. Gehrig’s attitude in the face of certain death remains impressive 70 years later.
Whatever your struggle, try to maintain a positive attitude.
“For the past two weeks, you’ve been reading about a bad break. Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.
I have been in ballparks for 17 years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.
When you look around, wouldn’t you consider it a privilege to associate yourself with such fine-looking men as are standing in uniform in the ballpark today? Sure, I’m lucky. Who wouldn’t consider it an honor to have (Yankee owner) Jacob Ruppert? Also, the builder of baseball’s greatest empire, Ed Barrow. To have spent six years with such a grand little fellow as (Yankee manager) Miller Huggins? To have spent the next nine years with that smart student of psychology, the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy? Who wouldn’t feel honored to room with such a grand guy as Bill Dickey?
When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift, that’s something. When the groundskeepers and office staff and writers and old-timers and players and concessionaires all remember you with trophies, that’s something.
When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles against her own daughter, that’s something. When you have a father and mother who work all their lives so that you can have an education and build your body, it’s a blessing. When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed, that’s the finest I know.
So I close in saying that I might have had a bad break, but I have an awful lot to live for. Thank you.”
Compiled by biographer and author Jonathan Eig.
Remote Underwriting Jobs – Do Your Homework
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.
Read a Book a Week – Get (almost) Free Books
What do you do with books after they have been read?
- Build a library
- Clutter the house or apartment
- Rent a storage unit
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.
Survival Strategies – Time to Get Personal
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.
Remote Underwriting – Better Baked Thoughts
“Oooh, that’s scary.”
Owner of Siam Smile, a Thai restaurant in downtown Edmond, OK as I was liberally sprinkling red hot chilies over my Pad Thai.
While enjoying a plate of Pad Thai at a local restaurant it dawned on me that the debate about remote underwriting has become nothing more than an academic tussle. On one side of the debate, there are insurance companies that totally embrace remote underwriting. On the other side there are companies with endless reasons who do not care for the concept of remote underwriting. But in the end, the debate is purely academic at this time. I got a phone call the other week that convinced me of this.
A very large multi-national company placed a recruiting call to me and I had a very nice conversation with the head of their HR. This particular company has over 100 underwriters and over 40 are remote. This got me thinking about other companies who have embraced remote underwriters. These firms are all big names with big budgets, good technology, and a vision for the future.
The future is here and we all better get used to it. Scary or not.
Lifelong Learning
I was thinking the other day about reading a book a week and the value of lifelong learning. Never make the mistake that learning stops when school stops. Be a lifelong learner. Understand that stuff changes all the time and there is always more to learn on your path to success. Try the following strategy:
Teach yourself what they don’t teach you in school. Sounds simple doesn’t it? Well, it’s not really that simple. Lifelong learning is not simple because school may not teach you a lot of useful information for your chosen line of work. If you’re a recent entry to the world of work, you probably figured that out already. The problem is not just what doesn’t get taught. It’s deciding what to teach yourself to become the best you can be on your chosen path.
There are a lot of people who go through their lives trying to figure out why they’re here and what they’re here to do. I personally know some boomers who are still trying to figure what they want to be when they grow up. Imagine yourself at 60 trying to figure out what you want to be when you grow up! Don’t let this happen to you. Take one simple action. Make a decision.
The decision you make may not be the “right” decision but at least you have made a decision. Indecisiveness will doom even the most well intentioned. Make up your mind. What you settle upon may not be the grand purpose for your existence but at least it’s a start. And if whatever you choose turns out to be not what you expected or wanted, then try something else. As people age we limit ourselves to what is possible. Try something you’ve never done before. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll surprise yourself and begin the journey that is yours alone.
It helps to have an uncommon curiosity about everything to be a good underwriter. Arguably this is true across many different professions. You have to want to learn before you truly learn. I spent some time this past week adding more links to my sidebar. I wanted a kind of underwriting friendly mini-portal. Click through and continue your lifelong learning. If you have any suggestions for a good website, email me or comment and I’ll add a link.
Discipline
“Nothing of importance is ever achieved without discipline. I feel myself sometimes not wholly in sympathy with some modern educational theorists, because I think that they underestimate the part that discipline plays. But the discipline you have in your life should be one determined by your own desires and your own needs, not put upon you by society or authority.”
Bertrand Russell
I have often said that nothing is achievable without discipline. I got this message from my father repeatedly. I really got the message one day at a clan gathering. It was the summer before I got married and the family got together in Marlboro, MA. We got a couple of rooms at a local hotel and had a great time exploring Boston.
One of the dinner stops was a fine local restaurant in Marlboro. As the family settled in the waiting area, we got drinks and waited for our table. I shared a small table for two with my Dad. He was drinking a vodka martini and I had a glass of red wine. As the conversation progressed, I asked a simple question:
“What is the key to success?”
Dad sort of stared off into space like he did often and suddenly, with a fury that surprised me banged his fist onto the tiny table. I had to grab my wine glass to stop it from falling over. Customers fifteen feet away stopped their conversation to see what was wrong. I was stunned and couldn’t say a word.
“Discipline.”
That’s all he said in response to my question. And he went back to his vodka as if nothing had happened.
As I reflect upon what success is and how success is achieved, it becomes abundantly clear that discipline is paramount.
Your life is to be what you want it to be if you have the discipline to do whatever is necessary to achieve your desired outcome. Be less concerned about what it is you feel you should be doing and more concerned about becoming more of who you are. I am oftentimes asked what my wife and I have done in raising our children, both of whom are doing well in their chosen pursuits. My answer has always been simple. I did whatever I could to help them become more of who they already are. We continue to help them be more of who they already are. Surprisingly simple, eh? Check out the following quote:
“All people are called to be someone and to do things – it is part and parcel of human existence. Discovering and becoming who we are supposed to be, and what we are meant to do in the world is a life-long process of growth and change. This process involves certain commitments and these become revealed to us along the way. Informal educators can play a special part in encouraging these processes. Their role is to work so that people may shape and follow their calling.”
Reproduced from the encyclopedia of informal education [www.infed.org]
So where were we? Ah yes, how to read a book a week…
lifeunderwriter.net 
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