Get Your Ship TogetherWhat is your ship? What is my ship?

Ship could be defined by any challenge that comes in and out of your life. What is holding you back from being great? What is holding you back from being successful? Stop waiting for your troubles to disappear. Procrastinating is never productive; it wastes time and energy that you could be using elsewhere.

There’s no perfect definition of ‘ship’. Your ship and my ship could mean two opposite things, but the end result should be the same. Clarity. Positivity. Self-growth.

The Alliance wants you to think about what in your life you can do better at. Change your approach.

Here are a few steps you can take to help ‘Get Your Ship Together’:

  • Stop wasting time doing unnecessary activities. Think about the 4 Quadrants Andy Albright is has discussed on The Wednesday Call. What is important? What is NOT important? What can wait and what has to be done now!
  • Get a plan, make a checklist and stick to it. Don’t get sidetracked!
  • Build your confidence. Jot down 10 strengths you have now and how you can use them to your advantage.

By understanding what in life you need to change, it opens the doors to many opportunities. Figure it out! Your future is out there!

Jason Carey wants me to succeed. Tawny Carey wants me to succeed. Everyone I meet in the Alliance would like to see me succeed. Compare that to where I have worked. My previous success was measured by the number of hours I cut from an employee’s schedule, possibly turning them into part time workers where they would  lose their benefits.

I have been a supervisor and operation manager in the transportation industry since 1985. I was injured in 2007. My doctor wouldn’t even let me out of his office. He told me to sit in the wheel chair as he was admitting me into the hospital for emergency back surgery. He told me one wrong move and I could become paralyzed.

During recovery I had a lot of time to think. I realized I had given my back, my time, my energy and my family time to others to make their dreams come true. They  bought their children wonderful Christmases, super birthday parties, great family vacations and just quality time with their family. Yet none of them came to visit me in the hospital to say “Thanks for blowing out your back to help build my mansion on Folsom Lake”, or “Thanks for that awesome hunting trip with my son in Canada.”

In that time lying on my back in the hospital, rehabbing and many painful nights I knew I needed to make a change. I thought about becoming a teacher but that was not going to free me and my family. I tried an MLM but who really wants to sell soap? I tried a financial services business, but it just didn’t seem to work. I tried an employee benefits business, but the training was minimal and the leaders would rather harp than inspire.

A friend of mine who was in the insurance industry said he had heard a lot about National Agents Alliance. I contacted an agent near me, and saw the NAA website. I don’t know if National Agents Alliance is the biggest out there, but I do know it is involved with us newbies. The training is amazing and the inspiration is out of this world.  Thank you Jason, Tawny and NAA for this opportunity!  I’m so glad I started!

Gene Johnson, Jr.

If you are currently in a leadership position or are seeking a leadership position, it’s important to assess your leadership skills as they stand and determine what your areas of improvement are. Because all people are different, there is an array of leadership styles and methods, many effective for different people in different environments.

At National Agents Alliance, we encourage all corporate employees and agents to develop strong leadership skills as they grow in their roles and beyond. From corporate events and agent training to challenges at work and improving rank on the agent level board, the NAA culture continues to push onward toward great success and great leadership.

There are a few generic rules of leadership that yield successful management for most people in most environments. While different leaders have different styles, these basic principles can be absorbed and applied for a variety of situations.

Leadership

A great leader should be engaging- A constant complaint of unhappy workers is that their leader or boss lacks personal concern for his/her workers’ well-being. Many workers feel that they don’t “have a voice” and are not respected for their thoughts, wants or needs. By adopting an engaging style of dealing with people you lead, you are creating a personable attitude that shows your genuine concern for the people you lead. Engaging with these people shows them that you care and that you hear their needs, making them value your ideas and your leadership more than they would otherwise. Getting to know the people you lead will help you delegate tasks appropriately and will make the operations process smoother.

A great leader should be encouraging- By encouraging the people you lead, you will keep them motivated to keep striving, working and succeeding in their work endeavors. Complimenting people on a job well-done and encouraging their ideas for the future will keep your followers aiming high. Without encouragement, people tend to get overworked and exhausted, often losing passion for their work. Reminding people that their work matters and that they are good at it will make them happier, thus encouraging them to keep working and moving forward.

A great leader should enforce the rules- While being engaging and encouraging are important aspects of being a successful and likeable leader, it is also important for leaders to be leaders, even if that means enforcing the rule every now and then. Because your job as a leader is to get things done and make sure everyone is pulling their weight, it’s vital for you to be respected and almost slightly feared. You don’t want people to be afraid to talk to you, but you do want the level of respect that makes them driven to meet deadlines out of fear that you will be disappointed or mad if they haven’t completed a task on time. Enforcing the rules will maintain the balance between an encouraging and engaging leader and the dictator leader – there will be a mutual respect because of the combination of traits.

By analyzing your leadership style and applying these ideas, you will create an environment where growth is encouraged and constant. You will create a leadership style that yields respect and success, and also an environment where tasks are done efficiently and correctly.

At National Agents Alliance, we work hard to make a difference in the lives of our clients, employees, agents and leaders. Through a variety of events and activities, we serve our clients, encourage our agents and strengthen our leaders. By encouraging and requiring an environment of learning and constant growth, we set high expectations for everyone within the National Agents Alliance family.

As we promote this growth and all work toward continual improvement, we consistently find that we are gaining through giving. At National Agents Alliance, our motto, “Have fun, make money, make a difference” stands true and remains the central component of everything we do.

As we continue to grow in numbers and in strength, we protect more and more American families from an assortment of financial stresses following the death of a loved one. Through guiding our clients to the perfect life insurance coverage and following through by providing it, we change the lives and futures of American families daily.

Gaining Through Giving

Gaining Through Giving

In addition to helping better the lives and futures of our clients and their families, we work to better the lives of our agents and corporate employees, as well. By hosting company training events, we give agents and employees access to leadership material such as motivating books, training and testimonies from top leaders, and the opportunity to associate with and learn from top leaders in the business and outside of the business, including our President and CEO Andy Albright and nationally renowned authors and motivational speakers.

By providing an all-around culture that promotes personal and professional growth, we allow agents and employees to gain as they give. As agents and employees dedicate themselves to working hard and becoming better leaders, they find that they are more successful and more motivated to keep aiming higher and higher. One of the things we like to say is that “the sky is the limit with NAA.” Anyone who works with us knows that the opportunities are endless – and we have the culture to prove it.

The National Agents Alliance culture is really more of a family. Agents, employees, leaders and their families are welcomed at company events, and people in the NAA family, of all levels, provide constant support and advice for one another. From success stories to honest expressions of struggles, the NAA family shares and supports its members through it all. From kind notes and flowers on a bad day to an understanding friend to talk to, the NAA family has it all.

We have found that this culture – this family, this environment of learning and growth – promotes more success and more meaning in life. By adding all of these personal elements into the insurance sales market, we are creating an innovative environment and are finding that we are continuing to gain through giving.

As we help protect more American families, we find that we are not only increasingly gaining financially, but also personally and as a company. Because we work hard to make a difference, seeing the effects of our hard work is motivating and rewarding, encouraging us to aim higher and higher as time goes on. As we encourage others within the NAA family, we find that we are rewarded in our leadership skills, our life experience and our friendships. As we continue to give and help others, we are continually gaining in more ways that just financial.

We have fun learning and growing with our NAA family, we make money by valuing our clients and working for the betterment of their lives, and we make a difference by helping American families and protecting their futures. Our motto is at the heart of everything we do, and staying true to our purpose is what grants us the continual gain we find through giving.

More Positive at WorkYour overall value at work is dependent on a few different factors: your work quality, your attitude and your work ethic. In order for the factors to all be present, it’s important for you to maintain a positive attitude in everything you do – both at work and in your personal life.

You cannot move forward and do positive things if you do not have a positive attitude. It’s as simple as that. Being positive about simple things can totally change your perspective – if it rains, be thankful for the relaxing weather, rather than cursing the sky for getting you wet as you run into the grocery store. Starting with simple thoughts like this can totally change your world and your potential for success.

We’ve got a few tips to help you develop a more positive mindset in the workplace:

  1. Measure yourself by your own standards- You are your own person and are capable of the things you believe you are capable of. Other people accomplish other things, based on what they believe they can do and how hard they push themselves. Comparing yourself to others for any reason other than gaining inspiration is useless. Don’t compare yourself to others and think of what a failure you are – find inspiration in what others do, but seek to reach your goals and your standards of success.
  2. Don’t worry about things you can’t control- Much like you can’t control the weather, there are many things you cannot control in the workplace. While you can control some things and you have a huge potential to make a difference with your determination and hard work, you have to accept the things that you cannot change. For instance, you cannot change the attitude of that annoying co-worker who grates on your nerves, so you have to accept that you may just not be close work friends. However, you do have control over your attitude, how to treat that person and how you react to the way he treats you. You can let his behavior roll off your back instead of letting him get under your skin. Find the things you can control and make positive, and accept and let go of the things you cannot.
  3. Remember that you are in charge of your happiness- If you are not happy, make changes in your life so that you will be happy. If you are unhappy because you want to be making more money, work harder and move to the top. You have control over how hard you work and how happy you are. If you are struggling with personal things that are making you unhappy, make the conscious decision to be happy. Don’t let yourself bask in your unhappiness. Work hard and move forward. No one ever said success was easy – but being happy certainly makes success easier to attain!

Remembering and applying these ideas to your life will help you develop a more positive attitude. With a more positive attitude, you will find that you are happier and more successful in your personal and business experiences. You will also become an inspiration to those around you, especially in the work place.

In order to become a successful leader, it’s vital to develop strong time management skills to stay organized and move forward. When business gets busy and you’re trying to lead, things can seem overwhelming and it can become easy to fall behind.

If you want to grow and lead, it’s important to be aware of how you spend your time, who you make commitments to and how often you keep those commitments, and how well you communicate with those you want to lead.

LeadershipFinding a balance between work and play is a hard task when you are working toward excellent leadership. You have to determine how much time should be designated to family, work and leisure, allowing yourself enough time to maintain and grow all relationships, as well as take care of your mind and body.

We constantly recommend agents and leaders to analyze their lives and time management skills as they stand, in order to help them change and move forward. We encourage this analysis through the four quadrants, a map that helps you categorize your tasks in order of importance.

Doing this shows you where you waste the most time and where you don’t spend enough time, making you aware of your time management faults. Being aware of these shortcomings will help you grow and become a better leader.

We have three tips to offer that will help you grow into the leader you want to be.

  1. Be organized- Don’t overbook your schedule. Make time for the things that are important in your life and have those things prioritized. Make time for family and business, even if that means cutting out an hour of TV each night. Don’t waste a lot of time on unimportant things – all leaders only get 24 hours each day. Your success depends on how you maximize those 24 hours.
  2. Be dependable- Don’t overcommit. Keep track of commitments you make and be sure only to make commitments you can keep. The quickest way to become an untrustworthy leader is to repetitively let people down. Keep track of your calendar and what you are realistically able to commit to – commit to nothing more. Building a reputation for keeping commitments and being genuine will gain more followers and the trust of your current followers. Ignoring this important aspect of leadership will stunt your growth.
  3. Be current- Don’t get behind. Sift through emails and voicemails, spending time on important messages and skimming through unimportant ones. Don’t let your inbox pile up with hundreds of messages before you check them – pay them their due respect in a timely fashion, addressing only the ones that need addressing. Staying on top of messages will alleviate stress in the long run. Ten minutes today is better than three hours at the end of the month.

Applying these simple methods to your lifestyle will help you propel forward in your path to leadership. Without getting past these obstacles, it’s difficult to become the successful leader you aim to be. Stay encouraged and motivated to become the person you want to be. It takes hard work to be successful, so don’t get lazy!

When you are in a sales position that depends on clients for income, it’s important to remember that your job is to serve clients. Many agents get caught up in daily calls, forgetting that their clients don’t owe them anything. At National Agents Alliance, we encourage and require our agents to put their clients first.

Although agents are dependent on clients for their income, it is up to agents to provide excellent customer service and top-notch products for their clients. Clients will respond based on the agent’s attitude – the level of respect and trustworthiness the agent establishes will be the determining factor of the sale.

Next time you go on a sales call, remember that you are doing your clients a favor by offering them life insurance coverage, but your clients are also doing you favors by buying their coverage from you. Remember that you have a sales position, and sales positions require excellent client service – National Agents Alliance only accepts the best, and we expect nothing less from our agents.

No Life Insurance

Here are some tips for practicing and maintaining excellent client service for better sales practice and success.

  1. Be sincere: If a client is expressing an issue or concern, be sincere in your care and your response. If the client is concerned about the coverage, be honest and thorough in your explanation. Remember that you are representing yourself as a professional, but also National Agents Alliance as a company and Andy Albright as a leader. If your client is displeased with the coverage they received or the way you handled something, have genuine care for listening to your client and repairing the situation. Take time to listen, then apologize and make things right. Sometimes clients just want to be heard and to see that you care – grant them that and then make efforts to amend the situation. This will show clients that we care about making a difference at National Agents Alliance.
  1. Be positive: Make a point to be positive with your clients. Whether you are thinking of a client or speaking with a client, make sure that your attitude is toward the situation is positive. If you have a difficult client, try to think positively about him or her, rather than allowing yourself to get frustrated or dread encounters with that client. Staying positive about things like this will not only make it easier for you to enjoy your work, but your clients will notice your kindness and willingness to help. Be positive and keep yourself moving forward. As you keep moving forward, National Agents Alliance will move forward – we are making a difference!
  1. Be the bigger person: Be sure you offer your best services and advice to your clients, making sure to remain positive and sincere. If a client is displeased with something – even if it comes across as a personal attack on your character – remain poised and positive. Hear your client out and don’t fight back. It’s natural to want to explain or defend yourself, but your client will view this as an invitation to fight. Listen to your client, express sincere disappointment that he or she feels that way, and ask what you can do to make things right. Often, clients only want to know that you care enough to make it right, and they typically ask for much less than we expect. Being positive and sincere will show your client that you are the bigger person and will rebuild trust and credibility. Remember, again, that you are not only representing yourself, but also National Agents Alliance and Andy Albright. Your actions extend far beyond each individual meeting.

Help us continue having fun, making money and making a difference. Each agent plays an important role in who we are and what we do at National Agents Alliance. Remember to put your clients first and to maintain a flawless reputation for National Agents Alliance.