LEADERS MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Are you a leader? Or just a manager? What's the difference, you ask?

A leader energizes and motivates a sales force to achieve seemingly impossible goals. A manager makes sure the sales process works. A leader has a powerful sense of mission and purpose. A manager makes sure call reports are in on time. Leaders innovate. Managers manage. Understanding the difference between leading and managing is understanding the difference between winning and losing in our cut-throat markets. Pure managers make the system work, but leaders make things happen. They make the people around them better.

In my experience as an underwriter, I've come to realize that the most effective leaders have a certain "mindset" that allows them to truly put actions behind these words, and that separates them from just being a "manager."

Leaders Think Differently

Here's an example of how effective leaders think:

The most powerful aspects of my people are their feelings and personal concerns. People do unreasonable things because of how they feel about someone or something. I will listen to them when they express concerns about our business or communicate with strong feelings. I know that when I care about what is important to them, they are then able to care about what is important to me.

The world and other people are not necessarily consistent or predictable; therefore, I will watch and experiment to see what works and does not work in leading my people to get desired results. I will pay attention to how people and things change. I will also give most of my attention and support to my most competent and productive people. I will always acknowledge another's efforts on my behalf because I appreciate people trying on my behalf, and I want that person to want to respond to my requests in the future.

One of my key roles is to preserve the principles and direction of the business; therefore, I will be diligent to protect and maintain our environment that provides the same working environment and direction for my people. I will also provide clear expectations of what is success and acknowledge those successes when they are reached. I will keep my people informed so they always know how well they are doing and how their efforts are part of the success of the whole company.

When I am present and involved, I make a positive difference. Therefore, I will stay involved in things that I want to see accomplished. Because I make a positive difference, I will make a point of encouraging my people. I am in this position because I am good at what I do; therefore, I will support others toward their own success.

The above "mindset" will only be present if the leader is attentive to and has mastery in the following emotional intelligence competencies.

Intuition and Empathy

This is the leader's awareness of his or her direct reports' feelings, needs, and concerns. This competency is important in leadership for the following reasons.

• Attitude toward others: Leaders' ability to look positively and objectively on their direct reports and genuinely want their people to succeed
• Understanding others: An intuitive sense of their direct reports' feelings, perspectives, and goals, and showing an active interest in their needs

Practical Thinking

This is leaders' ability at inducing desirable actions from their direct reports. This competency is important in leadership for the following reasons.

• Communication: Sending clear messages and directions and keeping their people informed
• Influence: Using effective tactics and techniques to get desired results

Self-Awareness

This is leaders' ability to be in tune with their roles and the power they yield to clearly see how their words and actions impact their people.

• Self-confidence: Believing in their own abilities and strengths to personally take charge in making things happen and to bring energy to their people
• Self-control: Controlling their emotions and avoiding emotional highs and lows and emotional outbursts that can alarm and frustrate those who work for them. This includes the ability to maintain calm in the face of adversity.

Self-Expectations

This is leaders' emotional tendencies that guide or facilitate reaching goals and their sense of personal commitment to responsibilities. This competency is important in leadership for the following reasons.

• Achievement drive: Striving to improve or meet a standard of excellence we impose in ourselves
• Initiative: Readiness to act on opportunities without having to be told

Make a difference today

Hiring good hands for your company

If a job candidate looks good on paper and looks good in the interview, one would naturally assume this candidate would be a good fit for the job. While it sounds logical, it doesn't always work out that way.

Too much faith in resumes and interviews can lead to bad hiring decisions, with negative repercussions, including low morale, high turnover, and the high cost of starting the hiring process all over again. An unfortunate truth is that sometimes candidates are not entirely honest on their resumes. In a survey conducted by the Society of Human Resource Management, 53 percent of the human resource (HR) professionals who participated said they discovered false information when checking the references of applicants. This underscores the importance of HR professionals going through a rigorous screening process to identify and hire top talent.

Look Beyond the Resume

Let's say the candidate being interviewed is honest on his or her resume, and let's assume that, after a couple of interviews, people in the office are impressed. Too often, this is where the hiring process ends, but the wrong person may be hired. There could be any number of reasons why this is so. Maybe the candidate had the experience, but he came from a company with a different corporate culture and will have trouble adjusting. Or, while the candidate's resume was impressive, she bristles at her new manager's leadership style, thus performing at a lower level than expected. As many HR professionals and managers have come to discover, a resume and professional interview simply do not accurately predict a candidate's success in a new job.

Individuals are complex, as are the positions they are interviewing to fill. While factors such as education, skill sets, and experience are often shown on resumes, they do not describe the entire person and his or her ability to do the job well. It takes digging deeper. For example, does the applicant prefer working in a group or alone? How does he or she handle criticism? Is she used to more work or less?

Companies have come to realize that the time and money spent on a properly conducted preemployment screening program can help expedite the hiring process and ensure a safe, secure, and productive workplace. Let's face it, whether we like it or not, the future trend in business will require the HR professional to absorb much of the responsibility of employee risk management. HR professionals can craft a companywide hiring management process that can aid the manager in learning more about the candidate before hiring him or her, thus reducing any adverse effects down the road. These checks include criminal and background checks, objective behavioral testing, a formalized behavioral interviewing process, and extensive reference checks. So, you ask, does an HR professional really need to know all of that? Can we just make a hiring decision without all that time and expense? Sure. But "gut feeling" hires and "what you see on paper" hires are much like flipping a coin and can lead to cataclysmic losses.

Add Criminal and Background Checks

Background and criminal checks are absolutely essential in the hiring process today for obvious reasons: workplace safety, "at-risk" behavior, propensity for theft, sexual harassment, alcohol and/or drug abuse, falsified employment applications, substandard driving records, and negligent hiring lawsuits. It is common knowledge that corporations lose billions of dollars each year hiring candidates with criminal records or deviant behavior traits. Much can be gleaned through a comprehensive reference check. However, it's important to keep in mind that many former employers of substandard employees are very cautious when sharing prior performance information, fearing lawsuits if they divulge too much. For this reason, past disciplinary issues often remain undiscovered until it is too late.

Employers can minimize these risks considerably by working with a qualified screening provider whose job it is to protect businesses against losses associated with a wrong hiring decision. When you consider the sheer volume of applications that must be sorted through, filed, and stored, it is no wonder that we want to get a position filled as soon as possible. Many times, when an HR professional finds an applicant whose resume is perfect, whose presence and appearance are seamless, and whose interview is impressive, the urge to cut corners at this stage in the game is overwhelming!. You are not only assessing the possible contributions of an applicant, but their potential employee 'costs' in terms of low morale, lateness, absenteeism, accidents, insurance claims, and turnover, as well as possible theft, violence, or lawsuits.

The good side of Insurance

Insurance may be expensive but you cannot afford not to have one. The greatest mistake any man or woman on earth can make is to assume misfortune can never happen to him or her. 

Recently a man of God I admired so much, Dr Myles Munroe died in a plane crash. The experience shook me just like it did many men and women on this divide. Having God’s your help and being close to him or praying every day does not make anyone immune to misfortune or disaster. The bad part of it is that it usually happens suddenly.  How can you go on without proper insurance.

In Nigeria, I have seen people lose property, lives and loved ones without help or compensation from any quarters. Recently there was a fire tanker outbreak in Idimu part of lagos state. I passed by the scene and almost wept for the victims. How would they get their lives together again? How would they put their business together?  How would they survive? You could see so many of them sleeping outside burnt homes with no where to go. If only they had insurance

The other day a fire incident happened in a market on Lagos Island and goods worth millions were lost. If only they had insurance. One of them that bought a Fire N1600 cover recovered faster that most of the other traders. He got a quick N1.4 million compensation. Many people have lost homes, cars and properties.

Insurance provides compensation to insured’s in any misfortune. You can claim back what you lost when you are insured. It puts you in a position you were before the accident. You can move on with your life faster.

Many people are afraid of insurance because of wrong perception and negative publicity. Nigerian insurance industry has changed greatly. You can get your claims paid promptly now. Many companies are paying claims without adding the burden of the insured.

It is true you can’t trust all insurance companies but there some you can trust. Brokers can help you choose those that will not tell you stories. Even those that tell stories can be made to pay when you have a genuine claim, NAICOM is there to negotiate for you as a last resort.

Insurance in Nigeria has really come of age.  Ask the likes of Dangote, Nigerite, WAMCO and Nigerian Breweries who have been compensated in Billions for single incidents. Without proper insurance their investments would have gone down the drain. 

I really don’t know why many Nigerians are not insuring like they should. There are more rick here that in advanced societies, Its time Nigerians begin to take insurance serious. What do you think ?