The Common Man's Insurance Man

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Integrity Matters: Is it Legal or Moral?

In Boston, Massachusetts, on December 16, 1773, a group of approximately 30 to 130 men, some dressed in Mohawk warrior disguises, boarded th

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Emerson on Twitter

“Check out my latest article: Leadership Hack: Mind, Body, and Work! https://t.co/3yKxjLAbnu via @LinkedIn”

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Leadership Hack: Mind, Body, and Work!

May is one of the most significant months of the year for me! Why? Because there’s Mother’s Day, Nurses Appreciation Day, and my wife’s birthday. May is also Mental Health and Disability Insurance Awareness month. My beautiful wife is a Registered Nurse and has been a mental health professional for over 15 years. She's served in various capacities within the Mental Health industry. She has had a profound impact on my understanding of the national crisis of mental illness. Her stories have inspired me to write about this topic from a business leader’s point of view. She has helped me to understand that mental illness can come in many forms and doesn’t discriminate against wealth, class, station, or education.

You might think of disability as only being physical, but mental health problems can make work difficult or even impossible at times. It’s crucial for leaders to understand that a much-overlooked disability is that of mental illness. It is one of the Top 3 claims filed for behind Cancer and Back Pain. Mental health problems are the most common reason that people file for Social Security disability. As leaders, we should always be thinking of ways to support those talented people around us at home and work.

It should come as no surprise that failing to address mental health in the workplace comes with its costs. According to Mental Health in America, depression costs the U.S. economy over $51 billion due to absenteeism from work.

Besides the obvious monetary costs, unaddressed depression in the workplace can cause employee morale to suffer and makes your employees feel alone or isolated. Being personally engaged with your employees and showing support for their lives and interests outside the workplace can help make your company a great place to work.

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Brené Brown on LinkedIn: "My five rules for speaking: 1. Generosity. Bring all you have. It's ok to be brave and afraid at the same time.

April 1, 2019: Brené Brown posted images on LinkedIn

If you’re speaking to anyone publicly it’s important to remember these 5 takeaways.

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The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure.

John C. Maxwell

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Lion Chasers

Sir Winston Churchill, “You must put your head in the lion’s mouth if the performance is to be a success.”  (via insuremebige)

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If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi-good, we did it. If anything goes really good, then you did it. That's all it takes to get people to win football games for you.

Paul “Bear” Bryant

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What would you do if you could play hooky for a day?

This 4-question quiz can help you identify the specific things that could make you happier right now, says writer Sam Horn. Just pick up a p

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3 Numbers Everyone Should Know?

Would you go to the grocery store and buy several bags of groceries without checking to see what’s inside of each bag? My guess is that you probably wouldn’t buy the bags. We don’t want to pay for things that we might not need. Also, we may need a few items that aren’t inside the grocery bags. The fact is that many of us may be doing something similar to this without our knowledge. If you drive a car most states require that you carry auto insurance. If so, you should always know these 3 numbers below:

The Big 3 Numbers represent the limits in your car insurance policy, for example:

If the numbers are 25/50/15 then you have:

$25,000 per person for bodily injury (Ambulance, ER visit, X-rays, MRI, Blood work, and Physicians)

$50,000 per accident for bodily injury (What if there’s more than one person in the car?)

$15,000 per accident for property damage (Replace their stuff like Car Seats, Trunks Contents, mailboxes, and electronics.)

These same numbers may also be expressed as $25,000/$50,000/$15,000. (Numbers for my State). *Every state has different limits.

What this means to you is that anything above these numbers you are legally liable to pay the other party or parties. If you don’t, you may be the next angel investor for your local or national personal injury lawyer’s commercial or radio spot.

It’s important to understand just because you are state legal doesn’t mean you and the things you’ve worked hard for are protected. Check your limits and make sure you carry the proper amounts to protect your stuff and your paycheck! If an insurance company doesn’t make this clear to you when they give you your quote, they may not have your best interest in mind. If they aren’t looking out for you at the beginning, just think what could happen if you have to file a claim. It’s never just about price, it’s about what you’re getting for what you pay!

Please comment and tell me what your thoughts are?

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Never tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their ingenuity.

Gen. George S. Patton

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Juggling Act: Work, Life, and You!

Consider the fit between your current work role and your life outside of work. Do you feel that there is sufficient balance? In other words, are you satisfied?

In 2011, I was informed by two of my most respected mentors to take time for myself and the people I loved. Ironically, they both shared this information within the first two months of that year. At that time, I was currently single and had not taken Paid Vacation in 5 years. I was so proud to let everyone know how dedicated of an employee I had been.

One of my mentors had told me he was giving me this advice as a mentor, clergymen, and most important as a recently divorced man. He'd shared with me that early in his career he was so driven at accomplishing his goals that he basically lost his wife and nearly his congregation. He said he saw me going down the same path, and he wanted to caution me from doing just that. The next month I spoke with another mentor who shared with me the power of using vacations for my well-being and job performance. He warned me that my habit of not taking vacations would lead to job-fatigue or "burnout." My mentor also shared that the downtime would energize me when I returned to work. In short, it would dramatically improve my job performance.

I'm a huge fan of author and leadership expert John C. Maxwell who shared this advice about what successful people understand about the people around them in work, family and life. He said that these elements can help a person stay well rounded:

o    A successful person must have excellent people skills.

o    A successful person must equip and train well by building a great team.

o    A successful leader must have an uncommon positive attitude about adversity.

o    A successful person must possess exceptional leadership.

Relationships are the foundation for successful careers and leadership. You must have the ability to relate to people in work, family, and life. People will not go along with you if they don't get along with you. If people like you, it enhances your leadership index. There will be people in life that are very hard to like. It's important to understand that your best and worst days will have people in them. Work-life balance is a person's ability to maintain a healthy balance between their work roles, their personal responsibilities, and family life. How can you as a leader help your team with this unique balancing act?

Leadership Hacks:

Maintain Structural Consistency. Be a consistent leader in all areas.

Less Micromanagement and Allow Professionals Agility.

Limited Ambiguity and More Transparency from Leadership.

Offer Community Engagement Opportunities.

Schedule Flexibility.

Team-Building Exercises to End the Monotony of the Day to Day.

Unpaid Time Off for Life Events Is a Must!!

Encourage Face to Face Employee Training, Workshops, and Education. Virtual is Cost Effective, but Direct Interaction is Priceless.

Allow Employees to telecommute.

Provide Wellness benefits.

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"Reputations are made or lost during times of crisis."

Ken Chenault

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Cyber Collision

You're in the passenger seat of a fully self-driving car. You're moving along pleasantly getting a jumpstart on the dreaded Monday morning emails when you see a deer run towards the road. A collision is probable, but swerving into the next lane to miss the deer would mean an almost inevitable impact with an oncoming car. Our instinct would be signaling for evasive action at this point, but all you can do is believe in the machine and let the technology make the decision. How does a inorganic self-driving car decide how to act in response to this scenario? My example has nothing to do with laws or regulations. Our decision is more of what is moral and ethical than a question of what is legal. Now think about the same scenario, but change only one element of this question. What if this was a small child instead of a deer? Do you feel the same way or has your attitude or opinion changed? Other situations such as weather conditions will be another challenge that should be considered by owners of self-driving vehicles in the future. A three-year study has indicated that 87 percent of respondents had heard of a self-driving car which a 13 percent increase from the beginning of the study. Many respondents in the survey stated that they were more likely to engage in distracted-driving while operating a self-driving car. Even though fully autonomous vehicles are years away, vehicles with automated features continue to be readily available. It is imperative for the insurance industry to be proactive in its efforts to be able to adapt its approach to underwriting and claim handling with the ever-evolving innovations in this new frontier which is driving by Artificial Intelligence.

Autonomous Cars and the Imposing liability

In Arizona, an accident occurred in a suburb of Phoenix early on a Sunday morning. The significance of this accident could affect several industries across the country. It could impact the automobile, insurance, technology, and the legal sector in one occurrence. The impact of the innovation of self-autonomous vehicles has created many threats and risks that we all should be aware of moving forward. Elaine Herzberg was struck and killed by an Uber self-driving vehicle as a pedestrian. What makes this matter even more complexed is that the car was in autonomous mode at the time of the collision, with a human test driver behind the wheel. The incident is believed to be the first death caused by a fully autonomous vehicle. It prompted Uber to halt autonomous vehicle testing on public roads in four cities and other companies to pause their public road tests. A primary advocate for self-driving cars was Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey. He decided to suspend Uber from operating in the state. Self-driving vehicle advocates have said that this disruptive technology could reduce the 1.25 million road traffic deaths that occur worldwide annually.

A shift in the auto insurance marketplace

Each year in the U.S. more than 90% of crashes indicated the driver as the critical reason for the accident. It is predicted by 2040 that personal auto insurance rates are projected to fall by 58%, while commercial auto insurance will rise by 28% and products liability are expected to grow by 14%. The statistic reflects the view that personal liability will decrease as the responsibility of driving shifts to the vehicle and that mobility on demand will take greater hold. As consumers become more accustomed to vehicles with semi-autonomous capabilities, insurers will have to create and offer products to fit this industry disruptor. Insurance companies will have to be less focused on price and will be looking to differentiate themselves to stay relevant.

Reference:

1. Self-driving cars: What to do with all that spare time. https://newsroom.statefarm.com/state-farm-releases-autonomous-vehicles-survey-results/

2. Travelers Outlines Framework for Autonomous Vehicle .... https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180710006018/en/Travelers-Outlines-Framework-Autonomous-Vehicle-Insurance

3. Insurance prospects in the race to autonomous vehicle tech .... https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/us/news/commercial-auto/insurance-prospects-in-the-race-to-autonomous-vehicle-tech-98981.aspx

4. What Happens When a Self-Driving Car Is at Fault? | Fortune. http://fortune.com/2018/04/25/self-driving-car-accident-fault/

5. Car Accident Statistics - Arata, Swingle, Van Egmond & Goodwin. https://www.arata-law.com/surprising-seasonal-car-accident-statistics/

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Insurance Made Simple

Insurance companies use the payments of many to cover the losses of a few. So what happens to the money you pay for your insurance? o    Your Money (premiums) – go into one large pool at the insurance company. o    Those of us who suffer a loss that’s covered can then draw from that larger pool. o    Because only a few of us need to draw from the pool in any given year, there’s enough money in it to pay for significant losses like those incurred as a result of fire or a severe automobile accident.

This concept is called spreading the risk, or risk sharing. Always know what you are paying for!

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The Emotion Machine 🧠 on Twitter

“"Mindful photography" is a fantastic way to boost your mental health. The goal is to carry a camera with you for a whole day, then throug

This is cool outside of the box way to view your world differently.