We were lucky to catch up with Richard Corns recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Richard, thanks for joining us today. What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry? Any stories or anecdotes that illustrate why this matters?
The insurance industry, agents and the corporate call centers fundamentally forget what our responsibilities or fiduciary duties are when it comes to people and their insurance needs. Insurance serves as the fundamental financial foundation for all of our clients and or customers. When a company or an agent does not educate clients with valuable knowledge pertaining to each product, clients are left focused on the wrong aspects of the decision-making process when selecting a company or agent. Our industry spends so much of its time focused on the cost of products rather than how the product will react when it matters most. By educating every client, we empower them to select based on what their overall needs are. By approaching every client with the same goal in mind, we prepare those individuals for both the short and long term and assist them in achieving their life vision.
Richard, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My story is an interesting one. I was an undergraduate student at Kent State University- Stark Campus pursuing medicine. I was working as a landscaper in the summer and was looking for part time work through the winter. A classmate of mine recommended I apply for a seasonal position at BestBuy in North Canton to which I did. Oddly enough, I just ran into said person almost 10 years later volunteering at the local balloon fest. We caught up on life, neither of us following the career path we were once pursing years back at Kent.
While at BestBuy, I learned some very valuable skills that I use every day. Retail sales taught me a lot, and I was willing to learn. I quickly found out that many people view salespeople in a certain light and my whole goal was to not conform to that mentality and to better serve people in a different manner than they are customed to. Through finding common ground I was able impact people in a positive manner. In turn, it caused me to more effectively build solutions for clients then and more importantly now.
Sometime while at BestBuy, I had a recruiter peak my interest with an offer to sit down and look at another career option that would allow me to be my own boss, that career being an Insurance agent. After some real thought and a beta region paradox in my life at that time, I made the transition into insurance. From there I spent a ton of time seeking a mentor that could help mold me and shape a vision for my career path that I couldn’t necessarily see or know at the time.
Along came David Rosenberger into my life. The best way I can describe Dave is a father that you love and respect, and never want to disappoint. Dave and I found each other really at the perfect moment in time. Dave was coming up on retirement and I was seeking someone who would hear my voice and allow me to act on those thoughts with support. We would spend so many moments working through ideas and topics, and often times I left conversations feeling at peace with concepts that we would discuss and thrilled to implement them. Dave always led with his heart and taught me what it meant to be an agent. Those things were things that aren’t taught in class at Hondros College or business school. Dave helped shape our company vision for the next 50+ years as we carry his legacy along with Ray Rosenbergers legacy into the future.
From those moments, our organization has made a commitment to the community to do two things well. Our goal is to give back at the largest capacity possible to the schools, youth programs, holiday events, etc and we will provide our clients with knowledge and service they will not get anywhere else. Insurance only matters in moments where you need it and we do our best to make certain our clients are prepared for those moments.
We have built our moral foundations on those two things, and we lead everyday with them in mind.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
Recently, I consumed “Extreme Ownership” by Jocko Willink and it was a life changing read from a leadership vantage point. The books focus is on our own internal ownership into every problem and or solution. Knowing that everything that happens in your organization is a result of a decision that you have made or subsequently didn’t make. Accountability is often times portrayed as a down line thing only when in reality, accountability flows freely up and down the chain of command.
As a leader, I encourage my team to substantiate their thoughts and opinions. I believe that you bring people into your organization that are better at things than you in every facet of the business. Creating diversity in thought allows for us to look at business through an objective lens and provide insight into the best way to move. My team knows that my door is always open and that I will hear their concerns or ideas. I have failed many times and mismanaged situations. In most those cases, I brought my team in to walk through those moments so that we all could grow. I believe that sharing failures only empowers those success moments more.
Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?
Running a new small business has been one of the most challenging things that I have ever set out to do. To give some insight, I make jokes with my team about my inability to multitask. Sometimes people will hear me quote and episode of SpongeBob where Squidward ask SpongeBob for help to build a restaurant that’s sole focus is being the best fine dining experience one could have to impress Squidwards arch nemesis. The scene clips to a close up of the inside of SpongeBob’s brain where little SpongeBob’s are running around burning every file that isn’t fine dining and breathing. In the end, SpongeBob can’t even give his name when asked by the guest what his name is.
Point is, I do not multitask well at all. Being overwhelmed, I have almost forgotten to submit payroll several times. Even though, I haven’t been at risk of missing paying people, I have elected to invest my pay into my company, into my community, or into my staff. I know that everything I’m doing now will pay off in the end for all those involved and I’m investing into the futures of everyone around me.
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