5th Gear and 100 miles an hour!

In October, our association will turn 30-years old.  It was just a few weeks ago when IAHU held its 28th Annual Health Symposium.  I hope you enjoyed it.  It was a great event, with over 200 attendees and nearly 40 vendors and exhibitors.  The symposium focused on HealthCare reform from various different perspectives:  an agent’s, an insurance carrier’s, the Chamber of Commerce, small businesses, and more.  We were fortunate to have in attendance the President of NAHU, Mel Schlesinger with us.  Mel provided a dynamic presentation on ancillary benefits, including sales ideas proven to increase revenue.  We also heard from our Region VII Vice President, Chad Schneider, Senator Mike Crapo, the American College, and more.  I hope it was a valuable experience for you and worth your efforts to attend.  We have e-mailed out a survey requesting your feedback.  It’s only 10 simple questions long.

I was in a colleague’s office this last week and she asked how my year as IAHU president has been.  The best analogy I can think of is that it’s like driving your car in 5th gear.  (I’ve never owned a car with 6 gears!)  It’s busy and fast, and you have to be on your game when you’re going that fast.  There’s a lot to do and a lot to pay attention to.  But I found that once I got going that fast, I was also more capable in other aspects of my life.  It seems when you’re going 100 miles an hour, it’s easier to keep going 100 miles an hour and just get the other things done in life that need to be done - personal production, family activities, recreation, etc.  As they say, “busy people get things done”.  I imagine I’ve proven a tiny aspect of Newton’s 1st Law of Motion - an object in motion stays in motion...I’m also looking forward to realizing the converse:  An object at rest stays at rest...

I’m grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to serve on the IAHU board.  We have at the helm a group of wonderful and talented people.  My theme for the association has revolved around “Building a Better Broker”.  It’s about doing those little things that separate us from others, and help us to improve in our success.  There is no silver bullet, no magic pill, only tiny differences that garner significantly different results.

If the Supreme Court follows prior president, we should be hearing the results of the PPACA lawsuit towards the end of June.  What a better place to be to learn the results than at the NAHU Annual Convention in Las Vegas, NV.  I invite you to better your game, and come to the convention in June.  Remember, we have $500 scholarships available for one person in each chapter to attend.  It should prove to be a very compelling and worthwhile event.

Well, this is my last newsletter article as your president this year.  I hope you’ve found something of value in the monthly communications we’ve sent out your way.  If you have any questions about your role in IAHU or the direction of the association, we would love to hear from you.  I look forward with you to seeing our newly elected president, Tom Shores, lead us to even greater heights.  Here’s to going 100 miles an hour, and here’s to the little things that help us to Be a Better Broker!