NAILBA Perspectives - November/December 2015 - (Page 11)

ceo insights Perspectives is published for the National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies 11325 Random Hills Road, Suite 110 Fairfax, VA 22030 (703) 383-3081 www.nailba.org NAILBA BOARD OF DIRECTORS David Long Chairman Changes Afoot! George C. Van Dusen IV Chair-Elect James Sorebo Secretary/ Treasurer Barbara Crowley Immediate Past Chairman Joseph Bosnack Brittany Cross Jason Lea, CFP Melinda S. Meyer Seixas Milner III Jeffrey D. Mooers Ben Nevejans Myra Palmer JACK CHIASSON, CAE NAILBA CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Thomas Riekse, Jr., ChFC, CEBS NAILBA EDITORIAL ADVISORY PANEL Scott Blumberg Michael Cohen, CLU Christi M. Daughenbaugh Sheri Leaders John McWilliams Jeffrey D. Mooers Lori Payne Laurie B. Prevette Thomas Riekse, Jr., ChFC, CEBS Michael Tessler NAILBA STAFF Jack Chiasson, CAE Chief Executive Officer Kathy Allison Director, Membership and the Foundation Susan D. Haning, CEM, CMP Director, Business Development Susan Klemmer Deputy Chief Executive Officer Rachel C. Marineau, CMP Manager, Meetings and Education Meredith Maslich Administrative Coordinator Sarah O'Hanley Manager, Exhibits, Sponsorships and Advertising John Tong Director, Administration and Operations Editor: Susan Klemmer sklemmer@nailba.org Advertising: Susan D. Haning, CEM, CMP shaning@nailba.org Design and Production: Blue House www.bluehouse.us Creative Director: Elinor Van Dyck elinor@bluehouse.us Designer: Katie Petty katie@bluehouse.us W ell, another year seems to have flown by-and here we are just ahead of another Annual Meeting! I think that, over the years, you have heard plenty from me about making the NAILBA Annual Meeting work for you, so I thought I would talk about something different this time. The past couple of months have been a busy time for your NAILBA leaders. Several things have happened that your Board of Directors believe will make NAILBA even better in the days (and months and years) ahead. As you are all aware, these are challenging times in the insurance world. With life insurance sales at record lows, it seems that we just aren't getting the message out to people-consumers, legislators, regulators-about the value of the products that your agencies have been distributing. It's the middle of Life Insurance Awareness Month as I write this, and that usually means an uptick in policies sold. But this should be happening EVERY month. Some of the challenges, of course, come from our legislators and regulators. Our advocacy partnership with AALU is a key tool in the fight to get the message across to these individuals. The focus of all of these efforts is to deliver the message that insurance products (life insurance, annuities, etc.) are taxed appropriately and regulated properly, and that further burdens on the products- and the distributors-will hurt the very people that these products are designed to protect. As our partnership with AALU nears its first anniversary, it would be great to hear from you about how it has benefitted you since it began. Are you more informed? More involved? Tell us how and why this has helped your agency. Collaboration seems to be the "word of the day" among the alphabet soup of industry associations. Your leaders have had conversations with several of our sister associations about doing more together for our mutual benefit, and, more importantly, for the benefit of the entire industry. While there has been nothing "written in stone" as of yet, I encourage you to be on the lookout as the Board continues to strive to make your NAILBA membership even more valuable. And finally, The Board of Directors recently voted to amend NAILBA's Bylaws to reduce the size of the Board over the course of the next three years. Some of the reasons that this action took place (in no particular order): ■■ Fewer Board members allows the organization to become more nimble; decisions can be made much more quickly. With the current rapid pace of change in the industry, this is the perfect time to make this change. ■■ NAILBA's Board has become too large when considered as a percentage of membership. ■■ It is more and more difficult to find individuals to serve on the Board-time is the most signifi- cant reason that folks give when they decline a nomination. ■■ The expense of maintaining a Board of this size has become significant. During the discussion, several questions about HOW this will happen arose. We anticipate that you will have many of the same questions, so we'll try to answer them here: ■■ NO ONE will be asked to leave the Board before the end of the term to which they have been elected. As each "class" term expires, it will simply not be replaced. Over the course of the next three (3) years, that will reduce the Board to the size being proposed. ■■ At the Annual Meeting, ONE individual will be presented to the Membership for a vote. This will allow for a fifth Board member at the end of the three years described above. (Please note that the procedure for the election of Officers does not change for the next three years.) ■■ NAILBA will look to both Committee Chairs and specific PROGRAMS that it offers to its members, and identify a leader to serve on an Advisory Council. There will no longer be Board Liaison assignments to these programs/committees. The "reporting structure" will be from the Advisory Council DIRECTLY to the Board of Directors. During the Annual Business Meeting (Thursday, November 19 during the Opening General Session), Board members will answer questions about these changes- ones that fit well with NAILBA's recently adopted Strategic Plan, and will continue to keep NAILBA "out front" of your needs, wants and expectations. See you in a few weeks! www.nailba.org 11 http://www.nailba.org http://www.bluehouse.us http://www.nailba.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NAILBA Perspectives - November/December 2015

NAILBA Perspectives - November/December 2015
Contents
Chairman’s Corner
CEO Insights
A Conversation with Robert O’Neill
NAILBA Charitable Foundation
Member Profiles
Agency Successor Networking Group
Life Happens
NAILBA 34 Program Preview
Evaluating Your Carrier Relationships
Calendar of Events
Index of Advertisers

NAILBA Perspectives - November/December 2015