Insurance
Gentle push
How to help your people get more from their talents
By Mike Cottrill
Smart Business | October 2009
Page 1 of 2
Kyp L. Ross, president, Dawson Insurance Inc.
Kyp L. Ross doesn’t really care how successful you’ve been, he knows you can do more.
He’s not trying to downplay anyone’s success, but Ross believes that there is always more work to do and more victories to be had. In that vein, he has worked his way up at Dawson Cos., where today he serves as president of Dawson Insurance Inc. With roughly $30 million in commission, Ross has helped Dawson Insurance develop, but he has also dealt with growing pains, as he tries to constantly build a culture that helps people push forward.
“So as we grew, we knew there were times where maybe we had to bring our arms back around that culture and get it back to where we wanted it to be going because as you get 250 people, not all of them are marching to the same drum,” he says.
Smart Business spoke with Ross about how he’s maximized employees’ talents by pushing them to do more and why you have to be willing to be uncomfortable to be more successful.
Show employees how it’s done. My theory is you have to lead by example. You don’t ask any of your employees to do something you wouldn’t do yourself. Your employees have to see you exhibit a desire, a dedication and a determination they feel they can buy in to.
I still handle the largest book of business from the customer standpoint in the agency, so I hope that they see my work ethic and my willingness to sacrifice myself, my own time, to make sure we do what the client needs and what the client does best. If you put the client’s interest before your own, you’ll always be successful.
When you join our organization, we give you the opportunity, and really, the sky is the limit. So if you look at me, I’m the perfect example, I came here with nothing, was in an affiliated industry, came here and worked hard, had success, enjoyed working with the other people that helped me reach those levels, and I’ve been able to promote up through.
I try to stay away from talking about myself, but I do embark them with the knowledge of how I got to where I did. I’ll bring the young guys in and I’ll say, ‘OK, what are you doing this week?’ And they’ll share with me and I’ll say, ‘I’m not telling you that this is the way you have to do it, but let me share with you how I did it.’ And, again, if you’re visibly leading by example, people understand that and they just naturally pick that up. I’ll also, from time to time, take some of those guys out with me, or if they have an appointment, I’ll say, ‘Hey, do you mind if I tag along?’
