Replace fear with curiosity: Recommended reading (and listening) for brokers
Looking to broaden your horizons with a new book or podcast? We've got a great list of recommendations.
Always shufflin’
I keep my content on shuffle mode. Here are a few of my current go-tos:
Podcasts: Relentless Health Value: Offers deep dives into specific health care supply chain conversations Reconstructing Healthcare: Offers a consultant mindset approach to conversations with vendors for both broad and narrow topics
ShiftShapers: Similar to the above but on a broader spectrum.
The Phia Group, LLC: Often as entertaining as it is enlightening.
Heads Up Adviser: It’s one thing to learn the content, and another to be able to apply the knowledge.
I also rotate in other fun shows like Humans 2.0 Podcast and The Jordan Harbinger Show. In addition to industry reads like BenefitsPRO, I rely on other newsletters. And AhealthcareZ.com— Eric Bricker is the king of engaging, relevant and digestible content.
Axios’ Vitals newsletter is a good way to get started every day, and blog.riskmanagers.us offers deep dives into the dark side of health plans.
Derek Winn, president, Distilled Concepts
Get your $@# in gear!
I often listen on the train into or home from work. I try to mix up motivational and success podcasts or YouTube clips to keep it relevant for all aspects in my life, because although we have been taught to leave our personal life at the door, that doesn’t hold true in reality. The information I listen to can be used for work, gym motivation, life motivation for just a kick in the rear. Some of the podcasts, such as GaryVee, use some intense language so fair warning to non-NY or NJ folks!
Top podcast about the industry: What the Health – reporters from The Washington Post, New York Times, etc., give updates on the latest news regarding health care and policy changes.
TED Talk: Julian Treasure – How to speak so that people want to listen YouTube: Gary Vaynerchuk’s (GaryVee) Top 10 Rules For Success
Books: “Start with Why” by Simon Sinek “How to Win Friends & Influence People” by Dale Carnegie “Year of Yes” by Shonda Rhimes “You Do You” by Sarah Knight
Colleen M. Blum, VP, Combs & Company
Taking notes
I have five pages of notes from just two books: “Why Nobody Believes the Numbers” and “Cracking Health Costs.” Innovation through education and a reduction in wasteful and unloved programs. How to see through fuzzy math. Al Lewis s a gem.
Joseph Andelin, founder, Olavie Group
Overcoming life’s obstacles
2018 was the worst year of my life, while 2019 was a year of profound transition. Books and podcasts helped me get through. One episode of the“How I Built This” podcast featured Arthur Blank describing his challenges and victories relating to the founding and growth of Home Depot. It resonated with me as he spoke about how he went from having no customers show up to the store’s grand opening to becoming a billion-dollar brand.
The second was a book entitled “The Miracle Power of Your Mind” by Joseph Murphy, which had a profound impact on me and helped me maintain my sanity during a year in which I experienced a nasty divorce, the loss of my mom, and losing our firm’s largest case and revenue generator after 15 years. It taught me how to quiet that voice of anxiety and depression so that I could better focus on my business and how to get to the next level by controlling my thoughts and manifesting what I wanted. Without this book and others like “Traction,” “Think and Grow Rich,” and “The Motivation Manifesto” I don’t think I could have made it through.
Felipe Barganier, CEO, GAB International
Texts for context
I’m currently reading “Exit, Voice, and Loyalty” by Albert O. Hirschman. Chapter 4, “A Special Difficulty in Combining Exit and Voice,” is a story of how consumers, managers, workers and investors react to decline and deterioration in quality or pricing. It draws a parallel to the client who uses “exit” to jump from product to product based on price. But as it explains, “exit” doesn’t recuperate value very well. The consumer is stuck with a disproportionate response of “exit” because “voice” is the disproportionate response of the consumer who gets dissatisfied with quality and who has the ability to “fight from within” to correct the quality of a product. This illustrates the widening gap between health plans where we see a lower quality world reacting upon price in preset products and higher quality plans where leadership has invested and focused on quality and stabilized pricing.
“A Generous Orthodoxy” by Brian McLaren is another book that parallels my journey through insurance. It follows the tenet: “Generosity without orthodoxy is nothing, but orthodoxy without generosity is worse than nothing.” Taking a step back from my microcosm of experiences and knowledge put me on a multi-year journey to question what I knew about the client experience, the struggles of putting life in context of a product and price, and learning how to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes as I interviewed clients, other brokers, solution providers, and watched my family members experience a spectrum of crisis moments.
The reading, mindset shift, and the personal experiences have led to the mindset to keep the discussion going and never become so absolute in dogma that we can’t learn or adopt a more generous understanding and path forward together.
Bret Brummit, founder, Generous Benefits
A healthy roster
The publications I’m reading capture the exciting developments we are seeing in the population health and well-being landscape, including the push to destigmatize mental health conditions, an emerging emphasis on women’s health, leveraging well-being offerings to improve recruitment and retention, overcoming barriers to engage employees in their health, and macro trends on policy and the economy.
Here’s my list: e-newsletters from AHIP, HERO, Business Group on Health and Morning Consult, and the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. For updates on important new research, I also read the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and the American Journal of Health Promotion.
Seth Serxner, CHO and SVP of population health, Optum
Open your mind
Although I’m not going to pinpoint one specific podcast or book, I would highly recommend books, videos and podcasts that focus on mindset and communication. So many are only digesting industry-specific content. More knowledge won’t win you more business, but effectively communicating the knowledge you have will!
Andy Neary, health care strategist, The Olsen Group
Ideas and interactions
I have found LinkedIn to be an invaluable resource. It includes a plethora of content creators and is a tremendous aggregator of relevant information, offering access to industry-specific knowledge and education.
More importantly, I have also found it to be the perfect platform to learn from other consultants and share ideas. I am constantly seeking out strategic partners who offer unique insight and specialized expertise, and LinkedIn provides real-time engagement with like-minded professionals. Furthermore, LinkedIn allows for direct interaction with prospects and other high-level contacts who you might not otherwise be able to get in front of.
Kevin Kennedy, benefits consultant, TriBen Insurance
Girl power
I started the year with the book “Dare to Lead” by Brene Brown, and I’m currently reading the book “How Women Rise” by Sally Helgesen and Marshall Goldsmith. It details 12 habits that women should consider letting go of if they want to be stronger leaders. The book was recommended to me by Patricia Griffey, the current president of NAHU, when she was on my AlignWomen Podcast discussing the lessons she has learned in her various state and national leadership roles in our industry.
Amy Evans, president, Colibri Insurance Services
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