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Transcript

Ben Markland: Hello, everyone thanks for joining us to the insurance leadership podcast. We're recording live here at the ICMG conference in Tampa, Florida and today's guest that we have is Warren Laird. He's the Senior Business Development Manager for direct-to-consumer products with VSP VisionPlan. That's a big mouthful, Warren.

Warren Laird: I'm impressed.

Ben Markland: Warren's been in this industry for quite some time, and I'm always impressed with people that have that kind of longevity. And I want to get the audience today, we can talk a little bit about that. And see kind-a what you've learned from your experience and what kind of kept you there and kept you doing it. Let's start out just, you've been with VSP for almost 30 years now.

Warren Laird: Correct.

Ben Markland: So tell us a little bit about what's kept you committed to the company for such a long period and how has the experience shaped your leadership? Warren Laird: All right, let's get into this but before I get started, let me mention that at this conference, we've been able to spend a little time together. And you mentioned to me the number of subscribers you have to the podcast and I am really impressed and it's made me more nervous to be here because it's in the thousands. And so congratulations on that. I know it's been a labor of love. And congratulations to you and your team.

Ben Markland: Yeah, we're very proud of it. Ryan's done a great job for years, and our team that you guys can't see behind the cameras as well, kudos to you guys, too.

Warren Laird: Excellent. In answer, maybe to start the conversation where I went to college, they would have slogans in the classrooms that you would look at in addition to the instructor, and one of those slogans was, don't sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the immediate. And I think that whenever I had the inclination to look around a little bit and see what else was out there, I came back to the fact that the permanent, which is VSP for me, the major part of my career, as you said, over 30 years has been something that I valued and we're going to get into the reasons for that. But that's probably why I stayed with VSP as many years as they've had me so far. And you just need to look at things in such a way that you don't see what's happening today and you get discouraged and you go looking elsewhere. You look at the thing long term.

Ben Markland: I think what we're seeing a lot with the younger generation is a lot of these guys they're job hoppers. There's just not really a lot of company loyalty anymore and I think a lot of that maybe could be a result of a lot of companies go into just pure remote work, which to me takes the person and the culture a little bit out of it. If you're chasing a paycheck, someone else probably always has one that's going to be a little bit higher.

Warren Laird: Or a promise of it.

Ben Markland: Or a promise of it, which it might not always be greener on the other side, right? But, I wanted to ask you, with your career that spanned over three decades, what have you learned about building loyalty to the company and how do you inspire that sense of loyalty to your colleagues and other people that you see in this?

Warren Laird: Yeah, that's a great question. Loyalty, I think is a very personal thing and sometimes I liken it to a marriage between a man and a woman in that you, there are things that build trust, and things that can destroy trust. In both a company and in a marriage. And what you need to do as a leader in the company is to treat people as you want to be treated and realize that sometimes you're going to bring bad news to them or news that they don't want to hear, but that they trust you that you're doing the right thing, again, long term, not sacrificing the permanent on the ultra or the immediate.

Ben Markland: That's right. No, I like that. I'm curious, do you have to bring a lot of bad news to your current employer?

Warren Laird: I work for VSP and we do vision care. Vision care is hard to mess up.

Ben Markland: That's right.

Warren Laird: It's not as complex as medical and there's a lot of things that can go sideways with a medical carrier or with medical expectations, but I care is a fun benefit. You go to the doctor, you don't get a needle, you don't get unless you get dilated, it's not very painful, and you get a new pair of glasses in the process and you feel good about it so loyalty, I'm sorry good news is the dominant news that I bring bad news is not very often, but it happens.

Ben Markland: So you say it's been a pretty easy run for you, right?

Warren Laird: It's don't tell anybody, but it's been a breeze.

Ben Markland: That's good. And like you said, there is a mutual relationship between you and the company and obviously you're proud of what you're doing and proud of what you're working for, so that obviously keeps people in the same place.

Warren Laird: It does.

Ben Markland: That being said that for, I want to pivot to leadership a little bit more. And obviously being in this position for a very long time, there's a lot of leadership involved there, right? You've seen probably a lot of people come and go.

Warren Laird: True.

Ben Markland: Above you, below you. So,

Warren Laird: yes,

Ben Markland: I'm curious, what do you see leadership strategies that you found to be most effective navigating both your personal and your company's growth throughout these years.

Warren Laird: I think I come back to trust. If a leader at BSP is bringing me bad news or news that I'm not happy with particular like a change in compensation or something like that or a change in benefits. Do I trust that leader that they're telling me everything I need to know, and if they're not telling me something is something that I don't need to know. And so a trust again, as in a relationship, a personal relationship is paramount.

Ben Markland: So whoever's bringing you this news, whether it be good or bad, they're trusting that you're going to do what you need to do with this news to bring the whole team higher or solve the customer's problem. Obviously that builds a sense of a team.

Warren Laird: And I hadn't even thought of that angle. I'm thinking in terms of, do I trust the person bringing me the news? Do they trust the news, me? in taking the news the way it should be taken.

Ben Markland: That's right.

Warren Laird: Yeah, good point.

Ben Markland: So Warren, tell us a little bit about the key factors that have contributed to long term success at VSP.

Warren Laird: Yeah, that's a good question as well. I think that when I came to work at VSP, we were a much smaller company than we are today. And you got to know people within the company and what occurred to me is we hired reps that were going to be my peer at some point in time. That it occurred to me, why shouldn't I be mentoring these people when I can, if they're willing to be mentored. We didn't have a formal mentoring process or program. And so the next rep that came along I spoke with them I said, would you like me to pay closer attention to what you're doing and how you're doing it? And are you open to constructive criticism? Or, just hints. And it was a terrific opportunity for me and for the other rep, in that I learned so much from them, and hopefully they learned something from me. I've always been successful at VSP. I've been exceptional in a lot of ways, but this was probably the mentorship idea and working through that was probably, I would say, aside from selling a lot, working with these other folks, it helped me learn more about VSP because I had to think through processes that I just maybe accepted back in the day. But I was able to get an opportunity to explain those processes and rethink them, which made me, I think, a more valuable employee in addition to helping another employee. And when you help people they become family, and if there's one thing I've learned about my association with Morgan White is everywhere I go, in that company of yours, everyone's family. Now, maybe I've met some people that aren't family, or but it's just been so interesting to see the parallel paths of the company that you work for and the company that I work for.

Ben Markland: That's right.

Warren Laird: Completely different companies do completely different things, but the culture there, there's so much there that's common to both. So,

Ben Markland: That's right. Yeah, I agree I think the culture, we touched on it earlier, culture is very important. And I'll say, look, I've worked for other companies as well and the family dynamic doesn't always work.

Warren Laird: No, it doesn't.

Ben Markland: So nicely.

Warren Laird: I worked. Speaking of that, I worked for my father in law. At one point in time, he owned TCBY Yogurts and Popeye's Fried Chickens down in Charleston, South Carolina. And one question that I had for him is I said, are you going to treat me like family or are you going to treat me like an employee? And he looked at me and I think he misunderstood the thrust of my question because he said, oh, we're going to treat you like family. I didn't want to be treated like family with him. I wanted to be an employee, and so it just shows how there's such there can be such a difference between the companies that you work for and the people that you work for the dynamics of that and how working for family for you and for me is a wonderful thing but working for a company as an employee, could be a wonderful thing as well. And longevity as we tie all this together is deciding did you make a good decision to go to work for X, Y, Z and recognizing that and if there are things that you can fix or things that you can make better, such as being a mentor and becoming invested in that process with another employee could make it better and could change the direction of your path. And then also keeping, in your mind's eye how important is it to look long term as opposed to making all your decisions on a short term basis, if you will.

Ben Markland: You mentioned mentor. Do you consider yourself a mentor?

Warren Laird: I do, and I consider myself a mentoree, or someone who has been mentored. The, our CEO at the time when I came to work for VSP was a wonderful my first boss at VSP was not so much. Those first two years were a struggle for me. But my next boss for 22 years was what he said all the time was be a student of the game, learn, take every opportunity you can to learn more about the industry that you work in and the company that you work for. And it's kept me interested in my work. It's kept me vibrant I think in what I do. And it's also created a wonderful balance between family and work. I traveled all the time for a period of time. And it was a good adjustment when I stopped traveling after COVID or during COVID, when we basically stopped. So I'm wandering a bit, I think, but you can decide what to keep.

Ben Markland: I think what that shows too, Warren, is when you have good leadership and they're in place for such a long time. You obviously get a trickle down effect there. And, I see that at the company I work for as well. I make the joke that I'm going on being there 10 years and I'm about to hit my probationary phase because everyone's been there for 20 plus. And, that's what builds culture. Like you said, you can't build that in a year and you jump to another job, you're just starting to really catch your flow and get into the processes. Now look, if you don't like what you're doing, I don't know that staying somewhere 20 years is a success at all or two years for that matter. Having leadership that's in place for a long time. I think that's very important as well. And in our industry, we see a lot of acquisitions and changes in leadership and

Warren Laird: I think that remote work, like you mentioned.

Ben Markland: Remote work as well. And I think that just makes it very difficult to keep all the pieces together.

Warren Laird: Yeah. And mentioning that next week, next month, 1st of March, a coworker of mine is celebrating 50 years at VSP. Now, I don't know when she came to work at VSP, because she doesn't look like she could possibly have done that. But 50 years at one company.

Ben Markland: That's impressive.

Warren Laird: It illustrates what we're talking about.

Ben Markland: It does, 50 years of doing anything is impressive.

Warren Laird: Yeah, exactly.

Ben Markland: Absolutely. We hit on a little bit earlier, but longevity in a specific company is becoming rare. And I think we hit on what, at least my opinions as to why some of those things are happening. What do you think are the benefits of sticking with one organization for such a long period of time?

Warren Laird: Some people could say that you get comfortable with a company and you don't have the courage necessarily to make a change or you find you pick through something that keeps you from making a change and maybe you should have made. The difficulty is deciding where do you land on those types of decisions that you need to make. And the thing I have to say about the company that I work for is that with the longevity that I have with VSP, it brings a degree of respect and trust for my internal partners at the company. I can go to a unit needing something that I rarely speak to, but they know me for 30 years and I have a track record there. And that type of trust and loyalty back to me is something that you just can't buy, and you certainly can't get it by working for a company necessarily for a year or 18 months and hop around a bit. So that's probably one of the largest values I would say that.

Ben Markland: So I'm going to throw you a curveball here, so throughout your career at VSP, have you had any crossroads or have you had any places where maybe you're looking over the other side of the fence and you just stay put?

Warren Laird: Not a one. No. No, just kidding. Yeah, certainly. People get to know you outside of the company, they like you for whatever reason and they want you to come to work for them.

Ben Markland: That's right.

Warren Laird: And there's a conversation but there's never been a conversation where I sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the immediate.

Ben Markland: Warren looking back on your career, what advice would you give someone who's just starting out with hopes to achieve the same level of success and longevity that you've had?

Warren Laird: I would say first of all, longevity and success are not mutually exclusive.

Ben Markland: That's very true.

Warren Laird: And so you can stay with a company and be miserable because you're, I don't want to say timid, but you're timid about branching out, about taking risk. Or you have found a company that suits your personality as well as your work ethic and you live up to that, that standard,and when you find that company, at least for me, when I found that company in VSP, it's made those decisions that come when someone comes, a headhunter or whatever, comes and talks to you about a job elsewhere, it makes it a pretty easy decision.

Ben Markland: Was starting with VSP a risk for you?

Warren Laird: Oh boy, starting with VSP was not a risk for me at all. In that, I worked for an HMO in South Carolina, and we used VSP for our vision benefit for our membership. So I knew the organization to some degree, and I knew the man that I was going to work for. I will say that you learn a lot about people, when you work for them as opposed to when you buy from them.

Ben Markland: That's right.

Warren Laird: But still, there weren't any surprises when I came to work at VSP and the transition was an easy one for me. I knew something about the benefit, obviously. I knew something about the culture of the company. And it was an easy decision. But I had several offers during that period of time that I was weighing and I really wanted to go to work at VSP. When I left that HMO.

Ben Markland: Right, I mean sounds like the stars aligned for you.

Warren Laird: HMO, have we heard that word?

Ben Markland: No, I appreciate Warren. I thought you're gonna tell me this was very difficult It sounds like you've made some good decisions throughout your career and it's led to a very fulfilling long term relationship with the company you're at. Warren Laird: I'll have to tell you, these questions were not what I expected. But your team made it very easy for me to to handle this interview. So thank you for your time, thank you for asking me, the invite is terrific. My boss is ecstatic over the fact that you invited me so, that $10 was well.

Ben Markland: Warren for joining us and thanks everyone out there for joining us as well. We'll see you soon.