18 Jan The Key Ingredient in an E&O Culture
Developing and maintaining a healthy Agents E&O culture is like cooking (although cooking is not my specialty). It often takes a lot of ingredients to make a great meal, but what is the one ingredient many people claim to be the difference in cooking? What makes a good dish so superb? The love the chef puts into the preparation and the process.
In many respects, a healthy E&O culture is like cooking. You can have some great ingredients like an exposure analysis checklist, a commitment to documentation, and a pinch of policy checking, and you will probably develop a good E&O culture and commitment. But those ingredients by themselves may not be enough. They may make for a good E&O culture but not necessarily a great one. What is the missing piece? Attitude.
As Ralph Marston so accurately said, “Excellence is not a skill, it’s an attitude.” Famed football coach Lou Holtz made another quote that gets to the heart of the issue; “Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.”
We all know many people who have the ability and, more often than not, the motivation. Hopefully, you have many of these folks working as your peers and colleagues in your office. How many of those staff have the attitude that drives them to excel in E&O loss prevention? That issue is the difference-maker.
Sometimes, doing the right thing is hard, and it takes time. Sure, there are never enough hours in the day, but, amazingly, people with the right attitude find a way to get the job done and done well.
The difference between a good meal and a great one is probably heavily determined by the chef’s attitude. The same holds for agencies – put some attitude into your work. Some great E&O loss prevention ingredients with a healthy and positive attitude will make a difference.
I always preach to folks not to be scared or intimated by E&O. The goal should be to respect it and know that many things can be done to minimize the chances of an E&O claim developing. Embrace this perspective and develop an attitude that shows your commitment and belief in the mission. You might find some of your fellow staff members coming along for the ride.