Sex, Lies, and Videotape - A Dialogue for Tomorrow!

Preface:

If you are a leader of, employed in, regulate, or are linked to the Financial Services Industry (banking, insurance, investments, etc.) you probably have an "issue" with credibility even if you think your clients, prospects, and friends can separate you as one of the Good Guys / Gals. Think again - I believe the meltdown of our economy, Wall Street, and the failure of some of our most trusted institutions got "poop" on all of us in the FS industry and we, the Good Guys / Gals, need to re-engage the marketplace in dialogue to find meaning and a message for the future. Ours is an industry of intangibles - peace of mind, security, etc. and we must have the confidence of the public to exist.

What follows is an article about a 15 minute experience in Houston that hopefully will result in some redefinition of our role in the economy. To learn more about the American Association of Insurance Management Consultants - go to www.aaimco.com.


Sex, Lies, and Videotape...

The charge from Tom was interesting - “Mike, open up the American Association of Insurance Management Consultants (“AAIMCO”) Conference at The Woodlands Resort near Houston, Texas with a 15 minute presentation on communications. Provide ideas to address our current reality and to begin dialogue as we work towards a future ideal that is embraced in the marketplace and our country.”

In an academic setting this would have been easy. The challenge for me was that the audience included leaders in the risk, insurance, banking, and financial services industry. The rookie had 21 years experience and the elders of our tribe averaged over 50 years of wisdom. The marketplace we serve is the US and global economies that have since last September been in meltdown. To a large extent the fuel for this meltdown has been our industry - insurance, risk, banking, and financial services.

Where do I start? What do I say? How do I make it fun and interesting? I walked into the coffee shop and grabbed the February issue of 225 Magazine off the rack. On the cover was Steven Soderbergh’s picture and a teaser about the 20th anniversary of his breakout movie - Sex, Lies, and Videotape. The light came on in my brain. I had the metaphor I needed. This was perfect.

This was the current reality of our economy, the marketplace, and our circumstances - real and perceived. Reality is the facts. Perception is how we see and feel about the facts. These had merged into anger, frustration, and despair.

Here’s the one paragraph explanation of the first third of my presentation. Nearly every adult in our capitalist society today feels “screwed.” Most believe they have been lied to. Finally on videotape - following Hurricane Katrina - was evidence of the collapse of our trusted institutions - governments (local, state, and federal), the insurance industry, and the economy that had always recovered quickly after a disaster. This one event gave all of us insight into the possibilities of a Mad Max World. What happened? What went wrong? Was this just a New Orleans problem or could this happen again? What if? What now? Fast forward to last September and it’s happening again - this time with a flood of fraud, despair, failed institutions, government, and oversight. Is this tomorrow? Is this all there is?

What’s on the horizon - a rainbow or another storm? What’s the future ideal? Where’s the hope? Where’s the change? How do we fix this?

The answer was not as clear as Sex, Lies, and Videotape but there is an answer. The answer I believe is not Gone with the Wind but is Blowing in the Wind - the answer is in the Spirit of America and her People. What we as leaders must do is engage the market in dialogue, deliver new meaning for a new world, create the message to encourage all to become involved and ultimately committed to a new American Dream and then find the media to develop and sustain this dialogue.

It is a responsibility we must accept - to be a leader. Join us in this effort…

Copyright - Michael G. Manes (March 2009
All rights reserved