April 2010

This Month's Features

+	Leadership Book Series
+	FMI's 360 Feedback
Leadership Videos Online
+	Introduction to the Leadership Institute
+	An In-depth Look at the Leadership Institute
+	Leadership Institute Testimonials

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FMI's Executive Coaching

Just as the best athletes have coaches, strong leaders often have coaches as well. In tough times, the need for coaching is even greater. Our FMI coaches bring more than 100 years of combined coaching experience, coupled with specialized industry knowledge, that can help you through these turbulent times.

Click here to learn more about FMI's Executive Coaching.

What FMI Executive Coaching clients are saying:

• "When you have the ability to make change and improvement to someone who affects your business, affects the growth of team members and affects your image – can you afford not to complete something like this? My answer is no!"

• "I already have made a greater contribution to this company as a result of coaching – both from a performance and a supervisory standpoint. In working with my group of a dozen people, they have their subordinates as well; I think it’s important how the impact transcends my group."

The "Practical Tools for Exceptional Leaders" booklet series is designed to help you learn and apply best-of-class leadership principles in your life and within your organization.
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A Letter From Ron Magnus, Managing Director

Each spring brings major league baseball's opening day with all of its rites, rituals and familiar rivalries. Opening day also provides a fresh crop of rookies the opportunity to prove themselves in the crucible of intense pressure and scrutiny.

Fortunately, most of these rookies develop over many years through a highly structured and purposeful system of minor league baseball where they are groomed, coached and cultivated under the attention of a team of committed experts. In fact, the minor leagues are widely known as the "farm system," because the process resembles growing players with the same attention as a farmer with a prize crop.

While these highly skilled and compensated athletes would probably resent being compared to produce, the principles remain the same. Great talent development requires care, attention, regular adjustment of the environment to maximize development and the wisdom to know when to let growth follow its own course.

This issue of the Leadership e-Newsletter takes a closer look at talent development and its role in building great, enduring organizations.

Ron Magnus

Zurich’s Long View

Kelley Chisholm

FMI recently spoke with Gary Kaplan, president of Construction, and Scott Rasor, senior vice president Specialty Construction for Zurich North America Commercial, about some of Zurich’s talent development initiatives.

Training dollars are historically one of the first budget items that companies eliminate or drastically cut in economic downturns. Since talent development is at the core of Zurich’s value proposition, it has not only refused to cut back in this area, but have instead chosen to expand its capabilities. Zurich is developing its next generation of leaders through offerings such as its Construction Educational Series, monthly underwriting webcasts and nine-box talent development process.

Read on to learn how Zurich is developing its next generation of leaders.

An Upside to the Downturn

Andrew “Andy” Patron

Since people are your most valuable asset, this slowdown time offers you the best opportunity to put your limited resources to work: learning. Invest in your people now to manage risk today and make them more valuable as you rebound in the coming months.

"Our people are our most valuable asset.” Many executives share this view, and most really mean it. However, if you were challenged to prove it, could you? You might try looking at your balance sheet, since this is where your company’s assets are listed. Typically, you will see “cash,” “accounts receivable,” “materials” and “fixed assets” but probably not “people.”

According to the accountants, “people” are not an asset. Your accountant, though, will point you to another financial report: your income statement. There he or she will show you line items entitled “direct labor” and salaries in Operating Expenses — both categories making up the “people.” The dollars there represent the direct cost associated with having people on your payroll. In addition, many of your other costs exist to provide benefits, supervision, shelter and communications for your people. After only a little research, you find that the most valuable, yet un-booked, asset is really one of your biggest costs! You can see that your people are expensive, but what are you doing to show them how valuable they are? Moreover, are you doing anything to make them more valuable?

Read on to learn how to strategically invest in the development of your people.