Oklahoma UFAA Contacts:    

UFAA Chapter 15 serving Eastern Oklahoma   

President- Glenn Johnson 918/252-0561  Tulsa

UFAA Chapter 12 serving Central-Western Oklahoma:   

President-  Jeff Roberts -580-224-0808 -Ardmore  

United Farmers Agents Assn. National Office 800-275-8668
UFAA Oklahoma Voice Editor
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UFAA Chapter 15 Newsletter Archive & Homepage   

Letters to the Editor  

Learn more about our advertisers in this issue. Ads are hot links to their websites.

Dear Washington Agent, You say, "We are toast? " Your United Farmers Agents Association has put Farmers on notice on behalf of all UFAA Members only. Just read the next article for some refreshing statements and proudly post it in your office or use it to reply to a communication sent to you by an over demanding DM or State Exec. -ed 

I would remind you of  Okla. Statutes Title 36. Insurance: Section 1435.15 Paragraph E - Producer Acting as Agent. Looks like you and many other Okla. Agents may have a good case here.  

"It shall be unlawful for any insurer to discriminate among or between the insurance producers it has appointed. Any person or company convicted of violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by the imposition of a fine of not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or imprisonment in the county jail for not less than six (6) months nor more than one (1) year, or be punished by both said fine and imprisonment."

This law is a criminal offense and appears to prohibit placing agents into categories or segmentation and other actions that would create one or more agents an advantage or disadvantage over other agents. Under the definition, it would appear the AGM Program is highly discriminatory to a producer agency force. Although, the OID would  have to make that final call based on complaints from producers. 

Okie Agent, you may file your complaint at this link.

Where will it stop, you ask? Farmers seems to operate with the opinion the "The Agent's silence is his or her approval." So, the silent majority in this business is not always to your advantage, along with some of the programs offered.  -ed 

Who Is the Devil You Know?

SOCIOPATH: of, relating to, or characterized by asocial or antisocial behavior or exhibiting antisocial personality disorder. --http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sociopathic

"Four percent of Americans are sociopaths, meaning that they have no conscience, and this statistic probably gets larger as one goes up the ladder of success. At the top echelons of success in big business, sociopaths are probably even more plentiful. Most sociopaths in business are not physically violent, and they don't look like Charles Manson. They look like we do."

This the assessment of Dr. Martha Stout, author of The Sociopath Next Door. Her book cover says "1 in 25 ordinary Americans secretly has no conscience and can do anything at all without feeling guilty. Who is the devil you know?"

If you hear the word "sociopath," the images of Ted Bundy, Stalin, Hitler come to mind. But Stout tells us not to limit our awareness, that sociopaths usually aren't violent. So how do we spot sociopaths?

Sociopaths show sham emotion, but in reality emotion is only a tool to dominate and win when they aren't in complete control already. They bring a charisma, a charm, and they especially flatter. (It's a lie, don't buy it). In business, they might honor a person for achievements or longevity, in publication, at an honors banquet, but without a second thought put him or her out with tomorrow's newspaper, if it suits a corporate goal.

Sociopaths are seductive in encouraging others to take risks. Even better for them, they want you to blindly accept their authority along with the risk. It may be a president who flatters the people as super-patriots in order to lead them into a dumb war. It may be a company CEO who infers "the intelligent ones" in the sales force are the ones who will go out and spend an obscene sum for the latest program or tool. Don't believe flattery. We might also point out that any company publication which only prints one side, one flattering view of (anything) without inviting honest alternate views (dissent), is a publication of seduction.

Ever hear of a habitual liar, the cheating spouse? Remember a teacher who was abusive? How about a business partner who is always changing the deal, ignoring past agreements, intimidates by threat, overt or covert? These are classic sociopaths.

So how do you deal with the sociopath in your life? First, accept reality. Not all sociopaths look like Klingon warriors. They look like us. Second, trust your instincts. We meet, assess, and judge people all the time as to who they are. Women are known to have a 'sixth sense' awareness, but men do too. Don't accept a stranger's credentials, income, education, position, or specialty skills as a conscience, regardless of how impressive they may be. You cannot bestow conscience on anyone who didn't have it to begin with!

We repeat: Don't assign morality to people by their degrees or trappings. Moral sources such as Jesus, Buddha or Gandhi did not wear expensive suits or wave a diploma to convince anyone of their altruistic natures, and actually warned it is a fool who believes the unknown stranger, or, the repeat offender.

If you don't know the person, one lie or broken promise may only be a mistake. Two may be a bad habit. But three times means you've got a deceitful liar on your hands, and lying is Ground Zero for a conscienceless personality, the sociopath. Do not give your money, your work, your secrets or your affection to a three time violator.

The best way to protect yourself is to walk away from the sociopath. Don't use politeness with a sociopath, either. Don't smile, get to the point, let them know you are on to the game. You cannot redeem him, you cannot change his ways.

Sociopaths live outside the social contract, so exclude them from your personal life, and as much as possible, from your professional life. It may mean you have to skip the annual company banquet (free food!) where you are told with a warm phony smile, "we are family".

But don't worry, any display of hurt feelings for your blunt statements, your absence, is only a sham. Sociopaths simply don't have any bad feelings, and ironically, that's their core problem. When they take your money away, when they take your job of decades, when they cripple your ability to perform and then threaten to dismiss you for failure to perform, when they ruin your finances, when they break faith with past promises and contracts, and finally, when they put you out tomorrow with today's newspaper, remember, they won't feel bad.

PULSE OF THE AGENTS POLL    

NU Online News Service,  

Sixteen state insurance agencies failed a national state-evaluation test, but Mississippi came out on top of the 50-state review.

The State Integrity Investigation, a research project sponsored by The Center for Public Integrity, Global Integrity and Public Radio International, had reporters in all 50 states evaluate the corruption risk, covering issues of transparency, accountability and ethics enforcement in individual states.

The report gives an overall evaluation of individual states and breaks the results down into several categories that include state insurance commissions.