NAILBA Perspectives - July 2017 - 16

THE FUTURE OF NAILBA

The goal of the IAG is for the industry
to unite, speaking with one voice, and
delivering a consistent message.
association space, with GAMA traditionally serving leadership and management and NAILBA serving the
independent and brokerage communities," Godsman said. "We applaud
NAILBA for exploring a strategic
direction to insure their members and
stakeholders are getting the resources they need to make sure our entire
profession is strong and growing."
Some people in the industry have
been wondering whether all of these
separate groups are really needed
or if there is a way in which their
efforts can be combined for maximum efficiency, Mayeux said. So far
the answer is, "IAG members do want
to coordinate their various activities,
and they do want to combine efforts
and possess the ability to speak as
one voice," he said. "But in practicality, this will not be an easy task.
Some groups will gain more benefits,
while some will stand to lose."
The difficulty in accomplishing
this proposed alignment is that no
one likes giving up what they have.
"It is hard to get folks to admit
that perhaps they are not having
the impact they thought on things
that are not core to their franchise,"
May said. "This is not a power play.

16 perspectives JULY 2017

Instead it is the start of a movement
down a path of combining resources,
creating economies of scale to benefit the broader life insurance industry. The end result, over time, may
well find the life insurance industry
with fewer, more impactful, industry organizations."
"Progression will always lead us
to a transformational place," noted
Godsman. "However, as we all know,
change is difficult. The association
space has existed as is for decades
and it is important to be thoughtful
and have appropriate deliberation as
to what that new space will need to
look like to serve all of our members.
Many years of hard work, servant leadership, and legacy have built the great
association space we have today. We
must honor that in this process."
Possible ideas for combining
efforts that have been discussed
at IAG meetings include holding an
insurance industry super conference
with 10,000 attendees rather than
the few hundred who attend each
association's annual meeting currently. Perhaps it would have a bigger impact on lawmakers and regulators if there was one collective Day
on the Hill instead of separate Days
on the Hill as is done now. "These are
issues that require careful thought
and much deliberation," Mayeux said.
"In the early stages of discussion the group heard an insurance
company's point of view," May noted. "Every professional organization
knocks on our door several times a
year in pursuit of funding and the
time of our people. At the same time
all of our distributors, whether it's

BGAs or advisors, are also being contacted to join and write a check. In
the neighborhood of a quarter of a
billion dollars later, we lack consistency. The real question is, 'Are we
collectively receiving our money's
worth?' It is not that we are afraid
to spend the money, it is more a
question of 'Are we receiving appropriate value for the investment?'"
At the recent IAG meeting there
was a breakthrough when members
voted unanimously to communicate the alignment effort broadly. A
Statement of Collaboration explaining the unity movement for all group
members to sign and share with their
association's members as well as
with the broader base of the industry
will be ready to share later this summer or early Fall.
Future IAG Plans
May anticipates if progress continues
to advance over the next two years,
major steps forward in achieving
alignment will be made, including
the potential for fewer associations.
"It is incumbent on all members to
continue to update and share with
confidence the actions and outcomes
from the group as we advance and
make progress," he said. "For now it
is important to keep the group tight
but as we advance the need for additional participants and resources
will grow. The word of the effort is
spreading, building momentum both
locally and nationally."
"I have faith that with the passion, talent, and noble objective
around the table the IAG will be confident moving forward with inten-

tional, transformational, and positive
vision," said Godsman. "We believe in
making our profession bolder, more
visible, and meaningfully impactful-
that is the larger objective-and that
is the responsibility of the association space. As the world is adapting
to change to make the world a better place so must the associations
adapt to make our profession a better
place. We are proud to be a member of
this transformational movement and
intend to be a vocal architect in what
that visionary space will look like in
the near future on behalf of all our
passionate members."
"Speaking as one voice in the
industry has never been more
important to NAILBA," said Sorebo, who represents NAILBA on the
IAG. "To continue to echo that on
a regular basis is crucial. Each of
the groups involved have their own
ways of looking at things and getting together on how to do things
is not always easy. Everyone is trying to initiate change. What does
that look like? How do we go about
doing it? We're excited to be speaking together for the first time on key
advocacy issues that affect us all."
Jean Feingold is a Gainesv ille,
FL-based freelance wr iter whose
company, Business Communicators,
celebrated its 20th anniversary in
2010. Her work has appeared in
trade magazines in the petroleum
marketing, trucking, construction,
restaurant, interior design, airport,
manufacturing, and other industries. She is author of the book,
"Creating a Farmers Market: Starting
from Nowhere." She holds an MBA in
management from the University of
Florida and a BA in psychology from
New College.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NAILBA Perspectives - July 2017