The Ontario Broker - February 2018 - 13

WHO WAS YOUR PROFESSIONAL MENTOR
AND WHAT KEY LESSONS DID THEY PASS
DOWN TO YOU?
JM: Being a family business, my father is a key mentor
of mine. He taught me that when making strategic
decisions, one has to weigh the costs and benefits. But
sometimes those ideas can become ambiguous. To help
ground those discussions, we always relate things back
to specific sales or retention goals.
MM: I was so fortunate to have many professional
mentors - it's hard to pick just one. Of course my dad,
Robin Brown, was my greatest mentor and supporter.
Many evenings were spent around the dinner table
playing insurance 101. When I joined Birkett-Hassard,
I was exceptionally fortunate to have a team of veteran
brokers who taught me the true fundamentals of the
insurance profession. If I could pick one key lesson it
would be that no matter what's happening around you,
always remember your values and integrity.
PB: At the age of 8, I started to work at a garage that
my dad and uncle owned. I very quickly learned the
following:
*
*
*
*

Be honest. Don't lie. And if you don't know the
answer, find out.
If you make a mistake, own it, and then find a
solution.
Treat people as you wish to be treated.
Hard work never hurt anybody.

In later years, from the insurance industry, my dad,
Bob Carter of IBAO fame (and a great friend and
broker) and the late Lloyd Rozon all helped me greatly
in my career.
WHAT PROFESSIONAL PRINCIPLES DO YOU
PASS DOWN TO YOUR STAFF OR MENTEES?
JM: Is the customer always right? Hardly ever in
insurance! Instead, I emphasize putting yourself in
the customer's shoes to ensure you'd be happy with
the level of service. With new brokers, sometimes
confidence can be an issue. No matter how green, we
remind them that they still know much more than the
average consumer. If they don't know an answer, there's
nothing wrong with confirming something offline and
calling the customer back.
MM: Above all else, conduct yourself with honesty and
integrity. Our job is to educate our clients so they can
make informed decisions. Be creative when looking at
a risk and always, always, think outside the box.

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PB: Pretty much what I learned as a boy: don't
compromise your principles; be honest, even if it
hurts; admit to your mistakes; and treat people as you
wish to be treated. If you drop the ball on any one of
those, be prepared to apologize - you'll be a bigger
person for doing it.
HOW DOES YOUR BROKERAGE LEVERAGE THE
HELP OF EMPLOYEES WHO'VE "BEEN THERE
DONE THAT"? HOW DO YOU ENSURE THE
TEAM LEARNS FROM ONE ANOTHER?
JM: An open office where people can see their
coworkers and offer advice as appropriate has been a
huge help.

ONTARIO HAS A THRIVING
STARTUP SCENE
STOCKED WITH YOUNG
PROFESSIONALS. THERE
ARE VALUABLE LESSONS TO
BE LEARNED FROM THESE
SCRAPPY COMPANIES.
MM: We have a great team. They all consult with each
other and each team member brings a unique skill set
to the table. Consult with one another, debate, analyze,
question and solve. It's fun to watch staff come up with
creative solutions.
PB: Our processes and procedures have all been
crafted by taking advice from all levels of staff, BMS
providers and industry partners. We challenge our
staff to challenge the process and help us become a
better brokerage without sacrificing integrity and our
mandate to assist and offer professional advice to the
consumer. It's a testament to our corporate structure
that all managers have risen through the ranks. We
develop from within.
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN MENTORED BY
SOMEONE YOUNGER THAN YOU?
JM: Not in a formal sense, but I've been fortunate to
connect with a few young and bright entrepreneurs
who've shared some valuable lessons. Ontario
has a thriving startup scene stocked with young
professionals. There are valuable lessons to be learned
from these scrappy companies.

13

MM: Every day! There's nothing more exciting than
listening to a young broker who's enthusiastic about a
fresh new idea. More out of the box thinking!
PB: I certainly have, from my younger partners in
Sentinel Risk Insurance Group - Greg Kruk, David
Kennedy, James Grieve. They constantly tell me I need
all the help I can get.
IN THE BROKER WORLD, THERE'S AN
EMERGENCE OF "MASTERMIND GROUPS". DO
YOU BELONG TO ANY OF THESE GROUPS? ARE
THEY HELPFUL WITH YOUR BUSINESS?
JM: I don't belong to a broker-focused group, but it
sounds like a great idea! I've been a member of several
professional groups with a more broad membership
and find the feedback invaluable. As we go through
digital transformation, it's important for brokerage
leaders to seek advice from outside the industry. A
fresh perspective can help avoid the most dangerous
words in business - because we've always done it that
way.
MM: I've been involved in a number of mastermind
groups over the years and find them invaluable. I
believe as brokers it's imperative that we come together
as a group and share ideas, successes and failures.
There's so much to share and learn from one another.
Having a wide demographic in these groups is very
advantageous - you can learn fresh ideas and share
past successes.
PB: I certainly believe in broker groups. I'm a member
of the Insurance Specialty Group, a group of 12
brokerages from across Ontario with collective volume
of over 400 million. We own our own insurance
brokerage in Eastern Ontario and continually look
for other opportunities. We also have an Executive
Director that organizes and coordinates meetings and
business forums with industry leaders. It's been in
existence for over 35 years - our brokerage is one of
two of the last original group; Rozon Insurance is the
other. We've evolved from a so-called "knife and fork
group" to combining our intellectual property in order
to share our volume and P&L information to establish
benchmarks that help us manage our respective
brokerages more effectively and efficiently. This also
allows us to compare ourselves with IBAO survey
benchmarks. We truly use this group as a sounding
board to not only influence strategy for our individual
brokerages, but to develop strategy to deal with the
unique nuances of an ever-changing industry.

FEBRUARY 2018
http://WWW.IBAO.ORG
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Ontario Broker - February 2018
