Don’t be afraid of risks
Hauser often says he’s been blessed to be given so many opportunities to fail. It may sound fatalistic, but it’s really just being practical. You’re not going to be right 100 percent of the time, so youmight as well accept that and move on. The true test of a leader ishow you react when you fail.
When a decision his team makes doesn’t work out, Hauser saysthe first step is to examine the facts that led to the decision. Then,consider what new information you know now that you didn’tknow then and change direction accordingly.
The important thing to remember is that if something goeswrong, it’s not the end of the world. Don’t let a fear of failure paralyze your company.
“In most businesses, almost no decision you make is irreversible,” Hauser says. “Almost no decision is life-threatening foran organization.”
If the decision was a bad one, you need to find out what wentwrong and then put a recovery plan into place. It’s important totake chances because you won’t discover any innovative newideas by doing the same thing every day.
Hauser has encouraged a risk-taking environment atSummaCare by developing its reputation as a nurturing organization. If employees feel comfortable, they’ll be much more likely to make a risky leap of logic that could lead to the next greatinsurance product.
You have to show them that a mistake isn’t going to land them in theunemployment line. For example, one of Hauser’s employees wasready for a heavy dose of punishment after a mistake, but he handledit differently.
“This person was near tears and said, ‘I know you’re going to fireme,’” he says. “I said to the individual, ‘Why would I fire you?’ Andthey said, ‘Because I messed this up.’ I said, ‘Can we fix it?’ Theysaid, ‘Yeah,’ and then I said, ‘I’ve got a worse-case scenario in mindfor you than firing you.’ I could tell by the person’s face that theywere a little puzzled like they thought I was going to kill them orsomething. What I said was, ‘The worst-case scenario is I’m goingto make you stay and fix it, because you won’t learn anything if youwon’t stay and fix it, and if I fire you, somebody else is going tohave to clean up your mess.’”
Innovation cannot thrive in an environment where everyone fearsfor his or her jobs. Hauser says risk is an integral part of SummaCare.
“We’re in the risk business,” he says. “With health insurance, wesee risk real-time every day.”
If a risk doesn’t pan out, the major negative impact on the companywould be the potential loss of revenue or membership — both ofwhich can be recovered with a plan and a commitment to outstanding service.
Hauser is a big believer in servant leadership, and he instills acommitment to service in each employee. Health insurance is acommodity in which price is fairly equal, which puts a heavyemphasis on a company’s level of service.
“The only thing that differentiates us is our service,” Hauser says.“Every opportunity that we have when we talk with a customer is anopportunity to either provide outstanding service or disappoint them.”
HOW TO REACH: SummaCare Inc., (330) 996-8410 or www.summacare.com
