Kyle Anthony is the president of Lockton Ohio. He is also a business leader with more than 20 years of experience in various departments.
For his work at Lockton Ohio, Kyle Anthony brings his vast experience in “leadership, sales, client management, analytics and underwriting experience in the human capital, employee benefits, total rewards, and risk management.”
Lockton Ohio has much to gain from Kyle Anthony’s leadership. He is proud to lead his team in leveraging “innovation, culture and expertise to consistently push boundaries, think bigger, and explore further than the competition in the market.”
Before Lockton Ohio, Kyle Anthony started his career as a consultant with Behnke & Company. He helped grow the “boutique firm into a formidable agency in the Midwest.”
Kyle Anthony joined a “top three global insurance broker” in 2010. He expanded their business as well.
Likewise, Kyle Anthony has also worked as a “director of private equity, national accounts and affinity programs for one of the nation’s largest independent brokerage firms.”
Besides working for Lockton Ohio, Kyle Anthony is also a thought leader and a “regular panel member, speaker and contributor.” He speaks on various industry topics.
Kyle Anthony has also received recognition from several publications, including Crain’s Cleveland Business, Business Insurance, and Insurance Daily News.
Check out more interviews with insurance industry leaders here.
You are never always right.
Jerome Knyszewski: Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey? Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?
Kyle Anthony: Absolutely, we’ve had our share of challenges along the way!
As the President of Lockton Ohio, it was my responsibility to establish and grow our presence in a new market — I think of it of as our own startup or “business within a business” with the incredible support of an established brand at Lockton.
If starting up a new business isn’t enough of a challenge — take into consideration that we launched in March 2020, the first month the world turned upside down!
COVID’s impact on the business of our clients and personal lives of our clients and team a series of stumbling blocks during our first year in business that led to some setbacks.
Frankly, opportunities we anticipated bringing on board early in our journey did not materialize, and in some cases — the reason why some business elected not to hire our team felt like a punch in the stomach.
But here we stood, a small but mighty team in a new office and new market. We knew there wasn’t any turning back, so we needed to get creative and make it work.
Jerome Knyszewski: Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things one should know in order to lead a company from Good to Great? Please share a story or an example for each.
Kyle Anthony:
- You are never always right: understanding that leadership is about providing people a platform where it is safe and comfortable to innovate, improve and challenge is what great leaders are able to do in order to bring a company from good to great.
- When things go wrong, it is the leader’s responsibility. When things go right, celebrate your team.Leaders are the first to get recognition for success, but leaders of great organizations understand they are the face of the frontline.
It really does take an entire team to produce great performance.
- Constantly network: even if there aren’t open positions, never stop searching for new talent.Find a way to bring them on board, learn from them, and allow them to contribute.
- Balance a healthy, but present paranoia: never stop thinking that there are points to improve on.Always look for ways to innovate, and provide solutions that go beyond the client’s expectations.
- Encourage diversity and inclusion: the insurance industry is one that continues to struggle with diversity and inclusion.Lockton has taken incredible strides to make changes, because they won’t happen on their own.
Having diverse talent that looks like your clients is an important distinction to help great companies move forward.
You need to have clarity around what the north star is, and the length of time it will take to get there.
Jerome Knyszewski: What are the most common mistakes you have seen CEOs & founders make when they start a business? What can be done to avoid those errors?
Kyle Anthony: I think a new leader or CEO can oftentimes be overwhelmed with the potential of “what if”.
You need to have clarity around what the north star is, and the length of time it will take to get there.
Ask yourself: what objectives do you need to achieve along the way and what milestones do you have to check in on to make sure you are strategically aligned with where you want to be going?
It is so important to develop a loose framework for a ten year plan. That plan will help you dedicate time towards critical priorities.
All in all, develop your ultimate objective, and make sure your team is committed to it. Not being able to say no is not true leadership.
By the way, I have personally made these mistakes dozens of times.
It’s very difficult to have the discipline to say this is who we are, this is how we are going to get it done and this is how we will stay true to that vision.
Jerome Knyszewski: How can our readers further follow you online?
Kyle Anthony: You can follow me on LinkedIn, or listen to Lockton Ohio’s podcast “One Step Ahead.”
You can also visit the Lockton Ohio website.
Jerome Knyszewski: This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this!
