Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com May 2, 2016 • Hartford Business Journal 21 BIZ BOOKS Simple 'smartcuts' to achieve success easier "S imple is the New Smart — 26 Success Strategies to Build Confidence, Inspire Yourself and Reach Your Ultimate Potential" by Rob Fazio (Career Press, $15.99). There are no shortcuts to success; but there are smartcuts that make success easier to achieve. Fazio's 26 smartcuts are rooted in "See it, Say it, Start it." See it creates the vision of what you're learning or try- ing to achieve. Say it relates to how clearly and concisely you communicate that vision to yourself and others. Start it involves the habits you adopt that drive the actions needed to learn and achieve. Of the 26, these top my list: 2. "Put doubts in your doubts." The fear of failure raises the specter of doubt in everyone. Doubt controls inde- cision and inactions, which erode both self-confidence and competence. Think about them as emotional obstacles preventing achievement — obstacles over which you have total control. Exercise that control by thinking "How will I … ?" rather than "I can't." The … in "How will I … ?" represents doing something. The more you do, the less doubt you have about doing even more. 4. "Helplessness, the Victim Mentality." While doubt involves emotional obstacles that you can control, helplessness deals with things outside of your control. Recog- nize that while you don't control the situation, you always con- trol your response to it. Victims disengage and feel powerless; owners engage through adap- tion. They identify the skills they have and how those skills will help them. Just as important, they identify other skills they need to deal with the situation and acquire them. 8. "The blind side." Blind spots are things you say, do or demonstrate that have negative impacts of which you're unaware, but are apparent to those with whom you work. It takes courage to ask others about your blind spots. Asking "how can I improve" questions will lead to honest feed- back because you're acknowledging that there's room for improvement. Responding positively to their feedback shows you value their input. This increases mutual trust and respect, which ensures that channels of communication remain open. The more open they are, the less likelihood blind spots will inhibit productivity. 14. "Innovation evaporation." Don't think of innovation in terms of "the next big thing." See it as an integral part of the pro- cess of continuous improvement — for both you and the firm. As part of that process, it makes change the norm. While it may involve doing different things, it may involve doing things differ- ently. By asking how we can work better, faster, smarter, etc., you create space for all to think differently. Sharing thoughts with a group lets others add their perspectives, which leads to an expanded version of "what could happen if." Group input = group buy-in, which make the change easier to sell. 26. "The crazy and the lazy." What should you do when your motivation meets the resistance of naysayers who prefer the same- old methods? First, recognize that you're not going to persuade them. Limit interactions with them. Second, identify those with open minds and engage them around finding solu- tions, not carping about problems. Successful engagement involves three steps: 1. Commu- nicate your message with clarity. 2. Establish common ground by asking questions about the effects of the problem on their productivity. When someone identifies "what's in it for me," she/he becomes an ally. 3. Close conversations with a quick recap of what was discussed and what the next steps are (including responsibil- ity and timetable). The more allies you have, the less likelihood naysayers will be able to derail the solution. Fazio's message: If you want to increase your momentum, get out of your way. n Jim Pawlak is a nationally syndicated book reviewer. Jim Pawlak OTHER VOICES CT could benefit from NY's self-insurance restrictions By Michael W. Ferguson C onnecticut might soon be overrun by New Yorkers — and their small businesses. On Jan. 1, the Empire State effectively prohibited small firms within its borders from providing their employees with health benefits via a popular practice called self-insurance. That practice is alive and well in Con- necticut. Just recently, the state insurance commissioner issued improved regulations protecting firms that choose to self-insure. That's good news not just for Connecti- cut's small business- es but for thousands of workers with self-insured plans. The commissioner's actions could even benefit the Connecti- cut economy — if they attract New York firms that have long self-insured across the border. Today, more than 57 percent of Connecti- cut's private-sector workers are covered by employer-sponsored, self-insured plans. These entities pay their employees' medical expenses out of their own pockets. Instead of purchasing conventional, one-size-fits- all insurance coverage, self-insured firms can adjust their health benefits to meet the unique needs of their workers. Self-insurance has become especially valu- able in the wake of the Affordable Care Act, as the cost of traditional health plans has surged. In the past year, premiums shot up 21 percent for some individual and small-group plans in Connecticut. Businesses that self-insure can shield themselves from this volatility. Self-insurers still have unpredictable costs to account for, though. If just one employee contracts cancer or a rare disease, for exam- ple, the astronomical medical bills that result could imperil a smaller company's finances. To hedge against this possibility, many smaller self-insured businesses buy stop-loss insurance. Once their medical expenses per employee reach a certain level — known as the "attachment point" — the stop-loss policy kicks in and reimburses the business for any additional medical costs. Sometimes, employers will agree to high- er attachment points for their higher-risk employees in exchange for lower premiums on their stop-loss policies. That can save them real money. Employers also then have a significant incentive to keep their staffers healthy — espe- cially those with potentially costly medical conditions. After all, they're on the hook for a greater share, if not all, of the cost of their care. In cases like these, self-insured business- es will offer excellent preventive care and disease-management programs to address workers' health problems early on — rather than down the line, when they may be more serious and more expensive to treat. An employer with a diabetic employee, for instance, could create a wellness program that helps the employee manage his or her condition. The employer could pay a special- ist to do monthly check-ups, hire a nutrition- ist to create a dietary plan, and cover all the employee's medical supplies. That could keep the worker healthy — and allow the company to avoid hefty, unexpect- ed and preventable medical bills. All in all, it's a good deal for Connecticut's job creators. If their workforces stay healthy, self-insured businesses can save big on medi- cal expenses. In less healthy years, stop-loss insurance guarantees that the company can continue to provide great benefits without breaking the bank. Despite all these advantages, some states have begun to attack self-insurance by tar- geting the stop-loss coverage that keeps it financially feasible. Connecticut's neighbor to the west has pur- sued particularly destructive policies. New York already forbids small businesses — those with 50 or fewer full-time employees — from buying stop-loss insurance. On Jan. 1, the state expand- ed that definition — barring companies with up to 100 full-timers from the stop-loss market. The self-funded benefits that many New York businesses in this latter group have been furnishing for decades became unten- able overnight. Fortunately, Connecticut has avoided New York's missteps. State Insurance Commission- er Katharine Wade recently issued a bulletin allowing self-insurers' to create more flexible health-benefits plans. Without that freedom, stop-loss insurance would become much more expensive — and potentially unaffordable. n Michael W. Ferguson is president of the Self- Insurance Institute of America. Michael W. Ferguson ▶ ▶ Don't think of innovation in terms of 'the next big thing.' See it as an integral part of the process of continuous improvement. ▶ ▶ Self-insurance has become especially valuable in the wake of the Affordable Care Act, as the cost of traditional health plans has surged. In the past year, premiums shot up 21 percent for some individual and small-group plans in Connecticut. Businesses that self-insure can shield themselves from this volatility.

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