Let’s Just Go To the Beach

I have to tell you, in spite of the fact that economists and pundits everywhere are calling this recession a done deal, what I am seeing and hearing is that things are still pretty tough out there.  I don’t know any organization (including insurance companies, technology vendors, financial services firms, service providers, or even associations) that is not still sweating bullets over what this year will hold in terms of a tangible recovery.

I was pretty young at the time of the last recession, and I had a significantly different point-of-view (being eight years old will do that to you), but I distinctly remember gas lines and talk of my parents’ friends losing jobs, inflation and exclamations of “What’s a body to do?”  I think those conversations are still going on behind closed doors.  Every time I check my email or look at the latest LinkedIn recommendations, I find new friends and colleagues who are back on the job market, and the talks of budget cuts have simply gone underground, they haven’t disappeared altogether.

It makes one tempted to stick head in sand, instead of head in hands, and wait for the whole thing to be over.  Maybe we should all just go to the beach.

As luck would have it, while the beach may sound like an attractive and totally viable option some days, it’s not reality.  Without some hard work and diligent leadership, many companies today will not survive this financial crisis.   Fortunately, there is no shortage of advice for IASA members looking for pointers about what may lie ahead in 2010.  Our Winter Forecast Section, appropriately titled “Turning the Corner,” provides some optimistic views and proactive steps you can take today to get your company on the right track. These insights, and contact information for authors of all the articles, beginning on page 13.

And, Dennis Sullivan, CEO of The Robert E. Nolan Company, provides us with a timely look (as the battle rages on in Washington D.C. over healthcare, a possible public option and how to fund the whole shebang) into the leadership of a health insurance provider with an interview of Joe Nagle, president and CEO of Delta Dental of Rhode Island. The story begins on page 24 and continues on the IASA website (www.iasa.org).

While there is no doubt in my mind that the information provided in this issue of the Interpreter is valuable, actionable, and possibly even able to motivate you in a proactive direction, I’m looking at about 14 inches of snow outside my window…the beach still sounds pretty good from where I’m sitting.

Jennifer Overhulse-King