Mark Flippen's Linkedin Analytics

The mentorship advice that can transform your career overnight ( for coaches and mentees ) Growing up in the 80s & 90s in the South, "being well-mannered" was the thing that all my early adult influences (parents, coaches, educators, spiritual gurus) were adamant about. "They'll take you far in life," all'd say. These were implied expectations. Non-negotiables. Yet no one really sat you down and explained why. They just constantly corrected you when you veered off course! Yesterday I was reminded that in the business world, especially for our next gen pros, "showing initiative" might be the single most important thing you can do to accelerate your growth. Taking ownership without being asked. Solving problems before they’re problems. Stepping up when it would be easier to step back. Or just chill. These actions will take you far in your business life. It's implied if you're on a team. Everyone expects it. Yet, no one really sits you down and explains that or shows you what it looks like in practice. I did that yesterday with a couple of my superstars that were waiting for direction. "What do you think we should do here?" I asked. "What approach would you take if I wasn't available?" "I trust your judgment…RUN with it." No one did this for us 20 years ago. It was implied. They course corrected us when we veered off course. Sometimes in an animated way! Times are different now. Coaching the next gen is different. For the better. By the end of the day, the transformation was remarkable. This team member went from asking permission to proposing solutions. From waiting for instructions to taking action. The wins are great. The growth of the business is fun. For the people on teams though... Nothing compares to those coaching moments when you see initiative happening in real time and know you've just handed someone the key that might unlock their entire career. That's the real reward of coaching. Of leadership. ✍️ What's your take on this? ♻️ Reshare if this is helpful. P.S. if you like this post you’ll love our newsletter. Join 1,000s receiving the top three events impacting global insurance markets. A 5 minute read delivered to your inbox every Friday morning.

Why is there a “hard truth,” to every point being made now? Were we all lying to each other before AI started writing for us? ✍️ What's your take on this? ♻️ Reshare if you’re tired of every post on LinkedIn having a “hard truth” revelation

a blog inspired by the first time I heard the legendary Pat Ryan speak...

When the mentee gives the mentor coaching… She turned up w these two quotes: "Start before you're ready. Don't wait for perfection. Start now and improve as you go." Marie Forleo "Sometimes you have to jump first and build your wings on the way down." Kourtney Kardashian​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ She knows I love quotes. I had to ask which one was Kourtney! Then, instead of asking me what she needed to do for the team. She volunteered: she needed to show more, INITIATIVE. When coaching young professionals it’s the trait I’ve found in all the high performers… Why does initiative matter so much? ✓ It demonstrates ownership ✓ Shows you're accountable ✓ It accelerates learning & growth ✓ Builds problem-solving muscles ✓ Shows your leadership potential Here's what I tell every mentee about taking initiative: → Prepare to fail → Get ready to come up short → Don't take it personally → Reflect and adapt As leaders, our job is to: ↳ Celebrate when they take ownership ↳ Provide autonomy for initiative to flourish ↳ Frame failure as learning, not punishment ↳ Model initiative in our own approach The professionals who master initiative don't wait for permission to create value. They just start. They iterate. They grow. Who's shown impressive initiative on your team recently? Tag them below! For the vets, what did I miss in the above?

The week’s three insurance events we think your C-Suite should be talking about… → AI now generates functional malware with minimal prompting ↳ Researchers created AI-powered ransomware that's "four errors away" from deployment. Is it opening up possible sophisticated attacks to non-technical criminals? _ _ _ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ → Shadow AI adoption threatens compliance. ↳ Our team wrote about work we did with a client to help them understand these risks. Specifically those being posed by their employees use of Chinese AI tools without an understanding of cross-border data implications that could trigger privacy and even regulatory issues. Are AI tools like DeepSeek and Manus creating these hidden risks? _ _ _ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ → Evan Greenberg, Chubb's CEO issued his annual letter to shareholders. We think it’s the gold standard in our industry. Mr. Greenberg touches on a number of issues moving the market. And one we’re particularly interested in: litigation funding, "turning legal claims into an asset class." ↳ “litigation costs are rising 9% annually while only 40¢ of every dollar reaches plaintiffs” A massive issue for our entire industry. _ _ _ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ If you’re new here? Each week our team analyzes 200+ insurance articles to deliver the most impactful insights for our financial institutions clients. Join the pride and thousands of financial institutions for the full write up and our now bi-weekly insights. Stay covered everybody! LION Specialty

The greatest threat to your career isn't AI…It’s neglecting these 12 timeless fundamentals (technology can never replace em) Everyone's talking about AI. Us included. A session with my mentees yesterday reminded me of what truly matters. Three decades in insurance. Countless market cycles. I've watched the rise and fall of "game-changers" that were supposed to make relationships obsolete. I've studied the 1%. Analyzed their habits. What separates them isn't their tech stack. It’s their obsession with mastering fundamentals. Here are the 12 timeless fundamentals that will determine your success in insurance, no matter how many shiny new AI tools flood your process! 1. Relationships → an ability to build genuine trust 2. Philosophies → develop your own core values 3. Expertise → nuanced judgment from years of doing the thing 4. Specialization → courage to say "this is who I serve, and this is who I don't." 5. Process → systematic approaches separate professionals from amateurs 6. Client-Service → anticipating needs before they arise (white glove service) 7. Competition → articulating why your approach delivers better outcomes 8. Reputation/Brand → it’s a world of infinite options, your professional identity is either your greatest asset or your biggest liability. There is no neutral. 9. Sales → the highest-paid skill in our industry. Period. 10. Wellness → sustainable performance requires personal balance 11. Adaptability → don’t resist change 12. Continuous Learning → stay obsessively curious about becoming more valuable to your clients What the leaders I’m hanging around with lately are saying: “AI tools should amplify these fundamentals, not replace them.” The real danger isn't ignoring technology. It’s allowing technology to distract you from mastering these fundamentals. ✍️ What would you add to this list? ♻️ Reshare if your network could benefit! And follow Mark Flippen for daily insurance insights!

When disconnection becomes your unfair advantage… Last week’s newsletter, “Why Digital Detox is Now a Fiduciary Responsibility,” became our most-read edition ever. ( see comments for link to edition ) No surprise why. The message struck a nerve. Executives across financial services are drowning in digital noise. When decisions are made through the fog of overwhelm, value suffers. As I was preparing my own annual detox… The team decided to veer away from our usual format of highlighting the top three articles shaping global insurance markets. We focused on the benefits of disconnecting for busy leaders. Our hot take? Disconnecting isn’t just self-care. It’s become sound governance. Leaders shared practical strategies, such as device-free strategic sessions and documented “recovery intervals” between major decisions. What’s most encouraging? Institutions are formalizing these practices within governance frameworks. Digital wellness has evolved from personal indulgence to material governance consideration. Cognitive clarity isn’t selfish. It’s strategic. How do you create mental space for better decision-making? Share your digital detox strategies below—we’d love to feature them in our next edition! ♻️ Reshare if your network could benefit! And follow Mark Flippen for daily executive insights… P.S. I ran with five concepts from last week’s newsletter in the attached 👇🏻

Is Chinese A.I. the riskiest thing your institution may be ignoring hoping nothing goes wrong? ( maybe, until now ) Your employees may already be using Chinese AI tools. Especially if you’ve heard any of them say Deepseek or Manus! Denial isn't risk management. Working with a Florida client recently we’ve developed a comprehensive framework to help regional and mutual insurers sort through the complex risks of Chinese AI technologies. One for any / all companies really. CFOs and General Counsels check this out… You should be implementing this TODAY because of what's at stake. LIONS’ 5-Dimension Risk Assessment Framework: 1. Data Privacy & Security Risk - Your customer data could be flowing to servers in China right now - Our framework includes scoring matrices and specific technical controls to implement IMMEDIATELY 2. Regulatory Compliance Risk - Cross-regulatory conflicts between US requirements and Chinese law - We've mapped the compliance gaps regulators may start examining 3. Geopolitical & Strategic Risk - Technological dependencies create hidden vulnerabilities when trade relations shift - Our scenario planning approach prepares you for sudden regulatory changes 4. Technical & Operational Risk - Integration complexity and black-box AI models create operational blind spots - We've developed resilience testing protocols specifically for insurance operations 5. Reputational & Ethical Risk - Your stakeholders expect transparency about AI usage - especially with foreign technology - Our framework includes communication strategies to maintain stakeholder trust The reality? Chinese AI adoption is happening with or without your approval. The question is whether you're managing it or just hoping nothing goes wrong. The smart institutions aren’t waiting for a breach or regulatory action. Our implementation guide and decision matrices can help you translate risk assessments into clear action plans... I'm scheduling 15-minute briefings with insurance executives this week to share specific findings relevant to regional carriers. We're also planning to release our complete 32 Step Chinese AI Risk Assessment Framework to ALL newsletter subscribers this Friday. This is the SAME framework our enterprise clients have paid thousands for - yours FREE with subscription. Comment "INFO" below or DM me to reserve your spot. ✍️ What's your take on this? ♻️ Reshare if your network could benefit! LION Specialty

your LinkedIn posts may become courtroom evidence, and the AI copyright case continuing to rip through the noise… The 3 events that caught our attention, in this weeks LION Specialty newsletter: → Thomson Reuters' victory sets a critical precedent. Using copyrighted materials to train AI without permission can now constitute infringement. Can you trace and document all your AI's training data? → USAA's 20-year battle over a Hurricane Katrina claim ended with a $15M punitive damage award After an initial offer of just $37,245 on a $2M policy. The lesson? Documentation is destiny. A good reminder for our insurance company clients to get their claims houses in order! → Your social media strategy might be writing checks your GC doesn’t want to cash! Employee posts are becoming evidence in misrepresentation claims. What you document today becomes evidence tomorrow. And courts are making it clear… …transparency isn't optional anymore. P.S. if a regulator asked your institution tomorrow, "show us exactly how your AI model determines approvals," could you provide a clear answer? If you want the summaries, along with our hot takes, the full analysis, and how we're advising our financial institution clients... Comment 'newsletter' below for access or sign up in my featured section. ✍️ What's your take on these events? ♻️ Reshare if helpful for your network… And follow me and our team for daily insights at Mark Flippen and LION Specialty Stay covered everybody!

Compliance alone isn’t the panacea to risk mgmt. In this week’s LION Specialty newsletter… → While you're checking compliance boxes, your security gaps may be widening. Regulators are fighting yesterday's war while current threats evolve. Credit: Joshua Goldfarb for one of the more thought provoking articles I’ve read in a while. → And after years of uncertainty, the IRS finally bring clear guidelines to micro-captives. Stay below 20% ownership by insureds, maintain proper loss ratios, and you can operate with reduced scrutiny. → AI reduces underwriting from days to just 12.4 minutes... Discrimination appears though. As the newest possible AI risk! And 27 states may have concerns about discrimination and bias when decisions happen this fast. ✍️ Your take on any of these? ♻️ Reshare if your network could benefit! And follow us for more daily insights: Mark Flippen Natasha I. Kiemnec, ARM and LION Specialty

when your own insurance forces executives to fight battles they never expected What it's NOT supposed to be: ↳ A distraction pulling leadership away from growth initiatives ↳ A reputation risk with stakeholders / policyholders watching closely ↳ A legal battle on multiple fronts - against your own carriers ↳ A source of sleepless nights wondering what other gaps exist Yet…that's exactly what happened to our client Steve. He's the CFO of a regional insurer. In the Midwest. Great dude! His company faced $2 million in uncovered exposure after their own carriers tried to deny a bad faith claim. + $50k in running monthly legal expenses! For two years, he wasn't just focused on his own business. He was fighting his own insurance carriers. "We thought we were covered," he said, staring at the denial letters in disbelief. the turning point… After exhausting traditional approaches for 20 months, Steve's team sought us out after his reinsurance broker suggested he speak to us. We had all worked together on several deals in our JLT days. They knew we could likely help. Steve was a bit beat up by it all. But, we breathed new wind in his sails. We implemented a simple two-part approach… ↳ damage control: we rolled up our sleeves, dug through the policy language, and found the ambiguities they'd missed that actually supported coverage ↳ strategic negotiation: we brought in more senior level constituents on the carrier side who understood the bigger picture and could make decisions the breakthrough in just four months… ↳ Full claim coverage secured ↳ $2M in exposure eliminated ↳ Legal disputes resolved ↳ Executives refocused on core business Steve's reflection says it all, “They didn't just fix our policy. They gave us a competitive edge we didn't have before." If you loved this case study, you'll love our blog that dropped today… "The CFO's No BS Guide to Mastering Your Own Insurance Coverage." Click the link in comments!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ And follow Mark Flippen for more daily insurance news and insights…

men built the insurance industry. Women (like my co-founder) are fixing it for the better, yet we could do more for them… That's what Natasha told a room full of executives last year. You could hear a pin drop. Someone laughed nervously. Then her data hit the screen: - Companies with women in leadership positions gain 3-5 percentage points higher ROE than the industry average (Swiss Re Institute, 2021) - Women-led startups deliver 35% higher ROI than those led by men (Gitnux Research, 2024) - Companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 39% more likely to outperform their peers (McKinsey, 2024) The laughter stopped. The insurance industry wasn't built for most. It was built by and largely for one demographic. In a bigone era. And it still shows up from time to time. On International Women's Day, I'm celebrating my brilliant co-founder, and the thousands of amazing women industry wide… I'm also acknowledging: Our industry needs women not because diversity looks good in company photos. It needs women because they deliver measurable business results. We need them as leaders. We need them as entrepreneurs. For women of the next generation, And a better future. We can do better though. - Women represent only 23% of insurance executives, 10% of CEOs, and just 8% of board chairs globally (Swiss Re Institute, 2021) - Out of every euro of venture capital invested in 2021, 91 cents went to all-male founding teams (KfW study, 2022) - Three-quarters (76%) of female health startup founders struggle to get insurance coverage for their businesses (Tokio Marine Kiln, 2024) The question isn't whether women are changing insurance. The question is whether your company will actively remove these barriers or continue to miss out on talent, innovation, and growth. Let’s celebrate today. But let’s pledge to do more tomorrow… ✍️ What's your take on this? ♻️ Reshare to support women in insurance --- Sources in comments below

Strategic disconnection isn't just self-care, it's the competitive leadership advantage we need ( the unsung hero of peak performance ) The most strategic business decision I'm making this quarter? Turning off my phone in Mexico. For my girls' spring break. And my first digital detox week since starting LION more than 20 months ago. Long overdue. IMHO all executives should do this... The average exec works approximately 58 hours per week, translating to roughly 10-11 hours per day. The intensity is expected. Only 6-8 hours a day are left. Like I do with most things, I dug into the research. The data shows we spend 61% of workdays in meetings, leaving just 2-3 hours for ourselves outside family time. (links 👇🏻) Add in our constant connectivity. Our time is constantly under attack. Digital detoxes have helped me: - reinvigorate cognitive performance - sharpen problem-solving instincts - replenish emotional resilience All critical leadership skills. My week offline isn't just vacation, it's deliberate strategy. My last digital detox gave me the mental space to reimagine our client service proposition, which will ultimately cut our brokers time-to-value by 40%. By disconnecting completely, I'm creating space for mental renewal, enhanced creativity, deeper relationships, and physical rejuvenation. Sometimes the most productive thing we can do is nothing at all. What's your relationship with digital detox? When was your last full day without digital interruptions? P.S. Tag someone who needs to hear this. We all know that colleague who hasn't unplugged since 2019.

$15,000,000 VERDICT UPHELD. Why This Katrina Case Is Sending Shockwaves Through Every Claims Department ( a case study for claims pros ) Last week, I watched a claims VP physically recoil as she reviewed the Mississippi Supreme Court's decision. "This could have been us," she vented. A $15,000,000 verdict on a $2,000,000 policy limit – upheld after 20 years of litigation. The most expensive claims handling mistake in decades? Nah. But a serious reminder. Review this one. Then review your own protocols. A single catastrophe claim from Hurricane Katrina just put the claims playbooks for carriers under the microscope. The initial offer? $37,245. The final cost? $15,000,000 plus 20 years of legal fees. This isn't ancient history or a theoretical risk. The Mississippi Supreme Court JUST upheld this verdict. The opinion was released days ago. We’ve been getting blown up a bit by our claims friends, since this piece last week in our newsletter. "Are our protocols sufficient?" asked one claims director. "This could happen to us!" whispered another. The court identified three critical vulnerabilities that every carrier should pay attention to: 1. Documentation standards that prevent misinterpretation of claims handling timing 2. Transparent handling and disclosure of all relevant technical reports 3. Settlement offer protocols based on objective evaluations DM me for our ‘Carrier Protection Framework’ used by many of the most respected insurers in the country. I'll be sharing exactly how forward-thinking carriers are protecting themselves from these verdicts in the thread below. 👇🏻 ✍️ What's your take on this? ♻️ Reshare if your network could benefit! --- P.S. Join 1,000+ insurance executives receiving our weekly compliance intelligence briefing. Your competitors are already subscribed.

My co-founder texts me this everytime we have a win! (Got it three times this week) Hard to compete against a team having fun! Quick… Share a win you had this week. Or a funny pic! Big or small Let’s celebrate! ♻️ Reshare if your network could use a laugh! Natasha I. Kiemnec, ARM

unpopular opinion: being purely "professional" on LinkedIn is a mistake. We're told to stick to "value-add content" for clients. Just what makes their lives better. Solves their problems. All they care about. But do we want relationships that are only transactional? The best prospects and clients want to know who we are as humans. Like the CFO of a massive global MGA operation I had dinner with this week. Great dude. Crushing it professionally. And interested in connecting as people than just talking business. These people become fans… ↳ repeat buyers ↳ give valuable referrals ↳ support beyond business My current approach? 50% thought leadership, 50% human connection. For example, my post about my wife and "winning the startup founders lottery" got 10x my normal engagement. Prospects referenced it. Not the service prop. Julie loved it, all that really matters. After 25 years in corporate America where everything was transactional, I'd rather hear about the Broadway play coming to your town. Over a nice dinner or lunch. If you don't have time for either, we're probably not the right fit. I can read your investor presentation. Your 10k. We can do that during office hours. Share about your kids, your cats/dogs, workouts, or stories about your grandmother. It connects with real humans. If you’re comfortable. Controversial? Maybe. Effective? Absolutely. Are you sharing your human side on LinkedIn? P.S. Join me in the comments! Share something you're into lately... I'm drinking coffee with these two knuckleheads who'd rather chase birds (Bonus points for pet pics!)

This is what 1000 pure barre classes looks like! (perfect discipline exemplified) When we observe someone's dedication in an area of life, especially when it's part of their fitness & wellness routine, we're really witnessing a window into their character. At its core. Pushing through on days when motivation is nowhere to be found. Showing up consistently when no one's watching. Over my 46 years this might be the most profound thing I've learned about life: Extraordinary achievements? They come from ordinary routines maintained with exceptional consistency. And when you choose a life partner who embodies this? Their discipline shapes not just their achievements, but the very foundation of your shared life. Her consistency fuels me. To strive to be better in all walks of life. "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with." - Jim Rohn’s “The Art of Exceptional Living” Jules, I’m lucky to have you as number one. Congrats on 1000, babe.