Sometimes, you hear a phrase and it won't let you go. That combination of words burrows deep down in your brain somewhere between the logical and emotional parts of your consciousness, buried for the moment, but just waiting to explode and take.

For me, I had that experience in late 2018, and it hasn't let go. At least not yet… "The price of relevance is fluency."

Yep. It's yours now too. Those words from Anil Dash are both yours and mine to deal with now.

Anil was writing about culture, power, public platforms, speech, language, criticism, and the age-old phenomenon of change that has been accelerated due to upheaval we experience today as the results of our technologically connected society.

And, the same thing happening in our microcosm society that I commonly refer to as 'broker world."

I'm privy to many conversations and perspectives thanks to the different networks and cohorts of brokers, thought leaders and cherished peers that I'm lucky enough to talk with every day. And there is a common theme that arises over and over again: "How will I survive the next big change?"

This uncertainty has been voiced in various ways that range from technology to talent acquisition to knowledge, and even just basic personal fears about our capacity to adapt.

"The price of relevance is fluency."

To stay relevant and continue to provide value to your clients, immersion in the culture, language, and society at large is not optional.

There was a time when technology was a layer we used as a tool to perform a task, but technology is now a layer upon which we live, and it goes deeper than any task or any specific software. Technology has become part of the fabric of our nature, rivaled only by relationships, air, water, and food.

There was a time when geographical differences and nuances were understood as easily as gender and religious backgrounds, but that time has passed to the point that attentive listening and clarifying conversations are necessary to understand our clients. Today, we must shed the baggage of our assumptions from the past that now fail us and keep us from becoming the advisors that our neighbors and community deserves.

"Broker world" also faces the challenge of a cultural attitude and societal undertone that we as the American people feel hopeless and powerless in the fight for our earnings and extremely uncared for in an impersonal health care system.

To be completely dismissive of the Medicare for All movement is a blind spot that many of us are susceptible to. But if we don't engage with the problems driving the huge dissatisfaction with today's health care system, we will completely lose relevance.

We face a huge task that will take a lifetime to achieve.

Fortunately, when you look in the eyes of those whom we serve, a lifetime of improvement is just the minimum effort they deserve.

We can do better. Our clients deserve better.

Our clients deserve relevant advice, and the price is fluency with today's and tomorrow's culture.

Bret Brummit is the founder of Generous Benefits, an employee benefits firm that measures each engagement by the question "Did we improve them?"

Instant Insights /

Fear, relevance and the future of brokers

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