“The soft skills are going to become the hard advantage of your teams,” Rasmussen said. “Those human skills are what is going to separate those of us that thrive [with connection]. Not [those] who are trying to douse people with the future’s equivalent of spam emails.”

While technology is important, Rasmussen shared the three C’s leaders need to master in order to be successful in today’s benefits industry: curiosity, connection and change.

Asking better questions

Rather than simply presenting information on new tools for employers to implement or offering up products as solutions, Rasmussen wants leaders in the industry to ask deeper questions to get to the root of business problems.

“If you have a window of time with a client, are you more concerned with understanding what’s going on in their business, or are you more concerned about ‘I got to get their signature on this paper before I leave this meeting?’” Rasmussen asked. “You know who can tell the difference between those different approaches? The prospect can.”

Each quarter Rasmussen has his company read a book of the quarter to help develop these soft skills. His recommendation for asking better questions: Power Questions by Andrew Sobel and Jerold Panas.

Personalization is not connection

Many of the important soft skills leaders should develop are not anything AI can replace or mimic, Rasmussen told the audience.

“Relationships are the kind of things that bridge over some of the tough times,” Rasmussen said. “AI can prep an email to be more personalized, but it cannot know when somebody is struggling with depression. Or when someone needs a warm hug.”

Lead through change

The last “C” of leadership is change: a skill that is hard to master. At his company, Rasmussen has his team work through exercises that automatically change their way of thinking. He asks his team: “If we can never recruit another broker ever again, how would you stay in business?” and the reverse “If you could only sell to new brokers, what would you do?”

It’s brainstorming sessions that ask these questions that really get his team to think differently about their work. How can they convince their clients to change if they aren’t able to think differently, as well? Developing this skill with his team has helped his team grow and better anticipate the change that inevitably comes in today’s world.

“Those are the kind of skills so worthy of us investing in right now because the bots may be coming,” Rasmussen said. “But they’ve got nothing on you because you are irreplaceable.”