Most insurance organizations are run by left-brain, rational, transactional leaders. Many are actuaries, underwriters, lawyers and former business line leaders. And that can be a good insurance management thing—as long as it’s not the only thing.

Transactional leaders love the numbers. They manage others with specific objectives. They prefer to stay the course. Experimentation and innovation can be daunting experiences for them, because change can be messy and unknown.

Example: A regional P/C carrier doesn’t evolve the product set, leads with relationships over tech investments, carefully manages the combined ratio, and grows slower than competitors.

Right-brained, emotional transformational leaders embrace change as a dynamic opportunity. They transform careers and organizations; perhaps a customer service rep is encouraged to become a producer. They are excellent communicators.

Example: A P/C carrier takes on a refresh of brand and culture messaging, experiments with InsurTech, encourages associates to learn new skills in different departments, and introduces surprising new products and processes to support agents.

Organizational evolution depends on transformational leadership, not transactional. But in the end, the smartest insurance organizations have a healthy blend of both management approaches to ensure the company is profitable and yet evolves the culture and business. And because these firms speak two “languages,” they of course rely on middle managers as translators.