Larry Lambert has focus.
That might be an understatement, but it may also be the best way to explain how this highly esteemed professional is able to maintain a thriving practice despite devoting at least a third of his time to industry and charitable organizations. Larry M. Lambert, CLU, CFP, RFC, has been giving back to the industry and his community for decades, working tirelessly to help people reach their full potential.
On Sept. 15, a veritable “who’s who” of industry leaders gathered in Florida to “give back” to Larry. Lambert was honored as the 68th recipient of the John Newton Russell Memorial Award — the highest award bestowed upon an individual by the insurance industry — during a black tie dinner event held in conjunction with the 2009 National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) Convention and Career Conference in Orlando.
The award recognizes sustained and meritorious service to the life and financial advising industries. Award recipients are selected by a committee comprised of officials from several life insurance and financial services organizations, past award recipients and NAIFA past presidents.
Lambert, chairman and owner of LBL Insurance Services Inc. in Long Beach, Calif., has been in the business for more than 40 years. He started as an agent with Penn Mutual Life in Wichita, Kan., in 1965, and moved to Long Beach in 1972 as a general agent of the Long Beach Agency. Larry and his wife and business partner Debra, married for 25 years, started insurance and financial services firm LBL Group in 1980. The company provides sophisticated services in the areas of estate planning, employee benefits, wealth accumulation, retirement planning, business continuity planning and asset management.
Business, Lambert says, is good. “We’re busy. We’re doing a lot of marketing in our company. We’re aggressively looking for new customers.” Lambert says. “Whenever there is adversity out there, there is opportunity. We’re getting good referrals and support from current clients. It’s a great time to solve needs. We can really help people understand their needs.”
LBL Group utilizes what Lambert calls “The Essential Care Process” to help LBL associates learn more about the real needs of individual clients and prospects. Armed with answers to a series of questions before meeting with prospects, “it generates a lot of activity,” Lambert says.
He dislikes the word “delegate,” but that is exactly what he does very efficiently with his staff of 25, which has also undergone leadership training via the in-house “LBL Academy” on an annual basis dating back to the mid-1980s. “I am able to bring in our associates in a very effective way. I’ve got great people around me. I can ‘divvy up’ the work.”
In doing so, he has created an environment where young people can come in and thrive. Many have stayed on for a long time.
Building leaders
Sure he’s a great producer. He’s a qualifying and life member of the Million Dollar Round Table, Top of the Table and Court of the Table. But that’s not what earned him this year’s JNR award. That would be his remarkable commitment to volunteering his talents to industry organizations, which stretches all the way back to his early days in the business. Lambert served at the local and state levels for NAIFA on numerous committees, on the board of trustees, and as president of NAIFA-Long Beach and NAIFA California. In 1993, Lambert was elected to the NAIFA national board of trustees and was president of the organization in 1998-99. Lambert is also a charter member of the Association of Health Insurance Agents (AHIA) and a member of the International Association of Financial Planners.
Driving his interest in industry involvement is a desire to help people live up to their full potential, and helping them become better leaders. That started back when he was a General Agent for Penn Mutual. As a General Agent, part of his job was to figure out who could become the next management person — who will be the new leader?
“I wanted to key in on helping people grow into their roles,” Lambert says. “Mentoring for me has always been about seeing people as they could be – not as they are right now. I think people have more talent than they are using.”
His enthusiasm is contagious, and he tries to impact as many young people in the industry as he can. “You’ll never know what this business can do for you unless you give it a chance.”
Many years ago, he perceived a lack of leadership training available in the industry, and set about doing something about it. He got his chance as NAIFA president in 1999, when he convinced the board to create the Leadership Development Task Force, which would become known as the Leadership in Life Institute (LILI). Ten years later, more than 1,500 NAIFA members have gone through the six-month LILI program, which is designed to foster personal growth, enhance business practices and develop skills necessary for effective leadership. Many of the LILI “graduates” have gone on to become involved in key roles for industry organizations.
Lambert remains heavily involved in the program today, serving as the state chair and lead moderator for LILI in California along with being a member of the national LILI subcommittee for 2009.
Energy and focus
Lambert grew up on a farm in Iowa, and benefitted from observing the unselfish actions and work ethic of his father. “His energy level was infectious,” Lambert says of his father. And the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree.
“I’ve been blessed with a fairly high energy level,” Lambert says. His own kids once presented him with a T-shirt on his birthday which said: “I have no ‘off’ button.”
Lambert has a love for the business that helps him keep his sharp focus, and makes it easy for him to get out of bed every morning. “I get up every day at 5:30 a.m. not because I have to but because I want to.”
How has he become so effective and efficient? Lambert offers three simple reasons:
“I have focus.”
“I have a lot of energy.”
“I don’t let time-wasters creep into my schedule.”
Lambert estimates that about 35% of his time today is spent on volunteer work, leaving 65% for his own business. By his own recollection, that ratio was reversed back when he was NAIFA president, making it even more of a challenge to keep his production flowing. But he credits that intense ability to concentrate with allowing him to accomplish everything he needed to do to keep the business running smoothly despite severe time constraints. “When it was sales time, I was so focused,” he recalls, and he knew then (as he still does today) exactly what numbers he needs to hit to prevent any drop in income. Doing this also allows him to take time away without guilt, “because I know I have done the work.”
His grown children have all followed him and Debra into the insurance business, and they related some telling stories about their father during a video presentation as part of the JNR award ceremony. For example, he loves meeting people and has an amazing recall – he not only remembers each person he meets, but he remembers something about them as well. And whenever he visits a Starbucks, Lambert insists on buying any policeman, fireman or member of the military a cup of coffee just as a small way of saying “thank you.”
The guy just keeps giving back.