The summer, now thankfully well over, was a season of discontent. At town hall meetings to discuss health care reform across the United States, whackjobs drew Adolf Hitler mustaches on pictures of the president. On the floor of Congress, a member shouted "You lie" at Barack Obama.
Such flare-ups were not confined to the political arena. During a music video award show, one performer rudely interrupted another's moment in the spotlight, rushing onstage to suggest that someone else deserved the award more. He later apologized, but excused himself by explaining he is "real." And in sports, a normally polite professional tennis player threatened a line judge, saying with full expletives that she wanted to shove a ball down the official's throat. She apologized, but excused herself by saying the tirade showed the passion she brings to her job.
Yes, passions have been running high indeed. But there is a time for passionate civil disobedience and a time for civil discourse. Let me suggest that now we need more of the latter.
No doubt there have been bitter disappointments from the direction health care reform has taken, but there have also been bitter disappointments with the status quo. As benefit advisers, you certainly heard many of them expressed as clients got their 2010 rate quotes, and employees learned about the latest cost-sharing measures during open enrollment.
In speaking to broker/consultants this fall, including the many who turned out for the Employee Benefit Adviser Summit in September, I learned two things. First, advisers feel the direction of change went seriously off track by focusing on insurance market reform instead of true health care reform. And second, they are perfectly able to improvise, adapt to and overcome nearly any business conditions, provided that someone simply tells them what the rules of the game are going to be.
That determination to prevail is what clients will most need help with in coming months. Change, for better or worse, is inevitable. We can like it or dislike it, curse or embrace it, but things will change, no matter what. The benefits industry needs heroes - advisers who can rise above the petulance of recent months and lead us in positive new directions.
By all means, keep your passion. You can raise hell without being hateful. Be passionate advocates of your clients and their employees, but do so without impugning the dignity, intelligence or humanity of others. Don't bad-mouth the competition or benefit vendors. Let professionalism and zeal in pursuit of solutions for your clients be the hallmark of your business. Keep it real in your own way, and watch the rewards of civility come around to you.
