Heath Ritenour: Leaning Into Vulnerability

Welcome Back to Gratitude Through Hard Times! You’ll learn on this episode how one of the nation’s insurance leaders is fueled by authenticity and vulnerability, superpowers available to all of us if we’re brave enough to go there. In the case of our guest, Heath Ritenour, a bout with cancer proved an opportunity to drop the corporate mask in favor of prioritizing human connection among the 1,500 employees and 72,000 customers affiliated with Insurance of America (IOAUSA), among the nation’s largest private agencies. We learn about how Heath came to embrace the family business, founded by his parents, and carve out a leadership style that has supported exponential growth. As he explains to Host Chris Schembra, Heath has reaped profound rewards through the practice of gratitude, personally and in the workplace context. He doesn’t bother with the posturing and business armor so many of us reflexively wear, looking instead for those human places where relationships flourish. It’s a formula that attracts and retains great talent and cements loyalty among customers in direct proportion. “The transformational side of building deeper relationships and being open, of being connected with your team, is more growth, more profit and a happier, more cohesive team,” says Heath. And that’s exactly how things have played out at Orlando-based IOA’s 60 locations and counting. Empathy is woven into the corporate fabric and serves as an invitation for growth through hard times. So go ahead! Be brave. Drop the mask and make that shift. When we remember to witness life’s blessings, we are generating more of the same. It’s all a question staying mindful, says Heath: “It’s not what you gotta do but what you get to do!” Want to follow what the thought leaders at IOAUSA are up to? You can find their blog  at this link. You can also learn all about their corporate 1° Difference philosophy by clicking here. If you’d like to learn more about Chris and his 7:47 Virtual Gratitude Experience or subscribe to our newsletter, please visit this link. Click hereto hear more fascinating conversations with Fortune 500 CEOs, professional athletes and entertainerswho have shared their human stories on Gratitude Through Hard Times. KEY TOPICS:If you could give credit or thanks to one person in your life that you don’t give enough credit or thanks to – that you’ve never thought to thank – who would that be and why? Coach Fred, a recently deceased high school football coach who was tough but also helped Heath learn to prioritize his commitments in business – and life!Shifting Mindset: How thoughtful, deep conversations with an early mentor helped Heath reorder his sense of what really mattered in life (well beyond girls, partying and football!).About Authenticity: A look at the sense of trust and honesty Heath’s high school football coach cultivated and how it enabled the younger man to embrace enduring values.Leaning Into Vulnerability: Why Heath has come to understand that being transparent, even where we feel weak or challenged, is integral to establishing real trust with teams.Getting Real: About Heath’s bout with cancer and how that journey became an opportunity to shed the posturing, discard the corporate mask and lead with empathy.Tip of the Hat to Mom & Dad: What it looks like to develop a business based on advocacy, partnership and consultative advice and how Heath ultimately took the baton.If Not You, Who? How Heath came to a spiritual understanding that he had something to bring to his family business and clientele.Exponential Growth: About the organi