Case Study
New York Life InsurancELeaders with an infinite mindset understand the powerful necessity of flexibility in today’s ever changing landscape. They recognize the fertile soil of opportunity that exists during times of uncertainty. Mike Clark, Managing Partner of NY Life of Northern California, demonstrated this visionary leadership in his response to the challenges presented by COVID-19. He intuited that his team needed new skills to adapt to the changes created by the pandemic and to thrive in the “new normal.” Mike recruited Dr. Christina Spragg to develop and deliver a customized wellness and productivity program and the results were transformative.
Intro
How We Enhanced Mental Wellbeing & Productivity (and Supported Record-Breaking Profit)
When COVID-19 emerged it both exposed existing challenges in the offices at NY Life Insurance and created new ones. As the entire workforce transitioned to working from home it became apparent that new forms of support were needed. Many were struggling to manage changes resulting from the pandemic while also providing excellent service to their clients, maintaining a professional identity, and continuing to grow their business.
Details
Meeting An Unexpected Crisis With Tools That Redefined Company Culture
Challenge
As the pandemic necessitated a migration of NY Life Insurance’s agents into the virtual world and away from face-to-face meetings, many felt isolated and ill-equipped to foster deep connections with their clientele in this new medium.
Associates in every role experienced difficulty balancing working from home while simultaneously navigating other responsibilities such as child care and an uncertain financial landscape. Agents heard these same concerns echoed by their clientele and, at times, felt ill-equipped to ease their clients’ fears while holding their own uncertainties and responsibilities.
Understandably, there were concerns that the intense stress would result in decreased morale and wellness and increase levels of burnout. Mike Clark, Managing Partner of the Northern California office, expressed an urgency to provide his team with tools that would immediately support their mental wellbeing, while they navigated the uncertain future together.
Solution
Dr. Christina Spragg built and implemented a multi-pronged approach to support the emotional wellbeing of the entire team. First, Dr. Spragg delivered a 5 part “Mindset and Resilience” workshop series over the course of 6 months. The team attended virtual sessions where they practiced neuroscience-based tools that decreased reactivity to stress and expanded the psychological capacity for responding to the many rapid changes.
Simultaneously, the team met weekly in virtual small groups to practice exercises designed to foster a growth mindset, ground their nervous systems, grow grit through the hardships, improve their sleep quality, and deepen their self-awareness. Participants reported tremendous benefits.
Due to this success, Dr. Spragg was enlisted to design and implement a 2nd phase of the program to assist agents in their desire to re-focus on their career goals in 2021.
To support their work performance, Dr. Spragg delivered a 5 part “High Performance Habits” workshop series focused on mindset shifts, sharpening focus, mitigating procrastination, and cultivating confidence. The team continued to meet in their weekly small groups to deepen their learning and accountability. Again, participants indicated huge benefits from the program.
results
Reported improved wellbeing
95%
Reported a growth mindset shift
95%
Reported Increased Confidence
97%
Increased Productivity
97%
Increased revenue
$1M
Implementing the tools you gave us resulted in several agents in my small group having the best year they’ve ever had… off the charts! This program also created a very tight knit group of support amongst my colleagues when we needed it most. Your program gave me wellness tools I’ve never had before that have made a huge difference in my life and even the lives of my kids.
The program you created for our organization gave me a sense of balance and deepened my knowledge as a leader.
At the start of the pandemic we feared we’d lose some agents but, remarkably, everyone stayed. You gave us tools that deepend our engagement and vulnerability. Your impact is immeasurable and I’m forever grateful.
Your program has given me the time and space to consistently work toward cultivating a vision for what I want in my life. The strongest connection we have is to who we think we are. Your mindset coaching, breathing techniques, and visualization training have been extremely valuable. Everyone in my group has gotten alot out of this training.
Your mindset training has unleashed our new agents! A year ago, the same people who were getting by now have lofty goals and have taken off in accomplishing them.
I have seen great benefits from the trainings in: effective listening, training our attention and habits, and quieting the noise in the mind. This program has been fantastic and a great experience!
Testimonial
“I don’t know if you can put a price tag on this program. I don’t know if I even need to. Your program has redefined the culture of our office in many ways. You have equipped my team with valuable tools that have increased our mental elasticity. We’ve become more grounded and better able to support our clients. I’ve appreciated the true authenticity and relatability of the program and that your modules were tailored to situations that were occurring in real time.
80% of our work has to do with human behavior and the emotions around finance. There is a psychology to what we do that is overlooked in our industry. Now we are really diving into deeper self-awareness and understanding the inner processes of our clients.
At the start of the program no one knew what to expect but we were looking for something to sink our teeth into. This work has taken many of us out of our comfort zones and created an opportunity for transformative coaching. I’ve witnessed strong support networks growing between our agents as a result of the vulnerability we’ve all been able to embrace.
Every organization has blindspots and realities that they don’t want to address. This program has allowed us to identify our growth edges and put wraparound supports in place to address them. Your program will yield returns for years to come. I am humbled to say that even with the challenges of the pandemic, we have had very minimal turnover and we are currently on the brink of record profit. I am grateful for the support you’ve given us in becoming more adaptable and helping us seize opportunities for enhancing our wellness in this changing environment.”
Robert “Mike” Clark, Managing Partner, NY Life
Get In Touch
3067 Freeport Blvd. sAcramento, CA 95818
+1 512 843 1237
dr.cspragg@gmail.com