“That's the hard thing about hard things—there is no formula for dealing with them." That's a quote from Ben Horowitz, Silicon Valley entrepreneur, venture capitalist and author of the New York Times bestselling book, “The Hard Thing About Hard Things."

In the book, Horowitz breaks down the lessons he's learned over the course of his prolific career in tech. It's a book by a CEO for CEOs, but one of its biggest takeaways is relevant for leaders of all levels: When it comes to hard things, there are no easy answers.

This lesson is especially fitting for insurance agency leaders who, over the last year, have navigated yet another unprecedented challenge impacting the entire independent agency channel.

According to Liberty Mutual research from early 2024, 83% of agents said that the market was the hardest market they had experienced in their career meaning that, last year, 4 in 5 agents experienced something they had never experienced before.

Most leaders not only navigated market conditions they had never personally experienced, they also did so while leading a workforce that hadn't either—a workforce that was busier, under more pressure and dealing with more stress than ever.

When it comes to leadership, the greatest lessons are the ones that are the hardest earned. While wisdom and advice from others can help us focus on what's important, hindsight and personal experience are the only things that are truly indelible.

Here are some hard questions I'm reflecting on that agency leaders can think about too: 

1) “What do we stand for?" Whether they're codified or not, every company has a set of values. Values show up in everything we do: what we choose to prioritize, how colleagues treat one another, and how customers experience us. They're the principles that guide our work and shape our culture.

In hard times, our values are always challenged. Did we as a business—and personally as leaders—show up in the ways we wanted to? Did our values evolve and change in response to external factors? And is that a good or bad thing? 

2) “What do we do best?" When market conditions are good, it can feel like a greenfield opportunity to explore new markets, innovate and expand the business's footprint. But there's nothing like industry headwinds to put a magnifying glass on our strengths and our flaws. It's a time to either double down on the things you already excel in or pivot to better address the needs of your customers. 

It's also a time to reflect on the strength of our value proposition. What do we do better than anyone else? Are we over or under-indexing for these things? What do we want to be known for this year, next year, in 10 years and beyond?

3) “Does our culture make people better?" Taking care of people will look different for every leader and every business. But ultimately, a business can't deliver on the promises it makes to its customers unless it first delivers on the promises it makes to its employees.

Times of change can serve as opportunities to bring a fresh perspective to people and culture. In what ways did we support employees? Where did we excel and where did we fall short? Do employees feel more connected to our mission and vision today than they did yesterday?

Leadership is a journey, and we're all better for the wisdom learned from the hard market. Reflections on those lessons will keep us moving forward on that journey without forgetting the hard things we've already done. “There are no shortcuts to knowledge, especially knowledge gained from personal experience," Horowitz said.

Because that's the hard thing about hard things—and hard markets.

Luke Bills is president of independent agent distribution at Liberty Mutual and Safeco Insurance.