NCACC Risk Management trustees focus on governance training

Five members of the NCACC Risk Management Pools Board of Trustees participated in the 2008 Governance and Leadership Conference, an educational initiative of the Association of Governmental Risk Pools (AGRiP) that was held in New Orleans in October.

New Hanover County Chairman Bobby Greer, Edgecombe County Commissioner Viola Harris, Martin County Manager Russell Overman, Brunswick County Risk Manager Eileen Gardner, and Orange County Director of Central Services Pam Jones – all members of the RMP Board – attended, along with NCACC Risk Management Director Lester J. Nixon and Deputy Director Patrice Roesler.

Nixon is a member of the AGRiP Board of Directors.

Highlights of the three-day conference included a 3-hour workshop presented by best-selling author Stephen M.R. Covey based on his book, The Speed of Trust. According to Covey, trust is the basis of the new global economy. Through this workshop, trustees explored the value that trust plays in establishing relationships with clients, employees, constituents and members.

“It is the essential ingredient of any high performance successful business,” said Covey. “Trust can help public pool organizations forego time-killing, bureaucratic check-and- balance processes that often replace trust in relationships.”

As a part of the session, Nixon and Roesler paired to discuss the differences in productivity when working with those whom you trust compared to those in whom you have little confidence. Harris, Jones and Gardner combined to discuss the core characteristics of credibility: integrity, intent, capabilities, and results.

In addition to the Covey workshop, Nixon participated as a presenter in the workshop “Workers’ Compensation has become a … Zero-Sum Game.” This session explored alternative fee arrangements that might prove useful if the next hard market results in doctors refusing workers’ compensation patients.

Nixon, who assumed management of the NCACC Risk Management Program a year ago, is a member of the Public Risk Management Association, the American Society of Safety Engineers, and the Society of Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters.

NCACC trustees also attended special sessions on conducting Board self-assessments, how to build and communicate an effective marketing strategy, and providing legal assistance to pool members through pre-claim counseling, review of discipline and discharge documentation, and other issues.

AGRiP was formed in 1998 as an organization for public entity risk and benefits pools in North America. AGRiP’s annual fall conference is dedicated to a governance and leadership curriculum for members of public risk management boards of trustees.