11 minute read
Letter To Our Shareholders
KRIS SEALE | PRESIDENT & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
As we entered 2021, we were facing the resurgence of COVID-19—with a new variant. We were praying that the United States economy would not be shut down again, as occurred in 2020. But how the year would play out was a mystery. We continued to plan and work as if the pandemic would subside and business would return to some sense of normalcy. In addition, we continued our focus on L-E-O (Love Each Other). Our attitude toward moving forward with our business and our emphasis on L-E-O would prove to be the secret of our success in 2021.
As I reflected on 2021 and the success we had, I remembered a book that I read several years ago called The Most Excellent Way to Lead by Perry Noble. This book transformed the way I interpreted 1 Corinthians 13 – what many people refer to as “the love chapter.” If you have ever attended a wedding ceremony, you have likely heard a verse or two quoted from this passage. However, The Most Excellent Way to Lead reasons that there may be another purpose for “the love chapter.” Mr. Noble had an interesting revelation that I want to share with you. He said, “In 1 Corinthians 12, the emphasis of Paul’s writing to the church is about spiritual gifts, leadership, and the importance of working together. In 1 Corinthians 14, he continues this line of reasoning as he talks about leaders sounding a clear call for their followers. But right in the middle of these two chapters, we find 1 Corinthians 13. It is a short section (just 13 verses), tucked between these two leadership chapters. It seemed like Paul was writing about leadership, and then he paused and thought, ‘Hmm, maybe I should write something Christians can use in their wedding ceremonies one day!’”
The author continued by saying, “But the Bible wasn’t originally separated by chapters and verses (those were added later to help people find certain Scripture passages). Once I had that realization, it hit me like a brick in the face: 1 Corinthians 13 is primarily a chapter on how to lead, not how to have a great marriage. Paul is continuing his discussion about leadership here, and
when he says he’s going to show the most excellent way, I believe he’s saying, ‘I will show you the most excellent way to lead.’”
Below, I have included 1 Corinthians 13 for you to read, but I’m asking you to read it differently than ever before— read it with the mindset of leadership, not marriage.
1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Reading this passage with a leadership perspective, did you notice a difference? Paul is telling us that leading with love is the “most excellent way.” The theme of the 2021 Annual Report is L-E-O (Love Each Other) because it is the most excellent way to lead…to follow…to have relationships with others…to ultimately live life! The way we look at other people is important—and when we see
them through the lens of love, our capacity to build and grow relationships significantly increases.
Let’s focus on verse 13 specifically, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Here is how faith, hope, and love were illustrated at Funeral Directors Life in 2021 and were responsible for our success.
FAITH
Hebrews 11:1 teaches us that faith “is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Through faith, we accomplished the following last year:
• We implemented Robotic Process Automation or
“bots” to save over 2,000 hours per year in the human processing of New Business. • Our Learning and Development Department (L&D) integrated a third module into the Virtual Wolfelt
ExperienceTM: The WHY of the Final Resting Place. • L&D expanded the Wolfelt Initiative into ancillary professions by developing the Wolfelt Hospice
Program to educate hospice staff on the value of the
funeral and to provide a way for funeral homes to build and/or enhance their relationships with their hospice community. • L&D developed and implemented a hybrid WeCare™ training approach (virtual, followed by classroom training) that enables further development of sales skills and allows new Select Producers to experience our culture “live and in-person.” • L&D expanded learning opportunities (1) for the funeral professional through increased continuing education events, (2) for mortuary schools through our Passare® initiative, and (3) for our employees through ongoing versatility training and a wider range of DIG U courses. • Our internship program brought in 11 interns from local universities to give them real-world experience and to help us identify future talent for our company.
HOPE
What is hope? The contemporary idea of hope is “to wish for, to expect, but without certainty of the fulfillment.” In the Bible, according to the Hebrew and Greek words translated to the word “hope,” hope is an indication of
In the Bible, according to the Hebrew and Greek words translated to the word “hope,” hope is an indication of certainty. Scripture expresses hope as akin to trust and a strong, confident expectation.
certainty. Scripture expresses hope as akin to trust and a strong, confident expectation. In Romans 8, the Apostle Paul says, “For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”
With hope for the future, we persevered and accomplished the following in 2021:
• We continued to assert ourselves as the “thought leader” for our profession – whether it was through one of our hundreds of communication campaigns, our new funeral profession REIGNITETM leadership summits and webinars, or our new FD Talks™ podcast, we have become the guiding light for our profession! • The Marketing Partner (agency-related) Sales
Channel was up $57 million over 2020, an increase of 189%, and is helping to drive sales in both new and existing markets. • The first full year of the Precoa relationship brought 16 additional funeral home accounts to FDLIC (including some of the premier names in funeral service in the
U.S.), totaling $45 million in new sales to the company. • The Select Producer program was up 31% over 2020, and 2021 was the best year ever for this segment of our business. • Overall, sales volume was up nearly 45% year over year! Sales volume grew by more than $116 million in 2021. • FDLIC averaged a record 1,227 producing funeral home locations each month, up 19% over 2020. • DIGicare™ Services reached $1 million in total revenue for the first time…by the end of August! By the end of 2021, revenue reached $1.5 million. • On the Go™ Protection plan sales exceeded the total budget for 2021…by October! • FDLIC had a record number of sales professionals who sold over $1 million in 2021 – to be exact, we had 65! (The previous record was 34 in 2016.) • The U.S. Small Business Administration forgave
FDLIC’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan, which created additional income for FDLIC in 2021 without any additional federal income taxes. • Profitability for FDLIC exceeded 2020 by 193%. • FDLIC achieved record new business production in 2021 (as discussed earlier).
LOVE
John 15:15-17 says, “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.”
Jesus demonstrates how He loves us and communicates clearly that we are to “Love Each Other” – L-E-O! Here are a few ways that we showed (and were shown) love during 2021:
• We were once again named a “Great Place to Work” and were honored as one of the “Best Companies to
Work for in Texas,” ranked #7 overall, in the Texas
Monthly magazine sponsored program. • FDLIC received a 790-data security score in 2021, our highest security score ever, which is a full 20 points above the insurance industry range of 690-770 and 20 points higher than our nearest competitor. • Utilizing various supply chain strategies across our equipment vendors, FDLIC was able to meet our business needs without major disruption in our new hire and equipment replacement programs, all while saving money against budget. • Our clinic hosted six COVID-19 vaccine opportunities for employees and their families. • The company implemented a new employee engagement tool called OKRs – Objectives and
Key Results – whereby, each employee develops quarterly objectives and key results to accompany the objectives. To ensure proper implementation of
OKRs, the company also implemented a new software tool – Lattice – to assist with proper accountability. • The company allowed Vice Presidents to collaborate with Executives to ensure appropriate salary levels were set for the changing compensation environment (due to the fallout from COVID-19 and the shutdown of the U.S. economy) and to create employee-motivating career paths. • We had our second annual DIG Deep Week. We created a week for our Development and Quality
Assurance teams to focus on passion projects to
facilitate innovation and creativity. • We developed and implemented “foundations training” and dedicated a team to our onboarding process to ensure our new Home Office employees were trained with deep understanding behind why we do what we do. • Our Customer Ambassador program continued to grow because of its success with our sales managers, funeral homes, and marketing partners!
CONCLUSION Faith, hope, and love with the greatest being love. Make no mistake about it: loving others is a big deal, not just in personal relationships, but also any time there is a leader/ follower relationship. Most people think love should be left out of the workplace and other leadership settings, but as 1 Corinthians 13 shows, love is more important than casting great vision, being extremely intelligent, or even working hard for a cause. Verse 8 of chapter 13 includes a promise about leading with love – IT WILL NOT FAIL!
So, if you’re looking for the way to change/improve your family, your business, your community, and/or your sphere of influence, I challenge you to give love a try – L-E-O! It has worked for me and for our business, and it will work for you.
As I have said before, I am blessed by the team of people who work here with me at Funeral Directors Life. Their faith, their hope, and their love (especially their love) have pushed me to become a better leader and have made our company the envy of most! I am blessed to work with, struggle with, and celebrate with my team each day.
Finally, we continue to appreciate the confidence you have shown in our company – thank you! All of us at Funeral Directors Life remain committed to you and to our vision – to be the best, most-respected provider of service to the funeral industry!
Blessings,
KRIS SEALE
President & Chief Executive Officer
