netrashetty
Netra Shetty
Coventry Health Care, Inc. (Coventry) (NYSE: CVH) is a diversified national insurer in the United States.
Based in Bethesda, Maryland, Coventry operates health plans, insurance companies, network rental and workers’ compensation services companies. Coventry provides a full range of risk and fee-based managed care products and services to a broad cross section of individuals, employer and government-funded groups, government agencies, and other insurance carriers and administrators. It is currently ranked the third most successful prescription drug plan service in the United States.
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Pros
Some business units allow you to work some days from home (if you are not a leader or manager). Good health benefits, decent 401k matching. Managers have a 10% bonus program that is almost a sure thing every year so long as you perform to the minimum.
Cons
Coventry has major leadership and organization issues. They are extremely top-heavy and overstaffed in every area, and because there are so many leaders, they have lots of time to micro-manage. This is a company of 15,000 employees, with over 200 VP's and 600 directors! For every 7 people in the company, there is a leader or manager. The company is very old-school and behind the times in tools, processes, and leadership style. There are a lot of IT people in the company...1 out of every 7 employees is IT. Yet, IT service is very weak, both in talent and in customer service. There is also a lot of inefficiency, and IT is barely leveraged to assist with workflows and business processes. With the exception of the huge amounts it spends on overstaffing and expensive offices, the company runs on a shoestring, so don't expect to get to any conferences or get any perks besides the occasional logo keychain or sippy cup. The company is very decentralized and disorganized, and business units seldom work together or standardize anything.
Allen F. Wise
Allen F. Wise was appointed Chief Executive Officer of our Company in January 2009. He has been a director of our Company since October 1996 and Executive Chairman since December 2008. He was non-executive Chairman of the Board from January 2005 to December 2008. Mr. Wise was a private investor and principal investor from January 2005 to January 2009. Prior to that, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of our Company from October 1996 to December 2004.
Harvey C. DeMovick, Jr.
Harvey C. DeMovick, Jr. rejoined our Company in March 2009 and was elected Executive Vice President of our Company in May 2009. From July 2007 to March 2009, Mr. DeMovick had retired from our Company and was a private investor and business consultant. From January 2005 to July 2007, Mr. DeMovick was an Executive Vice President of our Company. He served as our Chief Information Officer from April 2001 to July 2007 and managed our Customer Service Operations from September 2001 to July 2007.
There are many clever managers around but few wise managers. Clever managers are good at left-brain activities (analysis and planning). Wise managers are good at left and right-brained activities (meaning and relationships as well as analysis and planning). This extra dimension is one of the fundamental differences between managers and leaders. Be sure to see my interview with Peter Adams, CEO of NZAID who is an example of a wise manager.
In terms of Herrmann’s Thinking Preferences, left-brain types are “Drivers” and “Administrators”, and right-brained types are “Coaches” and “Visionaries” (see chart).
Left-brain managers have a preference for doing. They don’t like too much talking or discussion and dislike introspection.
Right-brained managers have a preference for being and thinking. They are aware about who they are and how this impacts on others and the organization.
The importance of Being
I find it interesting that, whenever we talk about “being” in my management workshops, many managers simply don’t understand what it means. I am as guilty as most others. For example, I have just returned from my morning walk. The sun was shining, the air was fresh and clear and the birds were singing as they started their nesting, but I got at least half way through the walk before I noticed anything. This is the opposite of ‘being’. My head was so busy with left-brain thoughts and plans that I had ceased to ‘be’. To really ‘be’ is to be really alive. Several years ago, Alan Burns my Investment Broker, sponsored my wife Angela and me on a silent retreat where we were not allowed to talk to anyone or make eye contact. This turned out to be a wonderful way to ‘be’. Even now, maybe 5 years later I can close my eyes and recall exactly the sights I saw (clouds racing over the sky as I lay on my back in a grassy field), the tastes I tasted (the banana and the orange tasted like never before) and the emotional connection to others. How seldom we give ourselves the opportunity to really live.
Left or right?
Research shows that great leaders come from all quadrants (see previous Snippet) and that leadership at Coventry Health Care success is more to do with a person’s ability to identify talents in other people and put these to work than with our own personality or thinking preferences.
Many management writers (Tom Peters is an example) are recommending a leadership at Coventry Health Care style more in line with either the ‘Coach’ style or the ‘Visionary’ style. This is in line with Daniel Pink’s book, A Whole New Mind. Pink argues that the past belonged to left-brained types but the future belongs to right-brained types, as six aptitudes will become more important in the future. These are: 1. Design, 2. Story, 3. Symphony, 4. Empathy, 5. Play and 6. Meaning.
I think leadership at Coventry Health Care needs to be both left and right brain. In saying that there are three important things to remember:
1. In most businesses the level of change is becoming greater and the market environment is becoming less certain. In these conditions, I agree with Daniel Pink, that ‘Visionary’ and the ‘Coaching’ leadership at Coventry Health Care are becoming more important. In general terms there is a ‘wind of change’ from left to right (and maybe upwards) in most organizations as shown in the MARKET chart below; and this implies that there should be a similar move from left to right in the LEADERSHIP AT COVENTRY HEALTH CARE chart below.
Based in Bethesda, Maryland, Coventry operates health plans, insurance companies, network rental and workers’ compensation services companies. Coventry provides a full range of risk and fee-based managed care products and services to a broad cross section of individuals, employer and government-funded groups, government agencies, and other insurance carriers and administrators. It is currently ranked the third most successful prescription drug plan service in the United States.
[edit]
Pros
Some business units allow you to work some days from home (if you are not a leader or manager). Good health benefits, decent 401k matching. Managers have a 10% bonus program that is almost a sure thing every year so long as you perform to the minimum.
Cons
Coventry has major leadership and organization issues. They are extremely top-heavy and overstaffed in every area, and because there are so many leaders, they have lots of time to micro-manage. This is a company of 15,000 employees, with over 200 VP's and 600 directors! For every 7 people in the company, there is a leader or manager. The company is very old-school and behind the times in tools, processes, and leadership style. There are a lot of IT people in the company...1 out of every 7 employees is IT. Yet, IT service is very weak, both in talent and in customer service. There is also a lot of inefficiency, and IT is barely leveraged to assist with workflows and business processes. With the exception of the huge amounts it spends on overstaffing and expensive offices, the company runs on a shoestring, so don't expect to get to any conferences or get any perks besides the occasional logo keychain or sippy cup. The company is very decentralized and disorganized, and business units seldom work together or standardize anything.
Allen F. Wise
Allen F. Wise was appointed Chief Executive Officer of our Company in January 2009. He has been a director of our Company since October 1996 and Executive Chairman since December 2008. He was non-executive Chairman of the Board from January 2005 to December 2008. Mr. Wise was a private investor and principal investor from January 2005 to January 2009. Prior to that, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of our Company from October 1996 to December 2004.
Harvey C. DeMovick, Jr.
Harvey C. DeMovick, Jr. rejoined our Company in March 2009 and was elected Executive Vice President of our Company in May 2009. From July 2007 to March 2009, Mr. DeMovick had retired from our Company and was a private investor and business consultant. From January 2005 to July 2007, Mr. DeMovick was an Executive Vice President of our Company. He served as our Chief Information Officer from April 2001 to July 2007 and managed our Customer Service Operations from September 2001 to July 2007.
There are many clever managers around but few wise managers. Clever managers are good at left-brain activities (analysis and planning). Wise managers are good at left and right-brained activities (meaning and relationships as well as analysis and planning). This extra dimension is one of the fundamental differences between managers and leaders. Be sure to see my interview with Peter Adams, CEO of NZAID who is an example of a wise manager.
In terms of Herrmann’s Thinking Preferences, left-brain types are “Drivers” and “Administrators”, and right-brained types are “Coaches” and “Visionaries” (see chart).
Left-brain managers have a preference for doing. They don’t like too much talking or discussion and dislike introspection.
Right-brained managers have a preference for being and thinking. They are aware about who they are and how this impacts on others and the organization.
The importance of Being
I find it interesting that, whenever we talk about “being” in my management workshops, many managers simply don’t understand what it means. I am as guilty as most others. For example, I have just returned from my morning walk. The sun was shining, the air was fresh and clear and the birds were singing as they started their nesting, but I got at least half way through the walk before I noticed anything. This is the opposite of ‘being’. My head was so busy with left-brain thoughts and plans that I had ceased to ‘be’. To really ‘be’ is to be really alive. Several years ago, Alan Burns my Investment Broker, sponsored my wife Angela and me on a silent retreat where we were not allowed to talk to anyone or make eye contact. This turned out to be a wonderful way to ‘be’. Even now, maybe 5 years later I can close my eyes and recall exactly the sights I saw (clouds racing over the sky as I lay on my back in a grassy field), the tastes I tasted (the banana and the orange tasted like never before) and the emotional connection to others. How seldom we give ourselves the opportunity to really live.
Left or right?
Research shows that great leaders come from all quadrants (see previous Snippet) and that leadership at Coventry Health Care success is more to do with a person’s ability to identify talents in other people and put these to work than with our own personality or thinking preferences.
Many management writers (Tom Peters is an example) are recommending a leadership at Coventry Health Care style more in line with either the ‘Coach’ style or the ‘Visionary’ style. This is in line with Daniel Pink’s book, A Whole New Mind. Pink argues that the past belonged to left-brained types but the future belongs to right-brained types, as six aptitudes will become more important in the future. These are: 1. Design, 2. Story, 3. Symphony, 4. Empathy, 5. Play and 6. Meaning.
I think leadership at Coventry Health Care needs to be both left and right brain. In saying that there are three important things to remember:
1. In most businesses the level of change is becoming greater and the market environment is becoming less certain. In these conditions, I agree with Daniel Pink, that ‘Visionary’ and the ‘Coaching’ leadership at Coventry Health Care are becoming more important. In general terms there is a ‘wind of change’ from left to right (and maybe upwards) in most organizations as shown in the MARKET chart below; and this implies that there should be a similar move from left to right in the LEADERSHIP AT COVENTRY HEALTH CARE chart below.