As an independent insurance agency leader, the standards you enforce—or ignore—shape everything: culture, performance, accountability, and results.

In this episode of The Agent Leader Podcast, Brent Kelly challenges agency owners and leadership teams to confront a tough truth: what you tolerate is what you teach. From underperformance and missed commitments to leadership silence and inconsistent preparation, toleration quietly sets the ceiling for your agency’s success.

You’ll learn:

• Why “do not complain about what you tolerate” is a leadership principle every agency owner must embrace

• How tolerating average or poor performance impacts your best people and agency culture

• The real cost of avoiding hard conversations—and why short-term comfort creates long-term chaos

• Practical leadership shifts to address issues early, make standards visible, and separate people from behavior

If you want to build a best-version-possible agency—one with clarity, accountability, and high performance—this episode will challenge your thinking and raise your leadership standards.

To see if your agency is a fit for our programs, book a call at www.sitkins.com/bookacall

Why are so many insurance agencies constantly busy—but still frustrated with progress?

In this episode of the Agent Leader Podcast, Brent Kelly dives into one of the most critical (and misunderstood) drivers of agency success: true team alignment.

Drawing insights from high-performing agency leaders and real-world experience, Brent explains why alignment—not activity—is what separates good agencies from truly elite ones.

You’ll discover:

• Why busyness is not a badge of honor—and often a warning sign
• How misalignment shows up in meetings, priorities, and execution
• A simple leadership framework (Purpose, Process, Payoff) to create clarity
• Why shared language, visible standards, and consistency matter more than intensity
• How great leaders slow down to speed up—and help teams see what others don’t

If your agency feels busy but scattered, growing but strained, or active without clarity, this episode will help you identify where alignment is breaking down—and what to do about it.

To access free tools and resources from Sitkins Group, visit www.sitkins.com/podcast

To see if your agency is a fit for our programs, visit www.sitkins.com/bookacall

🎯 Ideal for: Independent insurance agency owners, leadership teams, and high-level insurance professionals committed to building a best-version-possible agency through intentional leadership.

What if your agency’s biggest growth constraint isn’t the market, staffing, or strategy—but leadership assumptions?

In this relaunch episode of the Agent Leader Podcast, Brent Kelly returns with a powerful message for independent insurance agency owners and leadership teams: growth without intentional leadership creates hidden ceilings. Brent breaks down one of the most common—and costly—traps agencies fall into as they scale: assuming leadership is “good enough” because results look fine.

This episode dives deep into:

• The Leadership Assumption Trap and why “pretty good results” often mask deeper issues

• How John Maxwell's Law of the Lid quietly limits agency growth at every revenue level

• Why adding people doesn’t fix broken standards, alignment, or clarity

• The difference between accidental growth vs. intentional growth

• How misalignment, lack of capacity focus, and unclear processes stall progress

• Why elite agencies obsess over standards, clarity, and leadership development

• The real role of an agency leader: growing people, not just revenue

Brent also challenges agency leaders to reflect on a critical question:
Is your agency growing on purpose—or by accident?

If growth feels harder than it should, this episode may reveal why.

Leadership isn’t about perfection—it’s about intention, clarity, and consistency. And the best leaders know their own leadership ability is often the ceiling holding the agency back.

If you're ready to get your agency to its Best Version Possible, learn more about our programs.

🎯 Ideal for: Independent insurance agency owners, executives, department leaders, and growth-focused professionals who want to raise standards, improve alignment, and build an elite agency—on purpose.