The Agent Leader Podcast

Hosted by Brent Kelly--The Agent Leader Podcast

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Episodes

329

Latest episode

Oct 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

The podcast for independent insurance agency leaders and their teams to learn practical strategies and behaviors to become their best version possible. Hosted by Sitkins Group President, Brent Kelly, The Agent Leader Podcast provides agencies with leadership, sales, and self-development methods that actually get results. With our focus on a total-team approach to improving independent insurance agencies, we dive into sales, service, and leadership teams. Leadership is not a title. Leadership is influence. Become a better leader and gain influence with your clients, team, and community.

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60 recent

November 6, 202628 min

Stop Changing the Program, Start Doing the Work

Are you constantly introducing new strategies, programs, and initiatives, but struggling to see lasting results? The problem might not be your program. It might be your consistency in executing it. In this episode of the Agent Leader Podcast, Brent Kelly explores the concept of progressive overload, a principle from fitness that applies just as powerfully to building stronger producers, better teams, and higher-performing independent insurance agencies. The fundamentals of growth don't necessarily need to change. Your capacity to execute them does. Brent shares how sustainable growth doesn't come from one big effort, or another new initiative. It comes from consistently doing the right things, getting a little better, and building the capacity to achieve more over time. In this episode, you'll learn: Why starting something new often feels productive but doesn't always create progress. How producers can progressively improve their sales performance. Why preparation and practice matter just as much as activity. How weekly high-performance team meetings reinforce accountability and communication. Which producer metrics help identify opportunities for improvement. Why great leaders focus on building capacity, not simply demanding more effort. Stop starting over. Start getting better. Learn more about the Sitkins process to getting your agency to its Best Version Possible at www.sitkins.com/bookacall

October 22, 202628 min

Stop Overlooking Your Service Team

Your agency’s next stage of growth may depend on the people you’re overlooking. When agency leaders think about growth, producers and sales leaders usually come to mind first. But what about the people who interact with clients every day, protect relationships, strengthen retention, and create capacity for future growth? In this episode of the Agent Leader Podcast, Brent Kelly challenges agency leaders to rethink the role of their service teams and why developing the entire team is essential to building a high-performance agency. Brent breaks down the connection between service team development, sales and service alignment, and sustainable organic growth. He also shares three areas leaders should focus on to help their people perform at a higher level: equip, empower, and educate. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why your service team is an essential part of your agency’s growth engine How misalignment between sales and service creates frustration, inefficiency, and missed opportunities The three E’s of team development: equip, empower, and educate Why professional development must go beyond technical training Three questions every agency leader should ask to evaluate team alignment and development Your challenge: Sit down with your service team, ask what leadership and producers could be doing differently to help them deliver an exceptional client experience, and really listen to the answers. Remember, a high-performance agency isn’t built by developing a few high-performing individuals. It’s built by developing a team that communicates, collaborates, and moves in the same direction. Learn more about Sitkins Group and how we help independent insurance agencies become their best version possible at https://www.sitkins.com/ .

October 15, 202646 min

Scaling Your Agency in the Age of AI with Seth Zaremba

AI is changing the insurance industry fast. Seth Zaremba, founder of b. atomic, joins Brent to discuss how the agencies that learn to use it strategically can gain a serious advantage in the ability to scale. Drawing on his experience as a producer, agency owner, and insurtech entrepreneur, Seth challenges traditional ways of thinking about agency operations, team capacity, and profitability. The opportunity goes far beyond adding new technology. It’s about rethinking how work gets done. In this episode, you’ll discover: How AI is reshaping agency growth: Use automation and technology to create capacity without sacrificing the relationships that make independent agencies different. The hidden cost of everyday work: Learn why cost per transaction matters and how it can change the way you evaluate processes, staffing, and technology. How to unlock your team’s potential: Shift time away from routine tasks and toward client relationships, retention, referrals, and new business. Where greater profitability can come from: Rethink your operating model to help your people, processes, and technology work together more effectively. Why leadership must lead the way: Build a culture that embraces change and helps your team understand how technology can make their work more valuable. As Seth puts it, “I don’t think AI is coming for relationships. I think it’s coming for our excuses.” The agencies that thrive will be the ones that use technology to make more room for the expertise and connection that customers truly value. Listen to Brent Kelly and Seth Zaremba for a fresh perspective on scaling your insurance agency in the age of AI. Connect with Seth on LinkedIn or on his site www.batomic.com.

October 1, 202627 min

Optimizing Your Results: The Discipline of Continuous Improvement

Improvement doesn't happen simply because an agency has a good strategy. It happens when leaders consistently review what is working, learn from the results, make the right adjustments, and keep moving forward. In the final episode of this four-part series, Brent Kelly explores the fourth discipline: Optimize . Optimization isn't about constantly changing strategies or adding more activity. It's about creating a rhythm of review, measure, learn, adjust, improve, and repeat. Brent explores: Why current success doesn't guarantee future readiness How comfort can cause successful agencies to stop improving Why recurring problems often remain unresolved How to use metrics as teachers, not just scoreboards How to determine whether a strategy needs to change or simply needs better execution Why consistency beats intensity when creating lasting improvement How to build a culture where everyone contributes to making the agency better At the end of your next 90-day period, ask your leadership team: What did we say mattered most? What did we consistently execute? What measurable progress did we make? What did we learn? What is the one adjustment that would make the next 90 days better? Remember, the goal isn't to make everything better at once. It's to keep making the most important things better. Clarify creates awareness. Align creates momentum. Execute creates results. Optimize creates continuous improvement. The Best Version Possible of your agency isn't a fixed destination. It's a disciplined pursuit. Ready to explore what that could look like for your agency? Visit www.sitkins.com/bookacall to schedule an initial conversation.

September 18, 202620 min

Mastering Agency Growth With Execution

Most agencies don't have an idea problem, they have an execution problem. They already know plenty of ways to grow, but when every idea becomes a priority, nothing gets the focus required to produce results. In this episode of the Agent Leader Podcast, Brent Kelly continues the four-discipline series: Clarify, Align, Execute, and Optimize, and focuses on execution - turning the right strategy into the normal behaviors of the organization. You'll learn how to: Create greater value within your best client relationships Retain and deepen those relationships through proactive continuation strategies Replicate the characteristics of your best clients to create more of the right growth Turn broad strategies into specific, non-optional behaviors Use the 80/20 principle to focus your agency's time and resources Build accountability around the actions that actually produce results Brent also shares a practical 90-day execution challenge to help agency leaders identify priority relationships, define the behaviors that matter most, and create a consistent cadence of accountability. Because agency growth isn't simply about knowing what to do. It's about consistently executing what matters most. Ready to turn good ideas into consistent execution? Learn more at Sitkins.com or schedule an initial conversation at www.sitkins.com/bookacall.

September 11, 202628 min

You Don’t Have a People Problem, You Have an Alignment Problem.

Are your people working hard, but not always working together? In this episode, Brent Kelly continues the four-step process for building a Best Version Possible agency: Clarify → Align → Execute → Optimize. After last week's conversation about clarity, Brent explains why the next step is alignment, and why many agencies don't have a people problem at all. They have an alignment problem. You'll discover: Why clarity at the top isn't enough The five elements required for alignment Why too many priorities mean no real priorities How common language builds common understanding and trust Why goals inspire, but standards sustain Why leadership teams should debate before a decision and align after it Three questions you can use to test alignment in your agency Ask yourself: Does everyone on your team know where you're going, what matters most, and how their role contributes? Listen now and turn individual effort into organizational momentum. Ready to explore what's possible for your agency? Visit www.sitkins.com/bookacall to schedule an initial conversation with our team.

September 3, 202627 min

Are You Solving the Wrong Problem?

What if the most expensive problem in your agency isn’t the one you’re currently solving? Agency leaders are constantly taking action, but more activity doesn’t always mean more progress. Before adding people, technology, leads or another initiative, you need clarity around what actually matters most. In this episode, Brent Kelly introduces the first discipline in the Sitkins framework: Clarify. Questions to consider: • Where are we right now? • Where are we trying to go? • What is the biggest constraint keeping us from getting there? • Are we solving the root cause, or just treating the symptom? • Are we maximizing the capacity we already have? The goal isn't simply to do more. It's to make sure you're solving the problem that matters most. 🎧 Listen now, and if you're ready to get clearer on what's really holding your agency back, book a conversation with the Sitkins team at www.sitkins.com/bookacall.

August 27, 202635 min

Be the One: The Leadership Mindset That Changes Everything | Karl Sherrill

What does it really take to become a better leader? In this episode of the Agent Leader Podcast , Brent Kelly is joined by Karl Sherrill, Chief Development Officer at Highstreet Partners, for a conversation about leadership, self-awareness, accountability, and execution. Karl shares why great leaders focus on creating an environment where people can thrive, and why sometimes the most important leadership conversations involve helping someone recognize they may not be in the right role. They also explore why most of us don't have a knowledge problem, we have an execution problem . From routines and accountability to small wins and consistent behaviors, Brent and Karl discuss what it takes to turn good intentions into meaningful progress. Karl also shares the philosophy behind “Be the ONE” : Own Yourself. Nurture Others. Expand Your Influence. If you're looking to raise your leadership standards, better develop your people, and become more intentional about the impact you have on those around you, this episode is for you. Connect with Karl Sherrill: Find and connect with Karl on LinkedIn. Want to learn more about becoming a Best Version Possible agency? Visit sitkins.com/bookacall to schedule a conversation with our team and explore how we can help you raise the bar in your agency.

August 14, 202623 min

What Does the Best Version Possible of Your Agency Look Like?

Exceptional insurance agencies don't become exceptional by accident. They become exceptional by consistently practicing the right disciplines. In this episode of The Agent Leader Podcast, Brent Kelly explores a question that Roger Sitkins first posed years ago: What does the best version possible of an insurance agency actually look like? After years of coaching hundreds of agencies, Brent has come to believe that the answer isn't simply a list of characteristics or best practices. It's a framework built around four disciplines: Clarify - Create awareness around where you are, where you're going, and what's standing in your way. Align - Build common language, expectations, standards, and culture so your team is moving in the same direction. Focus - Stop trying to fix everything at once and concentrate your time, energy, and resources on what creates the greatest leverage. Optimize - Commit to continuous improvement through a consistent rhythm of reviewing, measuring, adjusting, and repeating. Brent also explains why growth often exposes organizational weaknesses, why many agencies don't actually have a producer or sales problem, and why organizational excellence may be the "one thing" that makes everything else easier. This episode kicks off a deeper conversation around each of these four disciplines and what they can mean for your agency. The question isn't whether your agency can improve. The question is: Are you intentionally building toward your Best Version Possible? Learn more and book a conversation with our coaches, at Sitkins.com or order a copy of the Best Version Possible book. 00:00 - What Does the Best Version Possible Agency Look Like? 02:00 - From a Philosophy to a Framework 05:00 - Why Agency Growth Creates Complexity 08:00 - Discipline #1: Clarify 13:00 - Discipline #2: Align 17:00 - Discipline #3: Focus 22:00 - Discipline #4: Optimize 27:00 - Why Consistency Beats Intensity 30:00 - Which Discipline Is Your Biggest Opportunity? 33:00 - Building Toward Your Best Version Possible

August 6, 202631 min

AI + Human Connection: The New Advantage for Agencies

AI is changing the insurance industry, but the biggest opportunity isn't replacing people, it's helping people become better. In this episode of The Agent Leader Podcast, Brent Kelly sits down with Eric Witges, CEO of FSB Insurance Agency, to discuss how his agency is using AI to improve preparation, sales conversations, leadership, team alignment, and client relationships. But this episode goes beyond technology. Brent and Eric explore why AI should enhance, not replace, the human side of insurance, along with: How preparation creates confidence Why better questions uncover better opportunities Why communication and empathy remain the greatest competitive advantages for today's agency leaders. If you're looking for practical ways to leverage AI while strengthening the relationships that drive your agency's success, this conversation is packed with insights you can put into practice right away. Learn more about our tools that help your agency become its Best Version Possible, at www.sitkins.com.