By Bill Rusteberg
Group account representatives are the backbone of any TPA operation. They are like sergeants in the Army, experienced front-line managers juggling many tasks important to the plan and TPA. They become the “face” of the TPA, a group’s contact, problem solver and friend. Loyalty between plan and group account representative often becomes the overriding byproduct, with TPA loyalty of secondary importance.
I was reminded of that recently while reading a fascinating book written by Col. David Hackworth and Julie Sherman. The following excerpt rings true in the TPA business just as it does in just about any other business. It is a reminder of the value of experience and excellence to which there can be no substitute.
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About Face by Colonel David H. Hackworth and Julie Sherman – Pages 398-399
When a green West Point or ROTC lieutenant joined D Company, I always had Sergeant Sweeney or another of my Old Army NCOs sit in on my first conversation with him.
“Glad to have you with us,” I’d say. “Looks as if you have a find record from the Academy. But let me tell you something – now, I don’t want to upset you or anything – but you don’t know shit about soldiering. You see old Sweeney here?” I’d gesture to the sergeant sitting across the room. “When I was a little kid, Sweeney was a platoon sergeant in Sicily. Dropped with the 82nd. Is that correct Sweeney?
“Yes Sir.”
“And he fought that platoon from Sicily to Normandy and all the way to the Elbe, where he met up with the Russians. Isn’t that right, Sweeney?”
“Yes Sir.”
“And when you were a little kid, Lieutenant, Sweeney was commanding a platoon in Korea. Matter of fact, he’s been an infantry platoon sergeant for how long, old man?”
“Twenty two years Sir.”
“Twenty two years. Now, when you’re a full colonel, Lieutenant, and you’re sitting in the Pentagon, with you feet up on a desk, getting fat, and your kids are little – or maybe even grown-up and going to college – old Sweeney will still be running a platoon somehere. Don’t you thinks so, Sweeney?”
“More than likely Sir. Can’t think of anything else I’d like to do.”
“So, Lieutenant, I think it’s fair to say he knows more about infantry than you will ever know. So what’s going to happen here is Sweeney’s going to be your teacher. He will command the platoon and you will follow his instructions. You are not commanding shit. Don’t give orders and confuse things. Just do what he says. When he’s ready to let you command the platoon, he’ll let you know. Do you understand?”
By now the new lieutenant’s face would be ashen white.
“Yes Sir” he’d say, his perfect military bearing marred only by a meek and trembling voice.
“Ok Sweeney, take him away.”
The kids were always shocked. But it always worked, and was a technique I used with Sweeney, or a guy just like him, in every command I ever had…………..
