Do you want to develop your executive team? 
Hagerty (www.hagerty.com) is the world’s largest provider of specialty insurance to vintage vehicle enthusiasts. They employ more than 1,100 people, have offices in the United States, Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom, and insure over 1.4 million vehicles.
They keep their car-obsessed company driving in One Direction with a One-Page Plan.
The company was started by Frank and Louise Hagerty in 1984 as an insurer of classic wooden boats. In 1991, they refocused the business on classic cars. Today, Hagerty insures everything from entry-level enthusiast vehicles to multi-million-dollar one-of-a-kind collectible cars.
McKeel Hagerty, son of Frank and Louise, took over as CEO in 1997. At the time, the company had just 50 employees. McKeel has led the company’s expansion and evolution into an automotive lifestyle brand dedicated to the love and protection of driving, and the world’s largest provider of specialty insurance to vintage vehicle enthusiasts.
In addition to insurance, Hagerty is now home to:
- Hagerty Drivers Club, the world’s largest community for automotive enthusiasts.
- Hagerty, the magazine, which is among the highest circulation car magazines in the country.
- “The Barn Find Hunter,” one of the most popular automobile focused shows on YouTube with nearly 700,000 subscribers.
- DriveShare, the nation’s only peer-to-peer classic vehicle rental marketplace.
- MotorsportReg.com, North America’s largest motorsport membership and event management system.
To keep his rapidly expanding business aligned, Hagerty implemented the “Rockefeller Habits,” a management system popularized by Verne Harnish. A key component of the Rockefeller Habits system is the One-Page Strategic Plan.
Here is how Verne describes the One-Page Plan, “The bigger your company gets, and the faster it’s growing, the harder it is to get everyone on the same page. The problem, of course, is that there isn’t a single page around which to align.”
“The Rockefeller Habits provided the framework we needed, but as we grew, we drifted away from it,” explained Hagerty. “In 2017, we recommitted to the process.”
Hagerty has found tremendous success with the Rockefeller Habits, but it may not be for everyone. “What you’re fighting is entropy,” says Hagerty. “The Rockefeller Habits, like life, require daily doses of energy to work. If a company is not prepared to 100 percent commit to executing the habits, the effectiveness can slip away.”
“Our business is complex—but complexity is a choice,” explained Hagerty. “The One-Page Plan allows us to create hyper-focus.”
In addition, Hagerty uses software from AlignToday (www.aligntoday.com) to implement strategic alignment at scale.
While the business is intense, one of their values is “enjoy the ride.” In 2018, McKeel renewed his commitment to living this and, on his days off, he can be found tooling around in one of the 25 classic cars he owns. Hagerty’s first car was a red 1967 Porsche 911 S he purchased when he was 12 and restored with his dad. He still has the car. My kind of guy!
Does your plan create “hyper-focus?”
NOTE: This is an excerpt from my book, Drive One Direction.