Why saying bye is sometimes the right thing to do — it's all a balance of IQ, EQ and FQ

Today marked a small, but important milestone for me.

I waved goodbye to a company that had held a special place in my heart ????.

Who is this epic company?

AXA Insurance of course!

Yep, you might not think that I would be talking about an insurance company but it is genuinely the case.

Why are AXA close to my heart?

The answer lies in this story.

Back in 2021 I managed to become the face of AXA appearing on billboards all over the UK. It had come about as a result of signing up for Business Insurance late one night when I first started Shiageto Consulting so, as well as being a super fun experience (2 day photoshoot as a commercial model anyone), it always reminded me of the chaos of the first years of the business ??.

Those billboards have been a source of pride to my parents and it was an honour to be selected — I must say it didn’t hurt with clients either ????

If you want a laugh, check out this video.

The relationship grew

As well as being great for the ego, my relationship with the AXA team grew following the photoshoot.

They got me to do various videos for their social media, invited me to speak at conferences, got me to write articles for their website, got me to record podcasts for them and even invited me to address all their staff at their company day

It was always a joy to work with them and each year it made it a no-brainer to renew my business insurance with them.

All good things must come to an end

Whilst I renewed the policy each year, I did begin to notice that the differential in cost from alternatives on the market was growing each year.

For me it was worth it because of the great relationship we had [I was letting EQ make the decision]

However, by the time it came to renewal this year, I had to hold myself back from autorenewal.

The analytical side of my brain [IQ] kicked in and I asked myself:

• when did you last do any work with them?
• how big is the financial difference from the alternatives?
• what do you want out of this relationship?

I realised that I hadn’t done anything with them in over 18 months and that the price differential had reached a point that was worth addressing.

More than that, if it wasn’t this year then surely by next year the discrepancy would be even greater.

I had an honest chat with the team at AXA and they were good enough to say that not only was there nothing further they could do [they had already offered a discount] but that there weren’t any more immediate opportunities to work together.

It was at this point my FQ [focus] kicked in and I made the executive decision not to renew rather than let it dominate any more of my thinking.

This is a situation we all face

As I was agonising over my decision, a similar situation came to mind.

20 years prior I remember being faced with an agonising decision about whether to leave my first corporate company, Centrica.

I had been there 4 years and was rapidly rising up the ladder but I suddenly got made an amazing offer to join Strategy Consulting.

From a financial point of view the Strategy Consulting offer was light years ahead but I felt an emotional guilt — how could I leave a company that had been my transition from the world of teaching?

I loved the people and so was really struggling to leave.

It was at that point my boss gave me some wise advice:

“I don’t know why you are agonising; trust me, if the shoe was on the other foot, this company wouldn’t think twice about making you redundant. Don’t confuse the relationships you have with the people here with the relationship with the company itself”

And that is the honest truth!

Make sure you get the right balance of IQ, EQ and FQ

Over the years I’ve had many of these similar decisions: some work life related, some personal life related and some just about insurance.

I’m sure you are the same.

The key is not to let there be too much of an existential argument between your IQ and EQ — your head and heart — because this is what leads to a big FQ loss.

Sometimes the right decision lies in the IQ part of you and sometimes it lies with the EQ part of you; make sure you are addressing the right question and make the right decision.

In this case it was the right decision to say a big goodbye to AXA as an insurer…

I have a feeling though I won’t be saying goodbye to my excellent connections there and I look forward to all those relationships will bring ??

Faris

Faris is the CEO and Founder of Shiageto Consulting, an innovative consultancy that helps firms and individuals sharpen their effectiveness. Connect with him here

Success = IQ x EQ x FQ

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