What is the greatest quality of the best business builders in our industry?

After putting together today’s episode, I’m now certain it must be the ability to get the best out of people.

Pat Ryan is a broking legend.

He’s the visionary who saw that globalisation was going to create the need for global brokers to serve the global companies that it would create.

But it’s one thing having a vision – it is completely another to be able to execute on it.

Today you get to find out how he did it. You meet Pat Ryan in a different context. Here he’s not standing at a lectern giving a keynote speech or being quoted in a press release, he’s in direct conversation with me.

We start by dissecting his latest major broking deal to merge RSG with All Risks and move through the art of buying and building broking businesses to consolidation and Marsh-JLT and Aon-Willis.

Spitzer makes an appearance and we go into business ethics and culture, his advice for anyone joining the insurance industry and finally what he would like his legacy to be.

Listening back what struck me was how much we laughed during our conversation.

Pat has bought and grown hundreds of businesses and this encounter proves beyond any doubt that he does this by putting people at ease and in a place of complete trust.

In short he knew how to get the best out of me and he did just that, in the same way he has been doing throughout his career.

The result is easily the best interview of the Voice of Insurance series so far and one that I think will stand the test of time for many years to come.

We thank Claims Direct Access (CDA) and Bolton Associates for their support today.

Don't forget to ask Mark about advertising opportunities on the podcast. [email protected]