Mark Abare

Mark is our Director of Insurance Operations here at Leadr.

Mark took the long road working at a People Development company. Many years of working in small companies led to over a decade in Police work, which helped him develop an eye and mind for detail. He works hard to dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s to keep Leadr in compliance with all state and local regulations. Mark is licensed to transact insurance in all 50 states and has helped develop our best practices as they relate to insurance and serving our customers.

Mark is usually found spending time with his wife and 4 kids or watching any of his favorite sporting events. He has lived in 7 states, but finds his current home in Texas to fit him and his family best!

Why I'm Passionate About Leadr

At Leadr, we all have a story of a poor management experience that led to our passion for people development and desire to work at Leadr. We call these our Nigel stories.

Nigel is a fictitious character we’ve worked with or for in the past with unhealthy leadership tendencies. We all have those tendencies within ourselves, and they can emerge unintentionally, impacting those around us. 

We are all Nigels, or know a Nigel, and Nigel is why Leadr exists. Here’s Mark’s Nigel story. What's yours?

Mark once had a manager who he did not get along with. This particular manager had issues with many of his employees. He was very passionate about one certain thing, and when the manager felt that his team was not completing that thing, he would go seek it out and pass it off to his team to complete. This led to many inefficient back and forths.

At one point, the manager had a meeting with me to talk about the year ahead and what his expectations were. He asked what I thought of them and how I might be able to complete them. In this season, I had just had my second baby as well as 2 kids under 2. Some of these expectations definitely were going to be tough, but manageable. 

About 3 months later, I got transferred to a new team. The new team and manager were great! A world of difference. However, that manager retired at the end of the year.

Now circling back to the end of the year performance review. Who else was there to complete it? My original manager for the year who was not particularly fond of me.

Needless to say, this was the worst performance review I had ever gotten. It was not delivered until April of the following year. Not much was accurate, including his take on how that original expectation meeting happened and what was said. Unfortunately there was no mechanism for input or anything from my side. All one sided. 

Reviews are important. Self Evaluation is important. Growth is important. Leadr helps organizations with all of these aspects of becoming a leader.