The Jordan Playbook: What Insurance Agents Can Learn About Winning in 2025

If you're an independent insurance agent in Arizona, Nevada, or New Mexico or somewhere across the United States—feeling the pressure of rising premiums, tighter carrier guidelines, and clients shopping every renewal—you're not alone.

The reality of 2025’s insurance market is this: Survival requires more than quoting faster or working harder. It demands elite focus, consistency, and an unwavering commitment to becoming the best version of your agency.

This might sound familiar if you’ve seen "The Last Dance"—the ESPN/Netflix docuseries chronicling Michael Jordan’s career with the Chicago Bulls. While it’s centered on basketball, it’s really about something every insurance agent understands:

🏆 Winning. On purpose. With discipline. No shortcuts.

And just like Josh Altman in Million Dollar Listing, who I focused on last week, agents aren’t just selling policies—they’re building personal brands, cultivating trust, and dominating niche markets. The ones who succeed? They show up with a different mindset.

Lesson 1: Be Obsessed with Mastery, Not Just Activity

In The Last Dance, Michael Jordan didn’t just play the game—he lived it. Every practice, every rep, every moment had a purpose. As an insurance agent in 2025, you need to stop spinning your wheels and start measuring what actually matters.

• Are you mastering coverage knowledge or just pushing price?

• Are you building carrier relationships—or burning bridges?

• Are you creating client experiences—or just quoting faster than the next guy?

Being busy isn't the same as being effective. Mastery creates longevity. Jordan knew that. So should you.

Lesson 2: Turn Setbacks into Fuel

When MJ was doubted—or defeated—he used it as motivation. He never let a bad game define him. Instead, it became fuel.

Insurance agents today face rejection, policy rewrites, carrier terminations, or economic shifts. Those aren't the end—they’re the beginning of what comes next.

• One client shops you? Improve your touchpoints focused on policy reviews and client engagement.

• A carrier tightens underwriting? Diversify your carrier appointments or your targeted clients.

• You're not hitting sales goals? Fix your systems before you fix your staff.

Winning agents don’t sulk. They strategize.

Lesson 3: Surround Yourself with a Championship Team

Michael Jordan didn’t win championships alone. He had Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen, and a system of accountability and structure.

The modern equivalent? Insurance agents leaning into Insurance Networks, Aggregators, and Clusters.

✔️ They give you access to carriers you can’t get alone.

✔️ They provide mentorship and training from agents who’ve done it.

✔️ They create community, so you're not building your agency in isolation.

You don’t need to be a solo hero. Today’s top producers know when to ask for help and who to partner with.

Lesson 4: Show Up Like You’re Already Number One

Remember Josh Altman? He didn’t wait to become a top real estate producer—he acted like it the onset of his career. Confidence isn’t arrogance—it’s belief backed by preparation.

🕴 Are you dressing, speaking, and communicating like a leader?

📣 Are you marketing your agency like a pro, not an afterthought?

📊 Are you tracking your numbers weekly—like your retention rate, close ratio, and premium per household?

When you show up like you belong at the top, you attract the business that belongs there too.

Lesson 5: Define Winning for Yourself—Then Chase It Relentlessly

For some, winning means a $10M book. For others, it’s work-life balance, community impact, or building a team culture that supports families across your town.

The key? Know what your "Last Dance" looks like—and make every client conversation, every team meeting, every CE credit mean something.

Your agency isn't just a business. It's your legacy.

Final Thoughts

In a world of rising costs and shrinking margins, the independent insurance agents who succeed in 2025 are not the ones with the flashiest ads or the most social media followers.

They’re the ones with the MJ mindset:

🏀 Ruthlessly focused.

📈 Strategically supported.

🔥 Obsessed with the long game.

And just like The Last Dance showed us—it’s never about one season. It’s about how you play the game when everything’s on the line.

So… what’s your Last Dance going to look like? If you're ready to redefine what winning means for your agency, maybe it's time to find the right team, the right system, and the right mindset to help you get there.

Bill Gordon is Vice President of Sales for Southwest Insurance Agents Alliance (a member of SIAA). With more than 38 years in the local insurance industry, Bill uses his expertise as a former captive agent and former owner of an independent insurance agency to assist others in the industry looking to build or expand their agency. Working with SIAA, he can provide comprehensive tools, access to carriers and markets, and coaching to help owners navigate the different stages of growth and emotions that can often supersede the changes that will fuel real, actionable revenue growth you can take to the bank.

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