Kathmandu. Success and failure both depend on the actions of the person. Whether they win or lose, they continue on the journey of life. People say that what was yesterday is the same today. It is also important to understand that what was yesterday is not the same today. Tomorrow will not be the same either. Every chain on earth has changed and changed. All the elements have changed and changed. However, we are living in the illusion that time has changed. Only the circumstances have changed. Therefore, if struggle and hard work can be run at the speed of time, Uttam Koirala is a personality who believes that life can be successful.
Born in Mahendranagar, Sunsari in 2037 BS, Uttam’s childhood was normal. Born in Sunsari, Uttam moved to Chandragadhi, Jhapa when he was one year old. Born as the youngest of three brothers, a son and a daughter, Uttam was hardworking from a young age. Uttam is currently the Birtamod Area Branch Manager of Citizen Life. He monitors the employees, agents, training and other management issues of various branches in his area. Uttam is busy spreading insurance awareness from the morning after leaving home till the evening.
Uttam has a master’s degree in management. He completed his undergraduate studies from Jhapa. Even while living in the village, he was working as a contract worker in the post office. Uttam, who had the mindset of becoming self-sufficient since childhood, decided to enter the city to pursue his master’s degree. Finally, Uttam came to Kathmandu, the golden city of his dreams, in 2061 BS.
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## ##Uttam got into insurance like this
## In a city like Kathmandu, Uttam had an easy environment. Because Uttam’s two brothers, one was a civil servant and the other a banker. For him, it was just a matter of studying and doing well. Uttam, who was addicted to work while living in the village, started to be bothered by work more than his studies. Both his brothers were good workers in their respective places. For him, the jobs of his brothers became a challenge. After joining college, Uttam preferred to do a job like his brothers. ‘My brothers said that I should study for the civil service or become a banker. But I was not interested in both these jobs. Because I had seen the state of government jobs when I was working on a contract in the post office,’ said Uttam, ‘and in the bank, it was always the same job. But, I always wanted to do new things. Yes, that is why I chose the insurance sector.’
Uttam, who started working as a junior assistant at Met Life in 2062 BS, worked in that company for 12 years. When a vacancy opened at Met Life, Uttam, who had joined Met Life through his brother’s friend, had reached the level of junior officer. Even while in that company, Uttam worked extremely hard towards his work. ‘You should enjoy your work,’ he said, ‘If you work under someone’s pressure, neither the results will be good nor will you be satisfied. That’s why you should enjoy the work you choose.’
Uttam, who had worked at Met Life for a long time, was keen to move to another company. Needless to say, 10 new companies came into operation in the Nepali insurance market in 2074 BS. Uttam felt like ‘finding a god while looking for a stone’. While he was trying to change companies, many companies were established. And there were many opportunities too.
While he was thinking about which company to go to, he had a good acquaintance with Potshiraj Poudel (currently CEO of Citizen Life) and Bimal Wagle (Chief Business Officer), who worked at Met Life with Uttam. And he decided to go to Citizen Life as it would be easy and fun to work with a team he knew. Finally, Uttam gave an interview for the position of Branch Manager at Citizen Life. And he passed. Then he took over the responsibility of the Birtamod branch office from 2074 BS.
It was not easy for Uttam to become a branch manager in the early days of the company. Despite all the challenges such as management, finding new agents, team, office, etc., Uttam made his branch better. Uttam was fortunate enough to become an area branch manager after 3 years in the Birtamod branch.
Always willing to face new challenges, Uttam says that he prefers to live a busy life rather than being free. ‘I have the courage to face any challenge,’ he said, ‘It is because of my courage and the belief that I can face challenges that I came to the insurance sector. I also like the fact that there are always new targets and new goals in the insurance sector. It is not fun to work without a goal. If you get a goal, it is fun to score goals. Every business has a goal. Achieving a goal also brings joy.’
However, Uttam suggests that if you do not achieve your goal despite working hard, you should not give up.
Uttam says that there are many challenges in working in the insurance sector. However, ‘if you turn challenges into opportunities and strengthen the agents and team, then it is normal. Agents should be encouraged and made to work. We should make them happy by doing training and motivational activities from time to time,’ says Uttam, ‘Agents are the backbone of our insurance sector. They are representatives. If they are not made happy, how will the work be done? Yes, even in this regard, people working should always be encouraged and encouraged.’
Uttam says that there should be a relationship like nails and flesh between the company’s employees, team and agents. He said that when these relationships are strong, the company will achieve its goals. He emphasizes that agents working in the insurance sector should be efficient. He says that the insurance sector is related to agents and direct financial transactions are done through agents and agents have to go door to door to spread insurance awareness, so agents should be competent.
Uttam suggests that people working in the insurance sector should be honest, diligent, able to face challenges and have a fearless personality. He says, ‘A person who is afraid cannot succeed in this field. You have to enjoy your work more than your position. A job that you cannot enjoy is not your job. If you do your work with enjoyment, you will achieve success. Yes, my preferred field may be insurance, but I am very happy. I have also done my work with enjoyment. I am happy from the inside.’
He believes that it would be better if insurance was included in the school and college curriculum. ‘People still do not understand insurance. “It is compulsory to get insurance in the tax cut itself,” said Uttam, “to get insurance, you have to tell your friends, acquaintances, and neighbors to get insurance. They do it as if they are getting insurance for an agent. However, no one has thought about their future and life security. However, insurance is a means of transferring risk. Today’s insurance will protect you and your family tomorrow. Everyone should have insurance.”
Uttam says that the lack of insurance education has led to a decline in the understanding of insurance. He says that the Insurance Authority and the Government of Nepal should take the initiative to expand the understanding of insurance among the common people.
## Uttam has the experience that if there is skilled manpower in the insurance sector, the insurance market will be better. ‘The older the employees, the more they do their own thinking. Retaining employees is the key to success for a company,’ he says. ‘When bringing in new employees, you have to teach them many things like the company, team, work, and policies. However, since old employees already know all of these, old employees are the company’s assets. It is better for a company to retain old employees than to focus on recruiting new employees.’
Expressing his gratitude towards Citizen Life, Uttam said, ‘Despite entering the insurance sector as a new company, this company has been making very good progress. It has built the ability to compete with the so-called old companies. The entire team has a hand in this. The company’s CEO, Potshiraj Poudel, is an ideal personality for me. My mentor in insurance is also his inspiration and encouragement, which is why I found this path today. Similarly, Bhushan Rimal Sir, who has the ability to speak fluently in the insurance sector, is Uttam. Uttam wants to have the same power of speech as him. Bhushan Sir has knowledge of all subjects. Perhaps by sharing this knowledge with everyone in the company, the company has become stronger.
