Joel Stein First in Overall Unit Performance and Frontline Leadership — Selected for Overall Achievement Brooklyn Financial Group Brooklyn, New York

"If you focus on personal growth, everything around you grows. It's a greenhouse effect."

Joel Stein works and lives by this belief, constantly striving to learn from his business peers and to build his knowledge and capabilities. As a result, both his career and his team are flourishing. A few of Joel's more notable accomplishments include —

• Helping Brooklyn Financial Group double annual production within two years, achieving Platinum Agency status and the No. 2 ranking within Guardian agencies
• Continuing to lead double-digit growth every year by implementing new methods for recruiting, training, and mentoring producers
• Coaching new producers to performance that earned them Guardian's Rookie of the Year Award for three consecutive years
• Winning the Platinum level of Guardian's PCA Award three times
• Earning GAMA International's Brian H. Early Frontline Excellence Award in 2011 and the Frontline Leader Award three times

In his position as vice president of career development, Joel manages 32 people. He has been with the Brooklyn Financial Group and Guardian Life Insurance Company of America since 2003. Associates describe Joel as a flexible person who adapts his communication style to meet others' needs. He is highly regarded for the level of care he invests into every interaction. In Joel's words, "I am so thankful for the opportunity to help others. If you listen carefully, focus on the right activities, and do the right thing for others, success will always follow."

Joel says that his success was made easier by the support of his general agents, Abraham Ekstein and Shrage Posen. "Their confidence inspired me," he explains. He also credits his mentor, David Simkowitz, for leading by example and showing him the big picture.

When Joel isn't working, he serves on the board for his synagogue and works with many charitable organizations. Joel and his wife, Toby, have six children.