Event Reviews

While one of the founding fathers of Lloyd’s looked down on his guests from his canvas vantage point, the Old Library played host to over one hundred women and three brave men.  This collection of individuals had come together to hear about and share their journeys as women in the (and as the venerable Mr Anglestien himself would have recognised) traditionally male-dominated insurance industry.

Hosted by Lloyd’s, this was one of many successful networking events organised by Women in Banking and Finance (WIBF), an independent, not for profit group established nearly 30 years. 

WIBF worked closely with Lloyds’ Diversity Team and leadership development specialists The People Development Team to put together a superb evening with a panel that included four extremely successful women:

• Sian Fisher of Oxygen Insurance,
• Belinda Schofield of CMS Cameron McKenna (law specialists to the insurance industry),
• Julie Hopes of Royal SunAlliance and
• Barbara Merry of Hardy Underwriting group.   

These four exceptional women were invited to share their experiences - to highlight the highs and help others to avoid the potential lows in pursuing their careers in the insurance field.  The evening was facilitated by the charismatic chair of PDT, Angela Peacock, who mentors senior individuals and teams throughout the industry.

Angela set the context for the evening by talking about the "brain drain" of women in senior roles and how this will potentially undo the progress that has been made in recent years. "The whole issue of senior women leaving highly paid jobs is creating a brain drain among our organisations. We could be here for a week and never fully discuss the manifold reasons why this is happening. However, one of those reasons will be tackled this evening - and that is the need for role models.” She said.

The evening presented at least four in the form of its extraordinary panel.

 
The initial discussion focused on exploring the whole concept of success and what it means to the panel members.  Without exception they questioned the word “success”; Julie Hopes had the support of everyone in the room with her definition: "If you identify success as being happy and fulfilled in my life, then yes I am. However the job is only a part of that - a major part - but a part." Sian Fisher added "The industry tends to define success by one’s profit last year, how much income one can bring - or how much one’s business has been sold for. There are so many more ways that we can define success." 

Achievement was a driving factor for all the panellists (Belinda Schofield mentioned her own highly competitive nature); from school until the present day.  None of them “rested upon their laurels” and all had a positive attitude to change – seeing the challenges and looking for ways to achieve the best outcome, even (in Julie Hopes’ case) when it meant going against your own beliefs.  “That’s one thing I wouldn’t do again,” Julie said, “implement something I really didn’t believe in.  But I learned a lot doing that – and it certainly influenced my career.”

The thorny question of whether they had been “blocked” in their career progression because of their gender was met with surprise by some of the panellists.  They didn't think of themselves as “women in a men’s world” - just as individuals doing their jobs to the best of their abilities. Others admitted to some covert blocking early in their careers which was either overcome or avoided by leaving and moving to a more receptive organisation.

The panel shared their insights around challenge and opportunity. Barbara Merry saw her current role as her greatest challenge. Her approach to achieve what she wants is to enlist help and seek the wisdom of others. Sian Fisher told us of her experiences in the differences between corporate and entrepreneurial leadership and Belinda Schofield talked about the key challenges and the tremendous success enjoyed when her team decided to write a book on insurance and the law – to set the standard text for the industry.  One thing that all panellists had in common was that none of them sought to be “comfortable” - at least not for long. 

Hard work, commitment, technical mastery and creativity were some of the things deemed necessary to move forward in the industry. The audience were encouraged to discover something that made them, as individuals, stand out. Sian sounded a warning shot against becoming too specialised though – technical speciality has its place but it is not the only route forward.  All the panellists encouraged a wide focus within insurance – because, as one panellist pointed out, insurance is no different to any other organisation.

When asked about what the panel would recommend for individuals to progress their careers it was recommended to build your own networks - ensure the people who are part of that network will both act as a touchstone and be prepared to challenge rather than develop a crew of ‘cronies’ and ‘yes men/women’. Every member of the panel had networks that were begun as they started in insurance – even though the connections were not always industry based - and ones that work on a reciprocal basis.  

As the evening moved onto the classic “work life balance” question, the positive news from the panellists was that they all seemed happy with theirs - although fierce organisation and commitment to "me" time were the order of the day.  With one panellist explained how she books all hair and beauty appointments a year in advance and sticks to them!  “Don’t capitulate” was the key message in maintaining your work life balance.  There seemed to be a real energy with the panel that left the impression that they rarely tire - their sheer passion for the work and fulfilment achieved through simply doing a great job.  

Asked if there was anything they would have done differently or changed, there were no regrets – the journey, whether right or wrong, brought each and every one of them to where they are today.  

The final question about what the future holds for each of these dynamic women brought the consistent response that they still had much to achieve in their current roles but also that building a legacy - teams that shared their passion - was important.

As Angela brought the evening to a close the panel shared some final tips. Among them work hard, don't get dispirited, work as a team, focus - and Angela’s personal favourite two from Barbara Merry: "assume you can "and "have fun".

Following the panel discussion, delegates funnelled out into the atrium below the trading floor of Lloyd’s and immediately put into practice the ‘networking’ principle.  One word I heard amongst delegates frequently, and certainly endorse, was quite simply “inspirational.”

Carolyn Causton
PDT