Business Insurance - Words of Wisdom from Women to Watch: Career Reflections from Leaders in the Commercial Insurance Industry

Business Insurance

Joanne Wojcik

Head of Event Programming
Business Insurance magazine

Recognizing that the commercial insurance industry wasand still isa largely male-dominated field, Business Insurance magazine launched the Women to Watch Awards in 2006 to identify and shed a spotlight on those women who have the potential to become its future leaders.

Each year, a panel of Business Insurance senior editors selects 25 honorees from hundreds of nominations submitted by readers based on recent notable professional achievements, their influence over the industry and marketplace, and their own contributions to the advancement of women. The editors also tried to imagine what likely next steps these already successful women might take to further their careers.

For a decade, the profiles of these Women to Watch honorees were published in a December issue of Business Insurance, and awards were presented at a ceremony held annually in New York City. Business Insurance added an educational component to the program in 2011 with the introduction of a Leadership Workshop featuring many alumni of this elite group of female industry professionals. In 2014, this event was expanded into a full-day conference intended to further foster womens progress by identifying the challenges they face and offering advice and actionable solutions. The conference was open to both men and women who support achieving true gender parity among the senior ranks of the commercial insurance industry and related fields.

The year 2015 marked the 10th anniversary of this unique recognition program, and Business Insurance held an evening gala to fete that years honorees. In addition, Business Insurance recognized three prior-year honorees for their continuing contributions to the advancement of women in the insurance industry: 2008 honoree Bonnie Boone, senior vice president at Marsh USA, who launched a networking group for women of color; 2006 honoree Corbette Doyle, lecturer of leadership, policy, and organizations at Vanderbilt University, for her research into the influence of women serving on corporate boards; and 2006 honoree Inga Beale, who in 2014 became the first female CEO of Lloyds of London, a 350-year-old institution that didnt even admit women until the 1970s.

As we have seen from the women we have profiled in this annual feature over the past decade, the pool of talented and dynamic female executives holding key positions within the sector is growing and will continue to flourish as barriers to womens advancement are removed. Unfortunately, there still are not yet enough women at the top levels of management in the commercial insurance industry to represent the diversity of the workforce coming in. In fact, while more than half of entry-level positions in the insurance industry are held by women, just 12 percent of senior managers are women, and only 1 percent of the CEOs in insurance are women.

This book, which features a collection of essays by several past Women to Watch honorees, is a tribute to those women who have broken through the proverbial glass ceiling in the commercial insurance industry and are continuing to battle for gender parity among its executive ranks. Womens advancement in this and other industries is not just a womens issue; it is an economic imperative. In order to have a competitive workforce and a robust global economy, companies need to leverage the full potential of all of their talentboth women and men.

Having more women in leadership positions also is good for business. Its not that one gender has any greater ability than the other; it is that a more diverse group makes for better decision making and corporate performance. A recent study by Credit Suisse Research found that companies with higher female representation at the board level or among senior management have better financial performance and higher stock market valuations. Moreover, the more female board members there were, the better the companies performed. Those whose boards included at least 25 percent women delivered a 22.8 percent greater annualized return than those with no female representation. Another study by Catalyst found that companies with the highest number of female executives outperform those with the fewest number of women executives, yielding a 26 percent greater return on invested capital and 16 percent more in sales.

Given the small number of women currently in the high-level roles in the insurance industry, men are a crucial part of the equation. The fact is, when male leaders participate in gender diversity initiatives, they are far more successful than they would be otherwise. Research by McKinsey & Co. identified three key attributes shared by organizations that have made significant strides toward achieving gender diversity:

• First, companies with more women on the board in 2007 had more women in top leadership positions in 2011.
• Second, industries that attract more women, such as health care, are more likely to have more women in top leadership positions.
• And last, but certainly not least, when the CEO demonstrates a personal interest in cultivating gender diversity through both speech and actions, the organization tends to have more women in leadership positions.

It is for that reason that Business Insuranceand all of the Women to Watch who have been recognizedowe special thanks to Dave North, the CEO of Sedgwick, for the publishing of this book. It was his vision that the Women to Watch not only be recognized, but heard. He thought that by giving them the opportunity to share their personal experiences and the lessons they have learned, they might make the journey easier for those women following in their wake.

By sharing words of wisdom from past Business Insurance Women to Watch honorees, this book is intended to inspire all women who are looking to advance their careers or who would benefit from hearing their peers personal perspectives. The book addresses the various issues and obstacles that historically have affected womens careerssuch as childbearing, achieving work-life balance, or breaking through the glass ceilingwhile also offering some advice and direction.

The day will come when men will recognize woman as his peer, not only at the fireside, but in councils of the nation. Then, and not until then, will there be the perfect comradeship, the ideal union between the sexes that shall result in the highest development of the race.

Susan B. Anthony

This collection of stories represents not only the women who contributed them, but also everyone in our industry who has supported the progress made in gender equality over the years. These advancements have been driven by industry leaders such as Sedgwick. Without their passionate commitment to the intrinsic value the female perspective brings to every facet of our business, our industry could not have achieved so much in the last three decades. This book is a tribute to all of the women and men who cherish the unique talents and experience each individual contributes to the whole. May this momentum continue!

Cover image: iconeer/iStockphoto
Cover design: Wiley

Copyright 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.