Defining leadership at WIL 2023

November 16, 2023 6:20 AM

Digital Insurance named 15 honorees for the Women in Insurance Leadership awards and five Women in Insurance Leadership: NEXT honorees. Nearly 200 women attended the WIL event, which included thought leadership panels, keynotes and roundtable discussions, in Chicago.

Here are several highlights:

Valerie Turpin, chief underwriting officer, property at Arch Insurance Group:

Turpin said that leaders never succeed alone during a panel discussion 'Your Time to Thrive: Today's Effective Insurance Leader.' She described several things to gain the support of a team.

"You need to articulate the vision, if you want to have followers, the team needs to understand what you want to achieve. It's very important to communicate efficiently and tell stories so everybody can understand what the vision is. … What is the why? Empower the team. You need to let them do the work, delegate. It's awful, isn't it? Let them do what they're good at. You can't do everything."

"As a leader, you never succeed alone… You need to have the support of the team, and also support the team, to be successful."

Catherine James, senior vice president, retail operations, for F&G Annuities & Life:

James said during 'Your Time to Thrive: Today's Effective Insurance Leader,' that curiosity is key to being an effective leader. She believes that having a clear focus and vision, and great communication and listening skills, are essential.

"Having a learning mindset and growth mindset. I can learn something from every conversation. I have to humble myself to be in the mindset that I am going to learn."

"Be curious and get to know your team as individuals, ask them what their goals and concerns are as you connect with your team."

Saira Taneja, chief experience officer at Cover Whale:

Taneja offered some practical advice during 'Your Time to Thrive: Today's Effective Insurance Leader,'

"Be yourself. I wish I heard this in my first job out of grad school, where I felt I needed to be super buttoned up and very corporate and professional. … I wasn't engaged, I wasn't myself, I didn't bring my personality to the table and I didn't see the results that I wanted. And so, when I took a step back after that experience, I said: 'I'm going to be 100% myself in every interaction, whether it be with family, at work, in meetings, with colleagues. I'm just going to be me.' It opens up your world."

Kathy Hutson, senior director strategy and business transformation at Oracle:

Hutson said during 'Your Time to Thrive: Today's Effective Insurance Leader,' that lessons can be learned from both successes and failures. And a title doesn't mean someone is a leader.

"Don't make anyone 10 feet tall. Meaning, don't exaggerate anyone's importance or diminish your own importance and what you bring to the table."

Kathy Kranz, vice president and CFO at Pinnacol Assurance:

Kranz said during the panel, 'Leadership DNA: Decoding the Blueprint,' she had to learn that not everybody thinks the same way she does.

"Not everyone wants to be managed the same way I do. It took me a while. I was always very self aware but not aware of others, I wasn't aware of how others respond differently. One of the things I would recommend is doing a team personality assessment–I think they're all valuable and getting to see how others scored on my team told me a lot about how they respond to things and actually made me start thinking about things differently. I learned you need to have more tools in your toolbox, you can't treat everybody the same, but I can still be authentic while doing it."

Camila Serna, executive vice president, global head of digital acceleration at Chubb:

Serna said during 'Leadership DNA: Decoding the Blueprint,' that she priorities digital breaks.

"It's about being present, being there with my kids, husband and dog. And then also letting my work know that I won't be reachable. I build some of my personal brand on reliability, so when there are deadlines I have to leverage my support members in order to ensure the deadlines are met. I have a support network, which is fortunate. I am not harsh on myself, there is no perfection, there are times where I wish I had more life balance but it is a work in progress."

Melissa Gutierrez, senior vice president and general manager at Pets Best Pet Insurance Service:

Gutierrez said during 'Leadership DNA: Decoding the Blueprint,' that it is critical as a leader to identify your strengths and areas of opportunity.

"Know thyself. I think it's really important to be self aware and to think about how you're showing up and why you're showing up the way you're showing up, what you're good at, what you're not as good at, and finding ways to own that and make it through that."