005: Establishing Your Personal Network with Dame Inga Beale
What can we do to further champion greater inclusion and diversity in insurance recruitment? Will we eventually see an even gender split at the board table across our industry, and how can we accelerate progress towards this end?
In this episode, we are thrilled to be speaking with Dame Inga Beale about her illustrious, globetrotting insurance career! In conversation with Sandra Lewin, Inga elucidates the importance of retaining and promoting women in the insurance world, and the role both individuals and companies can play in facilitating this. She recommends the PIE model for women seeking senior roles, and offers advice for those seeking to establish stronger networks.
Quote of the Episode
“Many women are choosing to [leave the corporate world], and I absolutely get it, because they are fed up with the things that go on sometimes in the workplace of big corporations… I decided I needed to really start being serious about trying to keep women in the world of insurance, promote women in the world of insurance. [We need to] be proactive, have targets, have quotas. Companies can set their own targets and measure against them just like any other business targets.”
During the episode, Inga provides an anecdote about a close friend who was a senior executive for a Swiss bank, who chose to leave that role due to the inequality she identified against women in the workplace, and the microaggressions they were subjected to. Whilst Inga recognises why many women choose to become entrepreneurs and leave the corporate world behind, she argues that if others follow suit, who will remain to break down the barriers for other women to enter these businesses and ascend the ranks? Inga suggests that women need to stay in the corporate world and fight the good fight, actively pushing for increased inclusivity, ensuring that women are recruited and promoted, with targets and quotas to ensure this if necessary.
Key Takeaways
Many women don’t wish to be seen as token hires, offered opportunities or promotions simply for the sake of inclusivity targets. Inga argues that this hesitance should be set aside. She herself was selected for a more senior position whilst working at General Electric on this basis. As a result of that opportunity, she built a hugely successful career. For Inga, instituting programmes that encourage women, taking people management and gender equality seriously, are essential for effectuating long-lasting change. If targets or quotas are not upheld to ensure that companies recruit and promote women, the gender disparity within insurance may endure.
For women seeking senior insurance roles, Inga recommends the PIE model (Performance, Image, Exposure). For your efforts to be recognised within your company, it’s not enough to do your job well (Performance). You must also interrogate how you come across to others (Image). The only way to know this is to ask others: request feedback about how you are perceived in the workplace, and on this basis begin to develop the image you wish to project. The more accurate and personal the feedback you receive, the better. How you are perceived within your company and to external onlookers is crucial if you want to get ahead.
As you begin to climb the ladder of seniority within a company, your network will become increasingly important (Exposure). Hiring managers typically consider the candidates they recognise before anyone else. To get your name on the list of known candidates, you have to do strategic marketing, making yourself known to important figures within your company and in the broader market. Exposure is perhaps the most important factor in the PIE model if you are determined to reach a senior position. Whilst networking can be very uncomfortable, you never know what doors it might open for you. Furthermore, you can network regardless of the level you are at within an organisation. Requesting to work on cross-departmental projects, or going to events and seeking out the people you don’t know, can all prove highly fruitful in raising your profile across the industry.
Many people find networking hugely daunting. Inga suggests that having a few specific questions lined up before approaching someone can be really helpful for having meaningful conversations. Additionally, it’s key to project confidence in these environments. It’s key to give yourself enough airtime in networking conversations, whilst also being inquisitive; actively asking others questions and listening their opinions. To ensure that you persevere, consider setting yourself a goal – introducing yourself to ten new people, for example.
Best Moments/Key Quotes
“There were centuries where men were the only choice. [It was a] 100% [recruitment] quota for men. We need to kickstart the change to get equality going. And that's what we need to keep doing because we're still not making fast enough progress.”
“You can't just sit there and do a fantastic job. You have to do a good job, but that is not it, you [also] have to think about your image, you have to think about how you're coming across to others. And the only way you actually know your image is to ask other people.”
“You have to do the networking. Sometimes it's the most uncomfortable. And depending what level you are in organisation, you might not be networking with CEOs, but you can even ask your manager to open some doors for you. You can volunteer to do cross-department work projects… Make sure you go to events and seek out the people that you don't know. This is hard work, particularly for introverts. It's not necessarily very comfortable. But I can assure you it pays off.”
Resources
Insurance Supper Club: https://www.isc-group.co/en-gb/home
About the Guest
Dame Inga Beale is a prolific insurance executive with over 40 years of experience in global financial services. The first female CEO of Lloyd’s for a tenure of five years, she is also an influential speaker and advocate for increased inclusion in the workplace.
Inga’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ingabeale
About the Host
Connect with Sandra on LinkedIn and find out more: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/sandralewin
