IN-the-Know

Laurie O’Shea is a Global Sector Leader of Korn Ferry’s Insurance Practice and a member of the Board & CEO Services Practices based in the Chicago office. Laurie has worked with Boards, CEOs, and senior-level executives for more than 30 years, recruiting and consulting on succession, leadership, and talent development. In this week’s episode, she shares what she’s currently seeing in the insurance industry when it comes to talent acquisition, how COVID-19 has affected hiring practices, and much more.

Key Takeaways

• How did Laurie get her start in insurance?
• Are companies hiring in today’s environment?
• What skills should insurance professionals be focused on?
• What are some of the best ways to network within our industry?
• Make a conscious effort to get out of your own swimlane.
• When does it make sense to stay in organization vs. look elsewhere?
• Laurie has rarely seen a counter-offer be successful. The person only stays between a year or two before eventually leaving for good.
• Organizations have changed the way they’re thinking about inclusive leadership. They’re not looking just for visionary leaders anymore.
• The best organizations that are able to get a wide variety of talent make inclusion and diversity a priority and make an effort to search for quality candidates, far and wide.
• You can get talent in the door, but the real challenge is keeping them.
• How are insurance companies retaining their people?
• Laurie shares the impact she’s seen so far from people working from home and leading their teams remotely.
• The good news is organizations are hiring!
• What does the future of insurance look like in 2025?
• Looking back, what does Laurie wish she had known sooner about her career?

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Surroundinsurance.com

Kate on LinkedIn

Kate Terry is the Cofounder and Chief Operating Officer for Surround Insurance, a startup launching in November. Kate discusses her extensive career in insurance and what made her cross over into founding her own startup. In this week’s episode, she discusses how women tend to be shut out of common decision-making circles because they often do not share the same interests as their male counterparts. She also discusses how companies can build a better culture around diversity and inclusion.

Key Takeaways

• A little bit about Kate and how she got her start in insurance.
• What lessons has Kate learned so far with Surround Insurance?
• In the Insuretech space, there’s fewer than two percent of women in these circles.
• The reality is, Kate is not going to get invited to certain social circles (golf course, cigar bar) that men frequent and network in.
• What can companies be doing better to get more diverse thoughts?
• So many times Kate has seen decisions made on the golf course and whoever wasn’t there was simply not part of the process.
• The women can’t hang out with the other women because they simply aren’t there.
• Sometimes the insurance industry is so risk-averse that we don’t step outside of the box to modernize the industry and the way we do our jobs.
• Where is the future of the insurance industry headed?
• Success comes from being more of yourself, not from trying to blend in.

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Surroundinsurance.com

Kate on LinkedIn

Jairek Robbins is a Performance Coach, Entrepreneur, and Author. He is a trusted advisor and board member to a variety of different companies and has conducted training for various organizations including Harvard, USMC, USAF, MLB, and many more. He will be a keynote speaker for the upcoming CPCU Society’s annual In2Risk Conference. Jairek discusses the type of performance work that he does and why the nonprofit sector has always had a special place in his heart.

Key Takeaways

• A bit about Jairek and how he got started in coaching.
• When Jairek visited East Africa, his heart opened up in a completely different way.
• Jairek got a real bad case of malaria and was told he had only six days left to live.
• What makes someone truly happy? In Jairek’s experience, it isn’t more stuff.
• How did Jairek prepare for his TEDx Talk?
• Jairek defines leadership and what it means to him.
• What holds people back from learning something and actually applying it?
• The pandemic has caused people to sit still and that’s been radically uncomfortable for a lot of people.
• We’ve seen an uptick in drug and alcohol abuse. We need to take a step back and do some inner work.
• Jairek explores three statements: You are enough, you are loved enough, and you have enough.
• Jairek’s three areas of passions are intimate love and relationships, human performance, and how to grow businesses.

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Jairekrobbins.com

Jairek on LinkedIn

Jairek’s TEDx Talk

Dr. Rachel York Colangelo is the National Managing Director of Jury Consulting at Magna Legal Services. Dr. Rachel has a doctorate in legal psychology from Florida International University and a bachelor’s in psychology and sociology from the University of Virginia. Dr. Rachel has over a decade of experience in litigation consulting and has provided litigation support in a variety of criminal and civil matters. In this week’s episode, Dr. Rachel shares what goes behind the jury selection process and how do you know if you have the right person (or the wrong one) on your trial!

Key Takeaways

• A bit about Dr. Rachel and how she got started as a litigation consultant.
• What goes behind selecting a good juror?
• Picking the right juror is not an exact science, but Dr. Rachel prefers to pick them based on data and research.
• Dr. Rachel does a mock trial before the actual trial to determine the strengths and weaknesses of both sides of the case.
• Based on that, Dr. Rachel can find people who are more or less susceptible to the trial's storyline.
• When it comes to jury selection, you are unable to pick the 6-8 jurors you want. Instead, you have to deselect what's available to you based on their bias or openness to listen to the trial's narrative.
• What have been some of the 'hot' industries that have required services for jury consulting?
• In large liability cases, those payout numbers keep going up and up. Why is that and how can professionals potentially mitigate this?
• Dr. Rachel explains what ‘reptile strategy’ is and how it’s used in court.
• After the jury has been selected and the trial begins, Dr. Rachel shares how both sides try to influence the jury.
• Dr. Rachel shares her differences in approach to a new trial vs. an appeal.
• No product hits the shelves without it being tested by the consumer, the same is true with a legal case. Pre-trial jury research is critical.
• Are jury consultants expensive?
• When does it make sense to settle vs. going to trial?
• Interested in this field? Dr. Rachel shares some of the pros and cons of this kind of work!
• Where does Dr. Rachel see the future of this industry going in the next five years?
• Is there anything Dr. Rachael wishes she’d known about sooner in her career?

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Magnals.com

Dr. Rachel on LinkedIn

Ben Nemtin is a Best Selling Author of, What Do You Want to Do Before You Die and the star of the MTV show The Buried Life. Ben is also the co-founder of the Buried Life Movement. Ben and his friends embarked on a journey to cross off their impossible bucket list items. In doing so, they would also help someone else achieve one of their dreams as well. What was originally supposed to be a fun two-week road trip ended up being a ten-year-long journey helping others achieve their dreams. Find out Ben’s story on this week’s episode.

Key Takeaways

• A bit about Ben and how he made his first movie.
• Ben thought he was totally alone in his depression.
• What was supposed to be a two-week road trip, ended up lasting over 10 years.
• The day-to-day has a way of pushing our personal goals aside.
• How do you get your items off a bucket list and actually get working on them?
• Typically we wait until we feel inspired to go after our personal goals.
• We need to get over our own personal fears.
• How did Ben get out of his depression?
• Ben shares a story about how he and his friends helped someone scratch something off of their bucket list.
• Ben and his friends achieved the impossible by playing basketball with President Obama. Ben explains how you can change your core belief system.
• What “impossible” goal did Ben and his friends help someone else achieve?
• What does Ben wish he knew back then that he knows now?

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Theburiedlife.com

Jeff Gallimore is the COO for Zurich North America’s U.S. Commercial Insurance unit. Jeff has served in a wide variety of roles at Zurich for the last 12 years but prior to this, he worked with AIG for 17 years. From his 30-plus years of work experience, Jeff shares some of the key lessons learned in the industry and why he’s excited for the future as a younger generation joins in.

Key Takeaways

• A bit about Jeff’s background and how he got started in insurance.
• Jeff shares how he made a conscious decision in selecting his roles and promotions.
• When it comes to the insurance industry, how does it stand in diversity and inclusion today?
• Jeff believes there’s going to be a lot more opportunity in the upcoming years as more Gen Zs enter the workforce.
• It’s important to think outside of the box and not get stuck in a legacy model or mode just because that’s how it’s ‘always been done.’
• What does Jeff say to young professionals about the insurance industry? Why should they pick it?
• How will COVID-19 impact the insurance industry in the next couple of years?
• Jeff shares his perspectives on where the industry is headed five years from now.
• What should insurance professionals be aware of when it comes to insurtech?
• Every business will be impacted by technology in some shape or form.
• If we can’t have as many in-person meetings, how will the insurance adapt? Jeff believes it comes down to development, connectivity, and innovation.
• What does Jeff wish he’d known sooner about his career?
• Jeff offers some words of wisdom to new professionals getting a start in their career.

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Zurichna.com

Jeff on LinkedIn

Quotes

“What is the new role and what the capabilities look like in the future? Then you can attract talent that matches what you need to get done.”

“You need a little bit of innovation and thinking outside of the box around how to move forward and not be stuck in a legacy mode of ‘this is the way we’ve always done it’.”

“I think the office will change dramatically. Going to the office will be a place to specifically meet colleagues. Going to work will look like going to where you work during COVID-19 today.”

Marya Propis is the Senior Vice President and Director of Distribution and Broker Partnerships at All Risks. Marya is also a frequent speaker on the topics of emerging leadership, talent development, and women in leadership. In this week’s episode, Marya shares why she is not worried about the large number of insurance professionals retiring soon, her hope for the future, and where the insurance industry is headed 20–30 years from now.

Key Takeaways

• A bit about Marya’s background and how she got started in insurance.
• Marya’s uncle, who is also in the insurance industry, taught her the importance of customer experience and excellence. Insurance is not just a product, it’s an experience.
• When Marya went into this career field, there weren’t a lot of educational opportunities for her. Today, that’s a different story and so many of today’s youth are bringing a fresh new perspective into the insurance industry.
• A large number of professionals are going to be retiring soon, how is Marya thinking about that and the future of insurance?
• How can insurance companies make this field more exciting and appealing to younger professionals?
• Marya shares when she knows a company and its leader are the right fit for her and her values.
• Marya works closely with RMI students and universities; what kinds of questions have they been asking about the insurance industry?
• Life is not linear and neither does your career path have to be!
• What’s next for the insurance industry, 20–30 years down the road?
• What does Marya wish she’d learned sooner about her career field?

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Allrisks.com

Marya on LinkedIn

Quotes

“What’s going to set global world-class organizations apart is not necessarily the products that you have, it is the customer experience.”

“Today, leading colleges and universities have integrated RMI into business school, finance departments, and we have got a lot of really smart, smart young people choosing to come into insurance.”

“You can have great products, but if you don’t know how to distribute them through a distribution channel, then you’re not in the market.”

Rob Galbraith has been called a global insurtech thought leader and he has over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. He has also been dubbed the most interesting man in insurance and is the author of The End Of Insurance As We Know It. In this episode, Rob shares his experiences over the years in this career field, what first attracted him to the insurance industry, and why he decided to write a book about its disruption!

Key Takeaways

• Rob shares his story and how he got into insurance.
• Rob was trying to solve some complex problems for USAA; because they serve the military and their families, they are very conservative in their underwriting philosophy.
• Why did Rob write his book?
• The book’s information is U.S.-based, however, it has greatly benefited people in different countries and the book recently became translated into Farsi.
• There’s hunger for this kind of information all over the world.
• What is Rob’s approach to personal branding?
• Be authentic. By sharing cool stories and real moments, it can be a real win for the brand and company you’re working for.
• Why did Rob join the CPCU Society?
• Where does Rob see the insurance field going?
• We’re faced with a new normal and it’s important the insurance industry becomes robust and adapts to this new phase of work.
• What does Rob wish he’d learned sooner in his career?

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Endofinsurance.com

Rob on LinkedIn

Quotes

“If you were hesitant in any way to do business digitally, any hesitations you might have, I think those have been blown off the door [in this new normal].”

“It’s mission-critical. You need your employees to work from home, whether you want to or not.”

“It’s absolutely critical that we keep the insurance industry robust and growing.”

Deidre Wright is the CEO of Strategic Stories, a Diversity and Inclusion Award Winner, and a board advisor for Juniper Labs. Deidre is passionate about incorporating more diversity into organizations, especially the insurance industry. The good news is, the industry is perfectly ready for it because they’ve already adapted a risk management mindset. Deidre shares her thoughts on what the insurance industry can be doing to adapt to the times and bring in a new set of talent into their retirement-eligible workforce on this week’s episode.

Key Takeaways

• Deidre shares a bit of her background and how she first got into risk management.
• Deidre kept wondering why she was the only minority in the room.
• The biggest challenge companies are facing is that they can’t find minorities with the right skill sets. Deidre shares her thoughts on this.
• What improvements can companies be making to improve their diversity?
• What are we doing as an industry to meet the needs of diverse customers?
• We already have a risk management mindset, which means the insurance industry already has the best potential to make a difference. The numbers and math are already there.
• The insurance industry has a massive talent gap approaching, with a high percentage of professionals being eligible to retire right now.
• What would Deidre like to see included in outreach efforts to attract more diverse talent?
• If you want to retain the talent you have, appreciate them and make real efforts to show you care about them.
• How do you make insurance more attractive to new talent?
• Customers just want things to be easy and they want to trust you.
• The world will never be the same due to this pandemic. Deidre believes we will see better employee engagement.
• What does Deidre wish she had known before getting started? Use your voice.

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Deidrewright.com

Deidre on LinkedIn 

Nationaldiversityconference.com

Quotes

“We know things have to change. Are we going to be proactive about this or are we going to risk our companies being dinosaurs?”

“Companies understand that investing in diversity and inclusion equity is important. The challenge is for others to be motivated to proactively change the system.”

“Don’t think of diversity as more work, think of it as more opportunity to grow your business, grow our industry, and get top talent to solve these problems.”

Dame Inga Beale has over 38 years of experience in the global financial services sector and she was awarded Damehood in 2017 for her services to the UK economy during her five-year tenure as CEO of Lloyd’s of London, which was her final executive role. In this episode, Dame Inga shares her love for the insurance industry and what insurance companies need to do differently to stay ahead of the curve and best navigate the challenging risks ahead.

Key Takeaways

• Dame Inga shares a bit about her background and how she found the insurance industry.
• As Dame Inga started her career, she had the opportunity to travel and experience different cultures. There is so much beauty in working with and understanding other cultures in business.
• Dame Inga still doesn’t see a lot of women in leadership roles. It feels like we’re making progress by talking about it, but the women just aren’t there.
• COVID-19 has helped us embrace technology.
• People have a preconceived notion of what insurance is, so it’s important we tell the story in a very positive way because insurance is there to help put people’s lives back together.
• People at Lloyds were very fearful of losing their jobs with the incorporation of new technology. When Dame Inga discovered this, she brought in active participation from the team so that everyone could see the benefits of the change.
• There will be a technology push. Insurance needs to keep up or else we’ll be failing dramatically.
• News of a pandemic was not new. We knew it could be a possibility, but we didn’t do anything about it to prepare for it!
• What does Dame Inga look for when considering to join and consult for an organization?
• We have to keep moving forward!
• What does Dame Inga wish she had known before getting started?

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Cpcusociety.org

Lloyds.com

Dame Inga Beale on LinkedIn

Quotes

“People have a vision of what insurance is like, but when they understand a bit more about the social purpose, how it puts people’s lives back together whenever something goes wrong, then they realize what an important part of the global economy insurance is.”

“We’ve got to get on top of this. We’ve got to get our arms around all these new risks out there, and make sure we’re providing what the clients need. Because if we’re not, we’re going to be failing dramatically.”

“We have to keep moving forward. I don’t want the insurance industry to be stuck in the past and left behind. We must make sure we keep modernizing.”