A Challenge is Still a Challenge

This is an exciting time of year, as our Women in Insurance Leadership program, which recognizes the accomplishments of movers and shakers in our industry, is in full swing. For the 6th consecutive year we're pleased to honor some of the most influential women in the industry, and every year I'm impressed and inspired even more.

INN's Women in Insurance Leadership program is not one that hangs a women's liberation flag as its moniker. With its associated education forum September 18-19 in National Harbor, Md., the hallmark of the program is one of education; helping women in this industry grow personally and professionally, and helping them help others to do the same.

To tell the stories that prove this is possible, we interview the Honorees by asking similar questions to the year prior-how did you find yourself working in insurance, who/what inspires you, how would you describe your management style, how have you affected your company's culture and bottom lines, etc.

Also, every year we ask the question: What challenges have you faced and do you feel any of these challenges were gender-specific? I'll be honest; many of the women tend to avoid answering this question, for many reasons-fear of company backlash, concern over how their attitude may be perceived in the marketplace, etc. Most of the women say the challenges they faced weren't women-specific. Being a woman in business myself, I don't buy it.

But, and here's a big but, maybe this is how successful business women approach these challenges, and that's how they've overcome them. Instead of saying, "I wasn't approached for the project because I'm a woman with children, and they know I may need to take an occasional afternoon off," we need to say, "I wasn't approached for the project, and here's what I'm going to do to make sure I am approached next time, or here's what I'm going to do to be involved anyway."

A challenge is a challenge. Sure, it's important to understand the genesis of a challenge if only to prevent a similar one from presenting itself again. But shouldn't the most important focus be on how to navigate through and conquer it, not why it's there in the first place?

The 10 women highlighted in this issue have done just that-navigated and triumphed. And, they've done it with grace and humbleness. Just comparing the nomination forms we received to what the women say about themselves is inspiring. I don't think these women realize how many people they've inspired and motivated and how much change they've driven, just by operating and succeeding as an industry expert, not as a woman.

Without realizing it, these women make change happen, change they sometimes can't see-in their own lives, in their companies and in the business culture. We hope their stories can be seen as an inspiration to men and women-they are to me.

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