Career Path Chart

As a new supervisor or manager of people you are likely to find this a little overwhelming at first – for example, you may be now supervising people who were once your colleagues.  But, like in your early career – logging experience miles, listening, asking questions, patience, learning from your mistakes, and being open to new knowledge and experiences will go a long way to helping you adjust to your role.

You will likely be responsible for driving the business outcomes for a unit/division within your department.  Fostering an understanding of the expectations and communicating these to your team will be of particular importance.  You play a key role in setting the tone for a positive and engaging work environment 

You may also consider increasing your level of industry involvement, whether it be volunteering with your local Institute/Chapter, joining a committee or working group within your industry professional association, or becoming an Ambassador with the Insurance Institute’s Career Connections program.

An equally rewarding opportunity to grow your leadership competencies may be to give back to your community through volunteer service in a capacity that resonates with you.

Active Listener

Team Builder

Business Communicator

Coach

Conflict Manager

Formal and Informal mentorship can prove valuable for both colleagues within your organization and for yourself as a new leader – visit the Mentoring Advantage website for tools and tips on maximizing the mentoring relationship. 

Your company may also have resources and tools available.

For those you are helping to mentor, it may be most beneficial to focus in the areas of solidifying foundational insurance knowledge and drawing on your insurance experience and subject matter expertise to inform their business acumen.

As a new leader, you may find it helpful to seek out a mentor to assist in talking through emerging issues on your team, providing coaching and support, fostering strong working relationships with other leaders in the organization, and managing your operational accountabilities effectively.

Though you may still be working through your insurance designations (ie. CIP), certificates (ie. Advanced CIP), or more senior levels of licensing to solidify your insurance expertise, it will also be important to build in an additional focus on your leadership competencies and management skills into your on-going professional development.

If you haven’t already, you may find it helpful to pursue courses offered through the Insurance Institute’s Management Development Series or through your industry association.  There may also be internal resources available within your organization – be sure to check in with your manager or HR representative to find out what is available.

It is also not uncommon for those new to team leadership to build competency in the areas of Financial Management, Conflict Resolution, and Business Communication Skills.

In your early people management career, you are honing in on the fundamentals of creating a supportive and engaging environment for your team – this often sets the tone of the ‘company’ for those on your team.

Your focus will be on developing skills in the following areas:

• Setting realistic and measurable goals and expectations for your team

• Providing training and on-going support to new team members

• Developing a solid understanding of the performance management cycle and process within your organization

• Ensuring completion of HR documentation in accordance with regulatory and company standards

• Building your ability in providing timely and effective feedback and performance support

• Developing understanding of and using appropriate mechanism to support your financial, HR, and reporting responsibilities

• Leading by example in managing multiple client needs and priorities, working to tight timelines, and being proactive in responding to emerging issues

• Fostering solid business communication (written, verbal and presentation) and interpersonal skills; includes enhancing your ability to communicate your expectations of others and influence them in a collaborative way

• Developing knowledge of and ability in managing conflict in the workplace effectively

As an emerging leader, you have grown more comfortable with the management of people and operational leadership within your insurance organization.

Your focus at this stage in your career is on being a role model for your colleagues and team members – particularly in modelling a commitment to lifelong learning, transparency, professionalism, and ethical decision making.

You may be called upon to help develop solutions for operational challenges and to drive the business outcomes for your department or organization forward.

With respect to industry and community engagement,  you may be interested in volunteering as a member of a local council, becoming an Institute Instructor, or working on a national task force

There may also be opportunities to participate in research being conducted within the industry, roundtable/panel discussions, or to present on a topic at an industry conference or event.

Volunteering within the community  (eg. participating on a board of directors, being on the organizing committee of a fundraiser, putting a team together for the WICC Relay for Life) can be a rewarding experience and opportunity to continue to build your leadership competency.

Operational Leader

Ethical Decision Making

Problem Solver

Resourceful

Innovator

Change Manager

Given the level of knowledge and experience you likely have amassed at this point in your career, you have likely already engaged in quite a bit of, at least informal mentorship and coaching. 

There are lots of great tools on the Mentoring Advantage website that can assist you in continuing to build your abilities as a mentor.

In terms of being mentored, keep in mind, even senior leaders talk about the importance and value they place on being mentored throughout their career.

Your time with a mentor may be most beneficial if the discussion has a focus on best practices in decision making, business planning, and/or growing your capacity as a leader

Often at this stage in your career your leadership decisions are complex enough to often have cascading impacts across your business line as a whole – Your actions and decisions may define policy parameters for other departments, define risk tolerances, shift the product focus for your team, etc…

The level of learning required for this degree of insurance knowledge often begins with the Advanced CIP (CIP Adv) Certificate and is deepened through completing the Fellow Chartered Insurance Professional (FCIP) designation.

Additional learning that may be beneficial can stem from the advanced level seminars series, CIP Society offerings, Management Development Series, and/or workshops/special events targeted to your areas of focus within the industry.

You may also wish to continue to develop your leadership capacity through internal training programs or external courses in things like Leading Cross Functional Teams, Performance Management, and Measuring Business Effectiveness.

As you continue to hone your management skills, it is not uncommon to experience an increase in autonomy and scope of your leadership role.

The decisions you are making at this stage in your career can often impact the overall operations of the business lines you represent and their approach to carrying out their objectives/goals.

Typically emerging leaders will be focused on:

• Transitioning to and serving as a consultant to a broader operational team

• Contributing to new product development and/or consulting on recommendations stemming from the claims area of the business

• Developing ability to transfer knowledge, provide counsel, and/or lead departmental teams effectively

• Broadening perspective and responsibilities to include supporting other people leaders

• Leveraging strong working relationships internally with industry professionals (loss control, risk management, actuarial, claims, legal, etc.) and externally to support operations, achieve departmental/organizational objectives, and business development

• Supporting projects implementing new/revised actuarial rules, technology support/systems, etc.

Developing ability to delegate tasks and projects to ensure business optimization; also, growing in comfort to ‘lead’/’inspire’ rather than to ‘do’

This stage of your career is focused in these  main areas:

• Realizing your leadership potential

• Legacy building

• Supporting succession planning and knowledge transfer

• Strategic Leadership

It is also imperative to hone in on self-awareness as there may not be many individuals ‘above’ you to support your leadership of your team and your continued development.

You will want to continually check yourself and colleagues against the strategic direction and vision for the organization – this will help to inform your decision making and approach to leadership within your area of the operations.

From a perspective of industry and community engagement, you may want to consider volunteering as a member of a National or Governing Council, teaching Institute courses, or working on a national task force.

Continue to engage your insurance network – this may prove a vital piece to the success of your department or organization.

There may also be opportunity to participate as a thought leader or presenter at industry roundtables, discussions, or conferences. 

It may also be rewarding to give back and drive change by engaging in senior volunteer capacities (ie. board or campaign leadership, etc.) with causes that resonate with you in the community at large.

Strategic Leader

Visionary

Authenticity

Mobilizer

Influencer

Change Agent

Often individuals at this level in the organization are considered for taking on mentorship capacities with mid- career professionals; there can also be value at times in including less experienced/new professionals in the mentorship process. 

Think about your capacity to be a mentor and what type of mentor you would like to be to someone in earlier stages of their career.  There are lots of great tools on the Mentoring Advantage website or potentially within your own organization to support this process.

If you are seeking insight as a mentee, you may find it most beneficial to focus your time on topics related to strategic planning, leadership development, understanding the financial landscape of your organization, and talking through impacts of your operational decision making.

Established leaders in insurance organizations often leverage and apply learning from their Fellow Chartered Insurance Professional (FCIP) designation in their departmental or organizational leadership.

You may also benefit from internal programs/external courses in things like Strategic Planning, Executive, Leadership, and Optimizing Organizational Performance.

A commitment to continuous learning is the hallmark of any great leader.  Given that the industry is embedded into everything we do in life and in business – expanding your learning horizons will be a constant, even at a senior leadership level within your organization. 

Products, wordings, risks endorsements, actuarial rules, etc. are perpetually evolving – it will be imperative to stay on top of these trends and potentially game changing issues to continue to add value and be successful in your leadership role.

Often at this level of leadership within an organization, there is a focus on:

• Effective management of a division or the organization as a whole

• Demonstrating ability as both an operational and strategic leader

• Leading projects to support the implementation of new/revised actuarial rules, products, reporting mechanisms, business drivers, technology support/systems, etc.

• Proven ability to lead people to achieve personal, team, and organizational objectives

• Fostering expertise in shaping organizational policy and procedure and providing guidance/direction to frontline managers

• Developing aptitude for strategic visioning, planning and leadership; includes cascading and delegating projects, tasks, etc. to appropriate teams to contribute to achieving strategic vision

• Growing comfort and capacity to recognize fellow leaders and their teams; focus is almost solely on the ‘we’ not ‘I’

• Supporting the succession management and knowledge transfer across the organization

• Influencing the legal and regulatory decision makers which govern the insurance sector