Career Path Chart

As a new technical lead/subject matter expert of are likely to find this a little overwhelming at first.  People are now coming to you to seek guidance, advice, and to help them understand how they might approach a particular situation or problem from a technical perspective.

Not unlike earlier in your 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 this role.

You will likely be responsible for influencing and consulting on the procedures, tactics, and approaches to the work of a unit/division within your department.  Fostering an understanding of the expectation of how these are developed and are to be applied will be of particular importance.

Continuing to build your insurance knowledge, breadth of understanding of industry trends impacting your unit/division, and resourcefulness   will also be an important part of this stage in your career.

This may be achieved by considering 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 competencies may be to give back in an advisory capacity to an organization/volunteer cause that resonates with you.

Active Listener

Consultant

Business Communicator

Negotiator

Resourceful

Formal and Informal mentorship can prove valuable for both colleagues within your organization and for yourself as a new technical 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 within the department or industry at large, providing support to fellow team members (ie. not building a culture of reliance), fostering strong working relationships with other leaders in the organization, and managing your operational accountabilities effectively.

Though you may have completed your 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 negotiation, problem solving, and relationship building competencies 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 technical leadership to build competency in the areas of Conflict Resolution and Business Communication Skills.

In your early tenure as a technical lead, you are honing in on the fundamentals of providing advice and counsel to your fellow team members. 

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

• Fostering and understanding the procedures, tactics, and approaches to the work of your unit and leading the application of best practices across the unit/department

• Providing skills-based training and on-going support to members Developing a solid understanding of process and change management within your organization

• Supporting team members in understanding and working effectively within the regulatory, compliance, and internal auditing framework

• Building your capacity in providing timely and effective advice and counsel

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

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

As an emerging technical leader, you have grown more comfortable with providing operational support, guidance, and advice to your team members and are emerging as a functional leader 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, innovation, problem solving, and ethical decision making.

Depending on your own career journey, you may now be providing support across different product lines/specialties, or offering support from your division/department cross functionally (eg. consulting on policy wordings, informing claims practice, supporting sales strategies for the organization as a whole etc.)

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.

Functional Leader

Ethical Decision Making

Problem Solver

Policy Specialist

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 cross functional capacity.

Often at this stage in your career your decisions are complex enough to often have cascading impacts across your business line as a whole – Your actions and decisions may define policy and procedure parameters, define risk tolerances, shift the product focus for your team, define new product/program offerings 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 Measuring Business Effectiveness, Problem Solving & Decision Making, and Fostering Innovation.

As you continue to hone your leadership 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 policy, strategy, and approaches of the business lines you represent and their approach to carrying out their objectives/goals.

Typically emerging leaders will be focused on:

• Serving as a technical consultant to a broader operational team

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

• Fostering capacity to transfer knowledge either through formal training programs or informal learning opportunities, providing expert advice/counsel outside of the department, and support senior people leaders in managing their departmental teams effectively

• Broadening perspective and influencing decisions based on industry trends, best practices, etc. both in and out of the department

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

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

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

• Formation of Departmental/Organizational Policy in your area of expertise

• Leading key projects/legacy building

• Supporting knowledge transfer and building the technical capacity of your colleagues across the organization to excel in their roles

• Strategic Leadership

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

You will want to continually check yourself and colleagues against the strategic direction and vision for your department/organization – this will help to inform your decision making and approach to strategic 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 Lead

Authenticity

Policy Maker

Change Agent

Mobilizer

Influencer

Often individuals at this level in the organization are considered for taking on mentorship capacities with early career or mid- career professionals.

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, 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 capacities.

You may also benefit from internal programs/external courses in things like Strategic Planning, Cross Functional Project Management, and Corporate Policy Making/Governance.

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 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 continuing to add value through technical expertise.

Often at this stage in your career within an insurance organization, there is a focus on:

• Demonstrating capacity as both a functional and strategic leader

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

• Proven ability to influence internal and external stakeholders (including regulators, government, trade associations) on key issues/trends impacting your business lines

• Continuing to foster expertise in shaping organizational policy and procedures and providing expert level guidance and direction to frontline people managers and/or team members

• Developing aptitude for strategic visioning, planning and leadership

• Supporting the succession management and knowledge transfer across the organization