As a female executive in the re/insurance sector, I oftenreflect upon the many opportunities I've been given throughout mycareer. I never felt like these were made available to me “becauseI am a woman” but rather a result of my demonstrated capabilitiesand determination.

I spent the majority of my career as a reinsurance broker— a position few women held during the early stages of mycareer. This was an added incentive for me to succeed. It alsotaught me how important it is to be available for other women— whether as a formal mentor or simply to encourage andprovide support.

Related: 15women in insurance you need to know

Early in my senior leadership journey, I was invited toparticipate in an executive meeting at one of the companies where Iworked. It was a last-minute decision to include me. By the time Iarrived at the meeting, all of the chairs around the table wereoccupied. So, I sat in one of the chairs framing the room. I wasthe only female in the room, and one of the executives quicklystood up and said, “Theresa, you need to be at the table— bring your chair over.” This made a lasting impression on meand reinforced my commitment to bring more women “to thetable.”

Coaching and network

In 2014, I left my reinsurance broking career to start astrategic consulting practice. I also considered pursuing boardseats at that time. My enthusiasm to seek a board position dampenedwhen I realized that most organizations were looking forexperienced public board members. In order for me to be consideredfor a board seat, I would need specific coaching and a targetednetwork.

Fortunately, I was introduced to Sheila Ronning, founder and CEOof Women in theBoardroom (WIB), an organization committed to translating theintellect, skills and expertise of their members into inaugural oradditional powerful corporate director roles. After spending timewith Sheila and her organization, it became evident that herplatform presented a tremendous development opportunity for there/insurance sector.

A recent survey asked business leaders about diversity andthe advancement of women in the insurance industry. (Photo:iStock)

Four disconnects

To better understand the issues, let's refer to a recent surveyby Ernst & Young (E&Y) on gender diversity in the financial servicesindustries. The survey polled 350 business leaders to get anunderstanding of how businesses are addressing the impact ofdiversity and the advancement of women.

The findings reveal that only 17% of banking and insuranceexecutives expect to see a significant increase in the number ofwomen in leadership roles in the next five years, and only 39% ofinsurance companies are formally measuring their progress towardsgender diversity. Most companies in the financial industry arefocused on counting the number of women in leadership now,rather than on analyzing the pipeline of future leaders.

EY identified four hurdles that are preventing financialservices from achieving gender parity. The hurdles all take theform of disconnects:

• The reality disconnect. Business leadersassume the problem is nearly solved, so they don't do enough tocorrect the situation.
• The data disconnect. Businesses fail tomeasure the progress of gender parity.
• The pipeline disconnect. Businesses fail tocreate a pipeline for future female leaders.
• The perception and perspective disconnect. Menand women don't view the problem in the same way.

To get over these hurdles, EY came up with a list of actionsbusinesses can adopt today, including developing sponsor and mentoropportunities, getting more men to champion diversity and makingsure networking activities are in an environment that suitseveryone.

Related: Top 20 companies for women in the finance andinsurance industries

Women must take charge of their career paths to ensure thatthey gain the skills needed to serve on boards. (Photo:iStock)

Expanding opportunities

Effective boards are diverse boards — in gender, ethnicity,age and the broad global experiences. However, according toEY's Center for Board Matters, only 16% ofS&P 1500 boards had female members. And yet, a report from thePeterson Institutefound that 30% female representation on boards can increase companyprofits by 6%. For a woman to gain board membership, she needs totake charge of her career path, raise her hand more foropportunities, and understand and pursue the skills and experienceshe needs to serve on boards.

Related: Meet the 16 women who run state insurancedepartments

To date, WIB has a limited number of members from there/insurance sector. As a result, I decided to partner with WIB. Indoing so, I bring my extensive re/insurance network to WIB tobroaden its corporate sponsorship and membership reach. There/insurance industry is well positioned to capitalize on thisopportunity. This partnership offers a tangible and uniquedevelopment experience to senior-level women in theindustry.

I wish I had been provided this type of development experienceas part of my executive journey. The application is extremelytimely and relevant for the re/insurance sector. It also has theability to impact future generations. I'd love to see my daughtersbenefit from this type of development program down the road.

It's time to pull up a chair!

Theresa Schugel is president and CEO of Minneapolis-basedTL Schugel &Associates, Inc. Email her at [email protected]. Opinionsexpressed in this article are her own.

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