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Nicole Panteloucos [00:00:15] Hello, everyone, and welcome to the latest edition of Insurance Business TV. My name is Nicole Panteloucos. And on this episode I'm delighted to be speaking with Colette Taylor, the Chief Operating Officer of Sovereign Insurance, a recently crowned member of Insurance Business' Global 100. Congratulations on making the Global 100. You've had an incredible career today. What are some of the highlights?  

Colette Taylor [00:00:35] I've been very lucky that I've had more highlights and lowlights when I look back over my career. And so when I consider those highlights, there are some common themes that run between them all. It's been when I've been in roles, where I felt that I had the expertise and the capability to be able to execute at a high level, where I felt passionate about the work that I was doing. And I felt that I was surrounded by a team who I trusted, who were supportive, and who I really respected in the business as well.  

Nicole Panteloucos [00:01:06] Certainly, it's so important to foster that kind of a culture. I also wanted to ask, you've said that it's important to not shy away from making waves. I'm wondering if you could share an experience or lesson you've learned that has helped to instill this mindset? 

Colette Taylor [00:01:20] Well, growing up in New Zealand, you're often encouraged to do something called your big OE, which is overseas experience. And so I left New Zealand at a fairly young age. And I think through doing so I built a tremendous amount of resilience, also a pretty curious mindset, and a desire to problem solve along the way. And I think those skills have stayed with me throughout my whole career. At times, those skills have probably culminated in what appeared to me making waves. But for me, it was really just the outcome of having that growth mindset and wanting to figure out new and better ways of doing things. 

Nicole Panteloucos [00:01:57] On that point, some might say it's easier said than done to speak up in this way. I'm wondering how can people overcome these fears? 

Colette Taylor [00:02:06] It is easier said than done, for sure. And I still have moments where I'll say to myself, seal the fear and do it anyway. So I wouldn't want to say to you that the CEO magically leaves you one day and you log a seal it, but the difference is you get more comfortable with feeling a level of vulnerability around it. And the way you do that, is by recognizing that not everybody is going to agree with your opinion. And actually that that's okay. Oftentimes we get to the best decision making when we have that diversity of opinion around the table. And then the right answer is probably somewhere in the middle. And knowing that there might be people that judge you for your opinion. But if you're authentic to who you are, and you have a really strong network of supporters around you, that those things don't have to throw you off. You're Santa. And that's the way that you can still enable yourself to show up in a really authentic way, even though you're still likely going to have moments where you might be feeling a little vulnerable and what you're doing. 

Nicole Panteloucos [00:03:10] Absolutely, I think seeking out diverse voices and perspectives is so important, I think sometimes we tend to mostly for the opinion that's most like ours, and we kind of get trapped in a little bit of an echo chamber. But then once you step back, and you listen to what other people have to say, you might be like, Oh, I would have never thought of it that way. 

Colette Taylor [00:03:28] You're absolutely right. What I really enjoy about my leadership team, is that we're all thinking a little bit differently. 

Nicole Panteloucos [00:03:34] We're looking at the industry going forward, what do you see as some of its main challenges? And how can these be overcome? 

Colette Taylor [00:03:41] We're in an industry that for a very long period of time, over decades, was relatively slow moving, and what we did and the changes we made and how we evolved, we're now we're at a point in evolution where the world around us is moving at a much, much faster pace. Over those years, we have actually recognized that we were moving too slowly. And we've started to invest 10s of millions of dollars in upgrading our infrastructure, getting new insights and analytics to help support our decision making in the industry. And these things are going to be imperative to ensure that we can continue to keep pace with the amount of change that we're seeing external to our environment as well. 

Nicole Panteloucos [00:04:23] On the flip side of that, where do some opportunities lie? 

Colette Taylor [00:04:27] The opportunity lies in the fact that there is such resilience within our industry, the products and the services we provide are going to become more important than ever to our clients. So keeping our customers at the forefront of the thinking of everything we do is going to be imperative when it comes to our employees. There's a tremendous opportunity for us to continue to diversify the talent that we're attracting into our industry. That's going to be imperative for ensuring that we continue to be able to reflect the communities that we're serving along the way and the customers that were serving as well.  

Nicole Panteloucos [00:05:02] Finally, if you could leave our audience with one tip for success in the insurance industry moving forward, what would it be?  

Colette Taylor [00:05:07] Be bold. Be passionate about the corner of insurance that you find yourself in. There are so many different opportunities within our industry. Find that area that you can feel really passionate about. Find your community of support, and keep them close around you as well for those vulnerable moments. And most importantly, pay it forward to the next generation coming through as well. 

Nicole Panteloucos [00:05:32] That's wonderful. Thank you so much. Stay for sharing Colette and thank you for watching Insurance Business TV.