The concept of ‘finding your voice’ is well-trod ground in modern media. Songs, films, motivational posters, and reality TV alike each seek to advocate the idea as though they were the first to happen upon its significance. It’s the slogan of TV shows and advertisements, it’s the well-worn instruction of mentors and leaders, it’s the anthem of those who spent years feeling isolated or unheard – and, despite its prominence, it remains solid if often somewhat vague advice.
The slightly ambiguous nature of the phrase has little to do with the intentions of those expounding on its virtues and rather finds itself grounded in the understanding that it can often be difficult to know what to say until you’re faced with a situation where remaining silent seems intolerable. As to what it looks like when somebody finds their voice, it’s hard to describe except that you know it when you hear (or read) it.
The insurance profession has been in the privileged position of fostering and leveraging a variety of distinctive voices, each bringing something new to the table and offering a unique perspective on the world of risk management and mitigation. Even in the last week or so alone, experts across the sector have sought to issue guidance on a range of topics from the implications of upcoming changes to the Online Safety Bill, to why business insurance needs to improve for the benefit of SMEs, to what customer-centricity actually means in this day and age.
All across the industry, insurance professionals are using their voices to address gaps in the marketplace, gaps in coverage, and the protection gap that prevents consumers from buying the coverage they need to go about their daily lives without the spectre of risk hanging over them. The value of considered, timely and authentic thought leadership has long been extolled by leading broking businesses but, increasingly, smaller and/or more specialist brokers are finding their voices and lending their expertise to stakeholders.
It is to the credit of the sector that these knowledge-sharing efforts extend beyond the remit of technical or professional insight to include topics that might otherwise fall under the radar. The work done by the Insurance United Against Dementia team is a testament to the ongoing value of these efforts. More recently, news of the charitable endeavours of The Joy Foundation, as supported by McLaren’s own Heather McMillan, has shone a spotlight on how insurance businesses can support Ukrainian refugees in a time of crisis.
In IBUK’s 2022 Elite Women report, women from all across the sector shared valuable advice and snippets from their own professional journeys that include insights into complex topics including gender parity, hybrid working, and the critical importance of sponsoring diverse talent.
In a recent podcast with Insurance Business UK, Full Circle Comm’s Kirsty Plank waved the flag for the role that those working adjacent to the insurance industry have to play in supporting worthy causes and opening up new conversations. In a frank and open-minded discussion, Kirsty discussed her own mental well-being journey and the avenues she wishes had been open to her at the time she needed them most.
Touching on her work with the mental health charity My Black Dog, she noted that while she has been lucky to have worked for companies empathetic to her mental health concerns, 1,000s of people are not that fortunate and don’t have the support of their managers or colleagues to be open about their challenges and seek help.
“That’s why for me, it’s really important to get involved with this charity,” she said. “One of my own experiences - I was desperate for help once and I was referred to ‘talking therapies’, a free NHS service. But it wasn’t until two months later that I actually got an appointment to talk to somebody. And by that time, I’d had to work through it alone, because living with it just wasn’t an option. During that time, the ability to log on and talk to somebody who understood what I was going through would have been so, so important for me. And I know there’s definitely still a stigma to talking about mental health.”
While talking to Kirsty, it really hit home to me how important it is to take stock of the experiences and understanding from all across the sector. The diversity of thought that is available across insurance is reflective of the incredible reach of the industry. And to only tap into a thin layer of that – whether that’s C-suite executives, specialists, or niche pockets of talent – is to squander the wealth of talent that exists as well the chance to embolden the unheard to find their ‘voice’ and use it once found.
