Australia’s “best of the best” insurance leaders share words of wisdom

Mitti Insurance co-founder and head of sales and underwriting Megan Duckworth advised fellow insurance professionals to never stop learning.

“You need to continue to work on your professional development by continuing to network with professionals within the industry,” she told IB. “And that might not be people above you; it might also be entry-level people – you never know what sort of skills and experience they can bring in to mould into your own style.”

William Lewis, head of Asia Pacific at Liberty Global Transaction Solutions, emphasised the benefits of enjoying your career.

“It’s about doing what you enjoy,” he said. “You’re more likely to project that onto other people, and other people want to associate with people who are sort of enjoying themselves, and then it’s around relationships – seeking out those key relationships internally and externally.

“And also, honouring your promises – so, if you’re saying you’re going to do something or not do something, then you should try and stick to that. That’s my advice.”

Gallagher Bassett Australia CEO Pete Nicholson aired the same sentiments, emphasising the significance of caring about what you do.

“The purpose of our organisation is actually to help people who are often in quite serious duress through a workplace injury or having significant property damage or something that they’ve lost, for example, and they need someone to help them,” he said. “The best, most successful people that we see come through our operations are those empathetic, caring individuals.

“They’re high-class professionals that want to help these people and invest in the purpose of why we’re actually in business.

“Then it’s key to identify where opportunities are coming up for the expansion of your knowledge base and then to stick your hand up for those opportunities, and then to really trial yourself in a new environment to get the development or to get development across a broader sort of skill set will help you step up into different leadership positions.”

See the rest of this year’s hot listers and their words of wisdom by reading the IB Hot List 2023 report.