Part of the challenge was the lack of women mentors, shared Ruth Estrich, who retired from Medrisk after 40 years in the industry. Estrich, who was the IASA president in 2011, recounted how she had to constantly strive to work harder and be smarter than her male counterparts. This changed significantly when she worked under a female CEO because she didn't have to continuously prove her value to be accepted as part of the team.

Louise Ziemann retired after working at State Farm Insurance for 35 years and echoed the need to work harder to prove herself. But her efforts paid off when the company put her in charge of the women she had previously worked with, and they became her champions while she became theirs.

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Beth Mercier, the chief information officer for the small commercial division at The Hartford expressed her surprise that not much had changed over the last 25 years when it came to moving women up into leadership positions. “The conversations haven't changed,” she said, “but mentoring and participating in networks really matter.”

Companies that allow employees to work from home can help them create more of a work-life balance. (Photo: ThinkStock)

Rising to the challenge

Female workers face a number of issues that may not present the same obstacles for their male counterparts. “When I was a young manager, I had young kids that I had to pick up by 6 p.m.,” shared Ellwood. “When I got caught up in meetings, I wouldn't tell the truth and say I had to leave to see the kids. I'd say I had another meeting.” She said this changed when the men wanted to be home for dinner or their kids' soccer games. “Then it was okay to talk about it.”

When Estrich rose into middle management, it created some conflicts with the men who had been her peers and became her direct reports. “They were all men and they were not happy.” She said that she either won them over or they left the company, but their response impacted her success.

Maintaining a work-life balance is a challenge for men and women. Companies that allow employees to work from home have changed that balance for women, although it sometimes blurs the lines between work and home, said Mercier.

Having young children also creates pressures, particularly for women “It's all about choices,” said Estrich. “We all have 24 hours. You might need to let go of some things for a while.” It wasn't always easy, she shared, and her greatest regrets had to do with her child and not the job. “You think you have forever and you don't, so choose wisely.”

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Having someone you can trust to tell you how you are really doing at work, in your career or at home can be invaluable. (Photo: Shutterstock) 

Best advice?

Ellwood says that some of the best advice she received was to be authentic in herself. Having a woman CEO the last 15 years she was at Nationwide also helped her to learn how to balance work and life, and really gave her the opportunity to grow.

Mercier stressed the importance of having someone you really trust to tell you how you're doing. Ziemann added that it was important for women to be coachable and for them to look for someone to coach or mentor them.

Ellwood agreed that it was important to have someone who would step up and offer support. “You need an advocate to help you advance,” she said, adding that women should not be afraid to make cross functional moves in order to advance. Ellwood shared that she made five cross functional moves before she moved up in the company. “Listen to what you're told, but you don't always have to take the advice,” she said. “Be willing to ask for feedback and don't get angry when they tell you the truth. People who are willing to give you feedback are priceless and rare. Learn to appreciate it.”

Ziemann said the best advice she could give someone “was to be willing to take risks even though we're in a risk-adverse industry.” She shared that she had been diagnosed with cancer. “After that, it didn't scare me to take risks if it wasn't going to kill me.”

All of the women stressed the importance of constantly learning and developing new skills, knowing their value to the company, and building relationships both within their companies and the industry in general. They were encouraged by the changes they are seeing within the various insurance companies and believe that more women will be in leadership positions within the coming years.

“You have more power than you realize,” concluded Mercier. “Use it for good, not evil.”