Building professional and personal resilience in times of uncertainty

If the global COVID-19 health crisis has taught us one thing, it’s that society — and the insurance industry — are capable of overcoming unprecedented challenges by remaining resilient.

At the 16th annual BenefitsPro Expo, building resilience was the core theme of the August 18 session, “Professional and Personal Resilience and the Path to Success.” The all-women panel of speakers comprised of Emma Fox, COO of E Powered Benefits; Amy Evans, president of Colibri Insurance Services and founder of AlignWomen; Corey Biscoglia, director of business development at BeneCard PBF; and Allison Butler, vice president of Butler Benefits & Consulting, shared their insights on overcoming tough situations and developing better professional and personal selves in the process.

Here are a few key takeaways from their discussion.

Be adaptable

For Evans, the one quality professionals need to be successful in the insurance industry is adaptability. “What that means for me is a tolerance to proactively change,” Evans said at the virtual session. “I think that really applies to this current situation. There are people who change very unwillingly and full of resentment. Then there are people who say, ‘Here’s a situation in which change is required; I’m going to embrace that, and I’m going to control the situation as much as I have the ability to control it.”

But being reactive is not enough when embracing new challenges. Evans emphasized the need for professionals to be proactive in the change, including facing uncomfortable situations head-on.

“Even if a situation is uncomfortable, even if it is a bit ugly, we still have to accept it somehow to move forward,” said Fox. If mistakes are made in the process of change, that’s ok, Fox added, as they can positively drive progress: “All of us probably have a couple of moments…where we weren’t sure if we were going to be able to move forward. Often we can attribute that to some portion of our growth.”

Follow your compass

It can be easy to get lost in adapting to adverse circumstances, so it’s important to conduct personal check-ins to stay on-task and focused.

“Use your gut as the compass,” Biscoglia told the audience. “So whether it’s hourly check-ins or daily check-ins, you have yourself to lean on. We are all good at draining our buckets, but you have to find ways to fill your buckets. So whether it’s meditating, a breathing exercise or a walk outside for fresh air, those little things really make us more productive all around and make us feel so much better mentally and physically.”

Be intentional

“I love the opportunity to take something, completely dismantle it and then rebuild it the way I want it to be,” Evans shared. One way Evans has strayed away from more old-schools methods is how she networks by engaging a quality over quantity approach. “If I am going to schedule a call with somebody, it’s going to be somebody I believe will help me move my business forward and be a valuable connection for me,” Evans added.

Butler echoed similar sentiments: “Find people who challenge you and sharpen you,” she said. She highlighted how different connections have contributed to her agency’s success, which she owns with her husband, Josh, by holding them accountable. It’s also essential to be the person on the other end, sharing best practices and holding peers accountable in their business. “I strongly believe iron sharpens iron,” she said.

Related: 

• Thinking beyond the pandemic: Do you have the vision to succeed?
• D&I study: Issues, opportunities for women in insurance
• ‘Finding your power’: Leadership skills for women in insurance