Spotlight on…is an initiative of WICI (Women in Credit Insurance) aiming at highlighting females and male allies working in the Trade Credit Insurance business. Every month, a new interview article will be published on ICISA website.
This month in the spotlight is Lara Biermann, Director at SCHUMANN International Services Ltd.
- What trends do you see shaping the future of trade credit insurance, and how should leaders prepare for them?
From my perspective on the market (and this may be somewhat biased), I see technology, service and product as the key factors. The big question will be how the market can continue to grow, how we can increase the penetration rate of TC Insurance and convince those who do not yet have insurance and retain existing clients. In my view, the ease of access and the service we can offer will play a key role here. How can we use technology and AI to make access easier, explain insurance benefits to customers in simple terms, and offer digital services? The range of special products will also play a role – products that may not appeal to the mass market but are nonetheless needed to unlock new business.
These are no small tasks; in particular, expanding the digital services sector is not so straightforward when the in-house technology first needs to be upgraded accordingly. It takes vision, the openness to engage with unfamiliar topics – such as technology – the development of a long-term strategy and the courage to see it through, by identifying small successes as milestones to justify the approach.
- What advice would you give to young women/people aspiring to leadership roles in trade credit insurance?
Don’t wait for opportunities to simply appear. Take them when they come, and don’t be afraid to create your own. Try to understand what you can bring to a team, get to know your strengths and weaknesses, and learn to embrace them. It also helped me to have a clear idea of where I wanted to grow and to openly ask management what steps I needed to take to get there. Along the way, mentors make a big difference, people you trust who are willing to share their experience and support you are crucial.
But most importantly: believe in yourself and stay humble. There will be moments of doubt and maybe even imposter syndrome, which all of us experience at some point. But don’t let that hold you back. Stay curious, reflect on your path, actions and decisions, and don’t ever let anyone tell you what you can or cannot achieve.
- How can the next generation find and leverage mentors and sponsors throughout their career?
This is an important topic that has given me a headache, too. How do I find mentors? Do I just approach people and ask them to mentor me? In the end, it’s not as hard as it first seems, you just have to step outside your comfort zone. Ask experienced colleagues to meet up for coffee or lunch, just a casual chat that will grow organically. Arrive prepared and ask the questions that interest you. Get to know each other, and don’t be afraid to ask more personal questions. I don’t know anyone who isn’t open to sharing their experiences. We’ve all been in the same situation at some point and have appreciated exactly these kinds of insights.
The same applies to mentors outside your own organization. Attend industry events -WICI, for example, offers a fantastic platform- and ask if they’d be interested in meeting up.
- What do you hope your leadership legacy will be, and how can future leaders build careers that make a meaningful impact?
Years ago, I heard the following quote in a podcast about leadership “What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” – Pericles and it really got me thinking.
Leadership is so hard to pin down, developing and implementing strategies, setting goals, and empowering organizations/ teams to achieve them, thereby ensuring the company’s long-term success. Of course, I’d be delighted if people said I’d succeeded in that regard, but I would be even more thrilled if I was remembered for my soft skills. To have had a vision, to have communicated it effectively, to have engaged colleagues, to have inspired them to get involved, to have assured them that their voices would be heard, and to have motivated them to contribute their own ideas and making success a united achievement, that would be a dream legacy.
That would also be my leadership advice to future leaders. There’s only so much you can achieve on your own, and in the end, success is so much more enjoyable when you can share it.
- What is the favourite part of your job?
My job has always been very versatile. I have been fortunate enough to work with different departments within my own organisation and those of our clients, so that my job never really became routine and it always remains exciting.
It’s always inspiring to see how passionate and hands-on my colleagues are about their jobs. That has always made a huge difference to my own motivation.
My absolute favourite part, and also the most rewarding one is to see the software projects that our team and our customers’ teams have worked so hard on being put to productive use and seeing that people actually work with it and how it’s contributing to the customer’s success.
