At Gallagher, ethical leadership is at the heart of our culture. It's about making decisions that reflect our core values and creating an environment where every team member feels empowered to contribute to our shared success. Join me as I reflect on my 25-year journey at Gallagher and share how we, as leaders, navigate the intersection of business objectives and ethical considerations.
Growing with Gallagher: From Claims Adjuster to Strategic Initiatives
My journey at Gallagher began as a workers' compensation claims adjuster, where I learned the importance of empathy and understanding in serving our clients, their employees, and our business partners. Progressing to a claims manager role and then transitioning to Client Services allowed me to help non-profit and public sector clients like Miami-Dade County Public Schools and The Archdiocese of Miami achieve their missions. These roles shaped my perspective on championing challenges at a portfolio level and emphasized the responsibilities and impact we have on the communities we serve.
Today, as a member of the Strategic Initiatives team, I focus on enhancing organizational excellence while serving as a leader of our belonging initiative, Include@GB. This role combines my passion for empowering team members with Gallagher’s commitment to fostering an inclusive and ethical workplace where our colleagues feel, seen, supported, connected, and proud of their work and our shared outcomes.
Empathy: The Core of Our Operations
The Gallagher Way tenet #7, “Empathy for the other person is not a weakness,” resonates deeply with me. It's the foundation of how we operate and who we are.
When clients, their customers and employees interact with us, they're not just looking for relief following a loss; they're seeking our help in navigating difficult situations. Similarly, when we collaborate within our own organization, seeking to understand one another fosters innovation, improves problem-solving, and enhances team cohesion.”
This ethos extends beyond my professional life work and into our communities. One of the most fulfilling experiences has been volunteering with Give Kids the World, a nonprofit resort providing cost-free vacations for children with critical illnesses and their families. Gallagher's support for this cause demonstrates our shared commitment to giving back. Together, in partnership with our industry colleagues, we’ve raised over $1.2 million for this incredible mission.
Challenging the Status Quo
As leaders, we sometimes face situations where we must challenge the status quo to uphold ethical standards and fairness. In one instance, a client expressed dissatisfaction with their legal partners’ performance, but the reasons for the dissatisfaction were effusive. By leading a project with client stakeholders, law partners, and our claims operation, we discovered that inconsistent expectations and subjective performance assessments were at the root of the issue.
To address this, we established an SLA with clear pricing and objective KPIs for all firms, creating a new panel, which was regularly reviewed, and feedback provided. Despite initial resistance, we demonstrated the firms' performance under the new guidelines, ultimately ensuring a fair and stable process for everyone involved.
Authentic Leadership Under Pressure
If I were to create a fictional ‘Leadership Code of Ethics for Gallagher,’ the first rule would be: Lead with authenticity, Actions speak louder than words, and when leaders embody the values they wish to instill, they inspire trust and motivate their teams to uphold both excellence and ethical standards.
High-pressure situations, like the COVID-19 pandemic, highlight the importance of authenticity in leadership. As the communications leader, I prioritized delivering the right information to all stakeholders—colleagues, clients, and claimants—at the right time. Acknowledging challenges with honesty and empathy helped foster understanding and resilience during uncertain times.
By leading with authenticity and upholding ethical standards, we reinforce the importance of maintaining integrity, especially when the chips are down.
Balancing Business and Ethics
Navigating conflicts between business goals and ethical considerations can be an ongoing challenge. In one instance, a client requested an additional service that fell outside the scope of our agreed-upon contract. While it would have been easy to simply agree, doing so would have put our servicing team at a disadvantage in meeting performance guarantees and regulatory requirements.
By working with leadership, we proposed a reasonable price increase to accommodate the request and ensure adequate resources for our operation. Ultimately, we agreed upon an alternative that would still achieve the client's desired outcomes while allowing us to be good financial stewards for our colleagues and our organization.
Fostering a Culture of Open Communication
When team members approach me with concerns or dilemmas, my first step is to listen to understand, rather than listening with the intent to reply. It's critical to hear the issue through their thoughts and feelings first. By anchoring counsel or advice to experience and The Gallagher Way tenets, I encourage them to approach challenges rooted in our values, guiding them to solutions that achieve their goals while ensuring integrity in action.
