Should I Stay or Should I Go? – Details, episodes & analysis

Welcome to the latest episode of Should I Stay or Should I Go, hosted by Mike Tannenbaum.

In this installment, we welcome guest Valerie Franco, leadership coach and longtime risk manager, to talk about what it means to be a leader within the Insurance and Risk Management sector, and the key insights and actionable advice she's learned throughout her career.

Having led a team of 75 people in her last corporate position as VP Risk Management with Lowe’s, it’s safe to say that Valerie knows a lot about leadership, confidently coaching others on how to lead, what problems can occur and how to overcome them.

From the importance of self-reflection, the need to have clear and open communication, to cutting her teeth in claims; this episode has fantastic insights for any leaders or aspiring leaders within the Insurance and Risk Management community.

If you have any thoughts or feedback on the show, you can email your host, Mike Tannenbaum, directly at: mtannenbaum@keystrategies.com. He may even answer your question on the show. You can also learn more about Key Strategies here.   Thanks again to our sponsor, Patrick O’Neill, Founder & President of Redhand Advisors, providers of consulting services geared to assisting organizations in maximizing the value of their investment in technology in areas of risk, insurance, and health IT. They work directly with organizations that use the technology and the providers that deliver the technology solutions. For a free copy of their fully comprehensive RMIS report go to redhandadvisors.com/key   Thanks for listening, we hope you find the conversation in this episode enlightening, interesting and helpful. Feel free to let me know if there’s a topic or leader you’d like to hear from and I’ll do my best to make it happen.

This installment of Should I Stay or Should I Go sees your host Mike Tannenbaum joined by guest Jennifer Santiago, the Assistant Vice President and Chief Risk Officer at Penn State University.

  With over 20 years of experience which includes sitting on both the risk management and brokerage sides of the fence, in this episode, you can expect Jennifer to deliver incredible insights and points of wisdom that she has picked up over her fruitful career.

  Beginning with how she got her start in the business through to her current role and even looking to the future, key points of discussion include how crisis' can be key developers in skills that will take you forward in your career, tips for risk managers to get the best deals in a hard market and how "all sides of the stool" of risk management will be integral in future work models.

  Mike and Jennifer also discuss the hiring process, including; the ever-growing significance of diversity in all its forms; conscious and unconscious bias; important considerations for both how to hire and how to be hired; plus career advice from the junior level all the way through to dealing with the C-Suite.

  Alongside her current role, Jennifer also sits on the Board of Directors for RIMS, leading her to shed insights on the benefit of RIMS and how being on the board has fueled her passion for the industry.

  If you have any thoughts or feedback on the show, you can email your host, Mike Tannenbaum, directly at: mtannenbaum@keystrategies.com. He may even answer your question on the show. You can also learn more about Key Strategies here.   A big thank you to our new sponsor, Patrick O’Neill Founder & President of Redhand Advisors, providers of consulting services geared to assisting organizations in maximizing the value of their investment in technology in areas of risk, insurance, and health IT. They work directly with organizations that use the technology and the providers that deliver the technology solutions. For a free copy of their fully comprehensive RMIS report go to redhandadvisors.com/key   Thanks for listening, we hope you find the discussion in this episode insightful.

In the latest episode of Should I Stay or Should I Go, your host Mike Tannenbaum is joined by Ward Ching, Managing Director, Western Region at Aon. 

Ward has had a lively and fascinating career in Risk Management from the consulting side, becoming a thought-leader in Enterprise Risk and an Adjunct Professor teaching courses focused on Risk Management and Insurance at the Undergraduate level. 

This episode is packed full of learnings and insights from Ward, including: what he looks for in a team; how to hire the best talent and how to be hired; the importance of storytelling in Risk Management; what the future of ERM may look like; how to make the leap from Insurance to ERM; and how the RIMS CRMP Designation can help you to demonstrate a strategic mindset, amongst other things. 

If you have any thoughts or feedback on the show, you can email your host, Mike Tannenbaum, directly at: mtannenbaum@keystrategies.com . He may even answer your question on the show.

Thanks for listening, we hope you find the discussion in this episode engaging.

Guest Rick Graham joins host Mike Tannenbaum in this episode of "Should I Stay or Should I Go?".

When it comes to Risk Management, Rick can most certainly be described as a maven.

As the Chief Risk Officer of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, the nation's 6th largest provider of Public Transportation, Rick leads a team of 10 Risk Management Professionals responsible for the Authority's treatment of risk, management of employee injury claims, plus the oversight of a comprehensive vocational rehabilitation program.

He also currently serves as the Vice President of the Delaware Valley Chapter of RIMS and has over 20 years of experience within the Risk Sector.

In this episode, key discussion points that your host Mike Tannenbaum and Rick cover include: how challenging the current circumstances are for Risk Managers (especially at a major transport authority), how Rick made the leap into his current role as Chief Risk Officer at SEPTA and why working for the CFO was a "game-changer" for his career in this respect, how and what to communicate to the board when time is precious, how to manage and keep high performers engaged, plus the importance of developing and managing your own brand as a Risk Manager - which can ultimately help you decide whether you should stay in a role or if you should go.

If you have any thoughts or feedback on the show, you can email your host, Mike Tannenbaum, directly at: mtannenbaum@keystrategies.com . He may even answer your question on the show.

Thanks for listening, we hope you find the discussion in this episode insightful.

Our guest for this episode of "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" is the esteemed Nowell Seaman.

With over 25 years of experience in the corporate sector and higher education, including enterprise and operational risk management, corporate insurance, business continuity planning and crisis response, and served as President of RIMS.

Nowell knows a thing or two about a career in Risk Management and Insurance.

Like many, Nowell didn't land a career in risk straight away - instead, he learned on-the-job while gaining credentials, attributing good encouragement and direction from his mentor early on to helping further his career.

In this episode, key discussion points that your host Mike Tannenbaum and Nowell cover include: the growing importance of the RIMS CRMP certification; delineation of the difference between managing risk and managing Insurance; why it's important to get the board and top-level management on board with Risk Management; plus how Nowell has built, and what he has learned from, a long and prosperous career in Risk Management.

If you have any thoughts or feedback on the show, you can email your host, Mike Tannenbaum, directly at: mtannenbaum@keystrategies.com . He may even answer your question on the show.

Thanks for listening, we hope you find the discussion in this episode enlightening.

Dave Arick, Assistant Treasurer - Global Risk Management for International Paper is our guest for this latest episode of "Should I Stay or Should I Go?".

International Paper is one of the world's leading producers of fiber-based packaging, pulp and paper. Dave's Memphis-based team is responsible for global risk financing and insurance programs, as well as property loss prevention.

Like the majority of people who started in the sector over 10 years ago, Dave "absolutely fell" into Insurance and Risk Management after picking up a job in claims in the late 80s while working through school. This start at Nationwide Insurance, plus the extra classes he took in school to further his understanding, has turned into a long and fruitful career - much to Dave's surprise!

Dave reflects on what he's learnt so far and provides astute insights into managing risk in different industries, the importance of being risk-aware over risk-averse, how to prepare for a senior management meeting when you're new to a particular division or industry and managing both people and risk in a global business during a global pandemic.

He also talks passionately about the sector, why he loves the broader cross-section his role lets him see - and why he believes Risk Management is so much more than just Insurance.

If you have any thoughts or feedback on the show, you can email your host, Mike Tannenbaum, directly at: mtannenbaum@keystrategies.com . He may even answer your question on the show.

Thanks for listening, we hope you find the discussion in this episode perceptive.

Andrew Bent, Director of Business Continuity and Insurance at Sage is the latest guest joining host Mike Tannenbaum in this installment of "Should I Stay or Should I Go?".

Sage is a global, marketing-leading technology company which helps small-medium sized businesses perform at their best. With over 13,000 employees, they have a footprint in over 23 countries and sell into a number of others, too.

As the self-described "weird kid in the room" when it comes to discussing Risk Management and Insurance careers, Andrew started out as a chemical engineer by training in New Zealand.

With an unconventional but fascinating journey into Risk Management and Insurance, Andrew talks about how the pieces of his "risk puzzle" have come together, leading him to his role as a Director of Business Continuity and Insurance and living in North America.

Andrew and Mike discuss the key things to develop to become an effective risk manager, why authenticity is crucial, how asking questions & listening can build relationships, increase your authority & pay-off in the long-run, the importance of staying close to the organisation rather than seeing "risk" & "management" as two separate ideas, making risk-informed decisions during the pandemic and what the future of work is going to look like.

If you have any thoughts or feedback on the show, you can email your host, Mike Tannenbaum, directly at: mtannenbaum@keystrategies.com . He may even answer your question on the show.

Thanks for listening, we hope you find the discussion in this episode insightful.   

In this special episode, your host Mike Tannenbaum is joined by Richard Cutcher, host of the Global Captive Podcast to discuss all things captives, and is essential listening for anyone with an active interest in captive insurance. 

You may know Richard as the former Editor of Captive Review magazine, where he spent four years at the helm of the editorial team. Since then, he has taken his expertise from print to digital with the Global Captive Podcast, where he interviews captive industry leaders from all aspects of the sector including advisors, managers and owners of captives throughout the world.

Richard is also an Ambassador for the Airmic Captive SIG and is the Editor of Airmic Talks and Airmic News (Airmic is the UK equivalent of RIMS), his passion for the industry stemming from the people and intrigue into how the world's biggest companies manage their risk.

Listen as Richard and Mike touch on how captives can aid companies looking for more efficient ways of insuring their risks.  They also discuss the most popular places captive domiciles for European and US companies, the impact the hardening market is having on the demand for captives, diversification in their uses and the potential for a pandemic equivalent of TRIA.

If you'd like to find out more about the Global Captives Podcast, take a look around their site here.

Thanks for listening, we hope you find this episode captivating!

Our fifth guest on Should I Stay or Should I Go is Mark Millard, - Managing Director, Insurance Risk Advisory at BDO USA, LLP.

BDO’s Insurance Risk Advisory practice consults on the strategic retention and transfer of risk. This includes the use of captives, self-insurance, and insurance policies. They are independent of the sale of insurance products, which allows for a tailored client solution, and are structured to advise on all areas of the insurance value chain.

In this installment, Mark shares his journey into and through risk management. Having always been client-facing, Mark began his career in Corporate Risk Management as a Risk Analyst.

Building up his technical expertise, Mark gained experience in a variety of different sectors such as telecoms and construction right through to his current consulting role for within financial sectors, where he heads up a dedicated function within BDO that provides holistic Risk Management to his clients 

Mark explores and advises on the benefits of cross-pollination, the value proposition of being a specialist vs generalist, how to stay at the cutting-edge of the industry - plus he highlights his top tips for career progression including how to be "tappable", why communication is key in corporate settings and the importance of role models.

If you have any thoughts or feedback on the show, you can email your host, Mike Tannenbaum, directly at: mtannenbaum@keystrategies.com . He may even answer your question on the show.

Thanks for listening, we hope you find the discussion in this episode pragmatic.

Our fourth guest on Should I Stay or Should I Go is Lance Ewing - EVP of Global Risk Management and Client Services at Cotton Holdings, Inc.

Cotton Holdings is a global business continuity and disaster recovery service, where Lance holds a multifaceted role within the Risk Management vertical.

In this episode, Mike talks to Lance about how his background has shaped his career, from how both his soft skills and constant desire to learn have enabled him to land a unique role within the industry, and the key learnings you can take away from his journey up to the top.

Lance also talks widely around the industry, including but not limited to: aligning insurance and risk strategies with the company strategies; the value of a stewardship report; why you can no longer have a "siloed" mindset; why you have to be the Department of KNOW, not the Department of NO; transferrable risk platforms; and why you always have to expect the unexpected.

If you have any thoughts or feedback on the show, you can email your host, Mike Tannenbaum, directly at: mtannenbaum@keystrategies.com. He may even answer your question on the show.

Thanks for listening, we hope you find this episode illuminating.