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Bio Ronna Short — Apply for Leadership Roles

When I look at my present position, I sometimes wonder, how did I get here?

Sure, I’m vice president of special operations for a major commercial insurance company HSB. But I have previously worked at Burger King, getting orders out so customers won’t be late for work.

Working hard at a burger joint means moving fast and getting orders out promptly without sacrificing quality.

At another point, I worked for a temporary employment agency.  They sent me to an insurance company for a job interview.  Little did I know that this job would morph into what it is today for me.

There was not a lot of preparation for this job.  Common sense helps. So does a good work ethnic and a good attitude. I started in customer service collecting payments, sending out checks and talking with customers. I prided myself on being compassionate and understanding. Conflict resolution was learned on the fly.

The company is good about posting new positions.  So I kept an eye on those opportunities.  If I saw something of interest, I applied for it.  My applications were accepted about five times in a row and I ended up vice president.

I’ve been with the company 36 years. And I’ve been vice president for about 6 years.

Now I manage a team of 100 people.  Four deputies report directly to me and they manage the rest.

All kinds of business products need to be insured.  For example, sensors are widespread.  They are used in many different kinds of products. They detect leaks, overheating and cooling issues. Sensors convert physical phenomenon into a measurable analog voltage or sometimes a digital signal. This data is converted into a readable display so engineers can take wise actions. Thus we can avert damage and claims.

One team works on renewable energy like windmills. Insuring complicated renewable energy sources can be challenging.

We have a crew of inspectors. Periodically, they physically visit and inspect MRIs, boilers and other expensive and complicated products. Our inspectors then certify that products are up to speed and safe so we can keep coverage in force.

All these processes must be scheduled and monitored. Specifications must be set and reviewed and updated in keeping with new technologies and ever-changing demands and challenges.

Mentoring

I love to identify and develop new leaders. Older employees are retiring all the time. Fresh new workers must be groomed and trained to replace them.  New ones, for example, sometimes need to learn how to talk to colleagues, using the corporate way. We have a corporate dress code that must be adhered to.

New projects

I love the particular challenge of integrating new products into our system.  We call it onboarding. Certain products can be entirely different from traditional insurance products. We’re looking into how we can insure cyber products. I like thinking outside the box and coming up with appropriate and innovative ways of addressing new challenges. First we need an in-depth understanding of the products, its unique risks, vulnerabilities and needs.

In the end, the company has to make a predictable profit based on the shared risk of a sizable portion of the marketplace.

We use IA for a lot of things. We use little robots that are embedded into systems. Such robots run 24 hours a day.

They run the data and periodically spit it out for engineers to ultimately interface with it.

Recommendation for Others

Work hard. Reap the benefits. Apply for leadership roles.