The secret behind success is finding the right balance

This is typified by the Xhosa proverb, "Wathint'Abafazi Wathint'imbokodo!” which literally means: you strike a woman, you strike a rock. Although it was used as a symbol of defiance during the Apartheid era, it points to the fact that one should not underestimate the strength of women and their ability to make an impact in a male dominated industry.

 

Although this sounds easy, the reality is that it is not and that a lot of women may feel intimidated by the fact that they will have to break down cultural barriers and preconceived stereotypes in order to succeed in having a meaningful career.

 

Newly appointed CEO of Allianz Global Corporate and Speciality Africa, Delphine Maidou feels that although it is a struggle. It is achievable.

 

"The main thing is that women need to move beyond this mindset of thinking that they can’t do it, they must also move beyond the mindset of being intimidated by a male dominated industry. If they know that they have a good support system and they are able to find the right balance between their social and business lives, the sky is the limit,” Maidou says.

Allianz is a major global insurance corporation and has taken a bold step in establishing its African base in South Africa rather than following the traditional model of running Sub-Saharan Africa from South Africa while North Africa is run by a European or Middle Eastern Base. In keeping with the spirit of making this bold move, the company made another bold move in selecting a woman to head up the office in a male dominated industry.

 

But Maidou is clearly not intimidated by her appointment and says that it is a result of her hard work. "You have to have a passion for the industry. When you have that, everything falls into place. I have long given up working to impress people. I prefer to impress myself. But in order to make a success out of the work that you do, you also need to be open to guidance and criticism and don’t be so defensive. You have to have a good support systems of friends both within the industry and without in order to find balance. That is imperative,” she says.

While Maidou is an inspiration and a practical example of how success is achievable, she acknowledges that a lot of her success is attributable to Allianz and the culture of progression that the company firmly believes in.

 

Maidou started her career with Allianz as a liability underwriter. After spending five years learning the business and buying into its culture she moved on to a market management role which was a strategic role within the company. She encouraged workers to think outside of the box and come up with innovative ways in which the company can grow its already well established Canadian business.

 

This prepared Maidou well for her role in looking into how Allianz can expand into growth markets where the company looked into the African business and the challenges it faced expanding into the market.

 

"While I have done my best to achieve what I have in the industry, the support from Allianz has been amazing. They also understand the pressures that women face balancing corporate and private lives. To them, family comes first because if you are not happy at home you won’t be productive at work,” says Maidou.

 

This is the true secret behind her success: balance. While hard work and buying into a specific operational culture is important, the role of the nurturer is important and cannot be neglected if any success is achievable.