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“Winner, winner – chicken dinner” - What ‘The Insurance Apprentice 2020’ teaches us about insurance leadership – Part I

05 June 2020 Gareth Stokes

A South African reading the phrase “winner, winner, chicken dinner” will probably think of KFC or Chicken Licken, and then level some baseless accusation at the writer for exhibiting one or other social insensitivity. It helps if you realise that the phrase originated in the United States, possibly born out of the heydays of gambling at Las Vegas casinos. At the time, or so Google reasons, chicken dinners cost the same as the winnings on the then-average $2 bet. If you won your bet, you had enough for a chicken dinner. QED.

Surviving Judge Dread

We opened today’s articles with the “winner, winner” quote because this week, on 3 June 2020, Amogelang Kgaladi, Head of Corporate Actuarial at FNB Insure, emerged as the winner of the acclaimed The Insurance Apprentice 2020 (TIA 2020), founded by Rianet Whitehead, co-owner of FAnews. 

Season six played out over seven episodes in which contestants were subject to a busy schedule of indescribably tough tasks, and then subjected to the often brutal feedback from co-judges Simon Colman (aka Judge Dread) and Nadia Starr, who were assisted by various representatives from the weekly corporate sponsors. Those who survived the bombardment of disparaging remarks will no doubt emerge better equipped to succeed in today’s tough economic environment. Over the following paragraphs, shared in two parts, we reflect on each of the episodes, before sharing some final thoughts on lessons learned from season six. We cover Episodes 1-3 in Part I and the remainder in Part II, scheduled for Friday, 12 June. 

Episode 1 – Turning learners into disciples for the insurance industry

Episode 1 of TIA 2020 was introduced by Letlhogonolo Tau, Manager: Strategic Business Development at Santam. He acknowledged that South Africa’s brokers, insurers, and reinsurers had sent their brightest youngsters to battle it out for the ultimate title in financial services. He also elaborated on the competition format, which centres on a weekly task ‘set’ by the episode sponsor. Competitors are divided into teams to brainstorm that week’s challenge and then present their solution to the judges. “The winner must take the insurance sector forward,” said co-judge and CEO of the Insurance Sector Education and Training Authority (INSETA), Nadia Starr. “We are looking forward to an incredible season, and I look forward to playing my part by firing one or two people”. 

The first challenge was squarely in INSETA’s territory. Nine starting contestants were split into four teams and asked to ‘sell’ a career in insurance to learners at Westbury High School. Teams were allocated a subject and asked to link that subject back to the insurance industry in a way that would resonate with learners and encourage them to consider insurance when deciding on their future professions. Teamwork became the central theme of Episode 1. “There was no cohesion in the team, the presentation slacked research, and a lot of students left more confused than when they arrived,” noted one of the visiting judges. “If you are a team, you must work together,” said another. 

All competitors merged from the acclimating round to face fresh challenges in the next episode. “Each of you brought something that we wanted to see more of – the challenge is to keep exciting us, take the levels up, and work harder to showcase the insurance sector,” concluded Starr. 

Episode 2 – Debating critical issues in insurance

Colman, who was taking time from his managing executive role at specialist risk underwriter SHA to antagonise TIA 2020 contestants, introduced the second episode as the search for the ultimate insurance ambassador. “If someone is unable to pull their weight, then they must go!” he said. Episode 2 was sponsored by Aon, with Terence Williams, CEO, Aon Sub-Saharan Region on hand to present the challenge. “You will formulate a debate that addresses how we think about the evolving landscape of talent in the insurance industry,” he said. The contestants were divided into two teams and set about preparing a debate centred on the retirement age in the insurance industry. 

The chaotic result can only be credited to South Africa’s sub-par education system, where few high school and university graduates are schooled in the art of debate. “You should be able to articulate yourself and do a 30 second presentation without reading from notes,” screamed a clearly disappointed Colman. He concluded that there was no clear winning team and that neither team presented a case strong enough to win the argument. Williams echoed Colman’s sentiment. “You were given a breadth of material, access to internet facilities and experts, and you had every opportunity to get this right,” he said. “You took a critical subject and rehashed everything we already know, turning it into a slinging match without substance. And that was disappointing”. No “chicken dinner” this time around, as Kanchaal Mahabeer, a key individual at Power Brokers and Financial Services became the first person voted out of the competition. 

Episode 3 – Innovating for Generation Z

Colman kicked off Episode 3 of TIA 2020 where he left off Episode 2, admonishing the contestants for their sloppiness. “I do not tolerate unpreparedness or waffling during a presentation. We are looking for leaders who are not beset by arrogance,” he said. He then introduced Catherine Naidoo, product executive at Innovation Group, to describe the third challenge. Contestants, once again divided into two teams, were asked to design and present an innovative insurance product that would resonate with consumers in the Generation Z demographic. 

Key lessons that emerged during the judging of this episode included paying close attention to the brief, to structure presentations appropriately for your audience, and to hold leaders to account at all times. Viewers cringed as one of the teams play-acted a minor vehicle accident to the panel of judges, who were ‘stand ins’ for an imaginary board. We are confident the judges were not play-acting their looks of disbelief. “A board of directors does not need the same presentation that a high school team will appreciate,” chided Naidoo, delivering her part of the final judgement. 

Judge Dread was less accommodating, saying that the competitor’s companies had clearly not hired them for their acting abilities. “We could have easily let an entire team go today, because they failed to hold their team leader to account and allowed the ensuing catastrophe to unfold,” said Colman, who also offered up the comment of season six, to date: “There are no labour laws here, when you are fired you are fired!” One of the team leaders, Yaseen Essop, a commercial underwriter at RBS Insurance Brokers, was fired after Episode 3. And since there are no labour laws on TIA 2020, he stayed fired. 

Part II will bring more on TIA 2020

“This is a competition, this is a contest,” said Colman, setting the stage for TIA 2020 Episode 4. “There can only be one person that wins this – if you do not think you have what it takes to go all the way you can always retire from the contest now,” he said. It was clear that the fast pace established for the first three episodes would continue through the remainder of the competition. For more about the exciting competition you will have to wait for Part II of What ‘The Insurance Apprentice 2020’ teaches us about insurance leadership, due next Friday, 12 June.

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