Accountability beyond the balance sheet: “For me, a true test of leadership is whether people feel part of something meaningful. In that sense, being held accountable as a leader includes ensuring every employee at Discovery Insure knows, and truly feels, that their work contributes to making a real difference in South Africa. From there, I also hold myself accountable for impact across four key fronts: delivering on our core purpose, growing and supporting the people I lead, contributing positively to South Africa, and showing up responsibly at home as a husband and father.”  

Focus on an underestimated leadership layer: At Discovery Insure, most people experience leadership daily through team leaders. “Around 40% of the workforce reports directly into this layer, making it the single biggest leverage point for culture, engagement and execution. Yet in many organisations, leadership investment starts higher up the hierarchy.” Robert has deliberately shifted that focus.  

Discovery Insure invests directly in team leaders through a Team Leader Conference and two targeted development programmes. The annual High Impact Leadership programme is designed to equip high‑potential future leaders with the capabilities, behaviours and exposure required to go forward. Then, Leadership in Practice, a newer programme that runs for three months, supports operational leaders by applying neuroscience principles and psychometric evaluations to enhance and hone their leadership skills. “When leaders closest to the work are confident and capable, the impact is felt across the organisation.”  

Be yourself: One of the strongest leadership lessons Robert has observed, reinforced through his Leading Questions with Rob series published on his LinkedIn page, is that there is no single template for success. The CEOs he has interviewed are notable not for how similar they are, but for how different and how assured they are in leading authentically. That insight shaped his own transition into the CEO role. “Coming from a more technical than operational background, I resisted the temptation to emulate my predecessor or anyone else, rather staying anchored in the skills and ways of thinking that had got me there. Authenticity is not a soft attribute; it is a source of clarity and trust.”

Keeping your eye on the five-year horizon: One of the biggest adjustments Robert identified in becoming CEO was the shift in time horizon. “As a team leader, you plan week to week. As a manager, you think in annual cycles. As a CEO, decisions must be made with a five-year view. Maintaining that perspective requires constant discipline.” In strategy discussions, Robert and his executive peers regularly challenge one another on whether they are solving for the next few months or shaping the next five years, calling out any slips into short-term solutioning.  

Advice for young professionals? Borrowing a sports analogy, he believes leadership potential shows up in consistency: be ready when your number is called and deliver every time. Whatever you deliver on, be reliable, consistent and excellent. That builds trust.  

He also draws on a framework from his time as a student at London Business School (where he completed the Accelerated Development Programme in 2019), which he still uses today when identifying leadership talent: a proven track record, commitment to the organisation and its values, strong interpersonal skills, and ambition grounded in a desire to make an impact. Leadership potential, he believes, is revealed over time in how people show up.

Leadership is sustained by self-care: “Health and wellbeing are not indulgences but essential foundations for leading with clarity, energy and perspective.” An avid runner and healthy-living enthusiast, Robert prioritises running, sport, music (he’s a trained classical pianist) and good-quality sleep primarily for their impact on mental health, and because they often serve more than one purpose.  

“Training or racing frequently becomes time with my family or friends, making it that much more meaningful.” That consistent investment pays dividends beyond productivity, enabling presence, perspective and longevity in leadership. “Ultimately, longevity isn’t just about optimising nutrition or training.  It’s about living with intention, connection and presence – the foundation of sustainable, human-centred leadership.”

If Robert were to offer his younger self one piece of advice? “Set bolder goals. Even if you don’t fully reach them, they move you further than playing it safer ever could.”