The insurance and reinsurance industry is evolving at an unprecedented pace. We are investing heavily in technology, automation, analytics, and AI to improve efficiency and customer experience. Yet, in the midst of this transformation, one critical element is too often overlooked: How we lead people.

I believe that many of the performance, retention, and engagement challenges we face today are not generational problems. They are leadership problems. And unless leadership evolves at the same pace as our workforce, no amount of technology will deliver sustainable results.

Where my leadership mindset began - My leadership philosophy was shaped long before I entered the corporate world. I grew up in a modest household where both my parents worked long hours to make ends meet. From my early teens, I took responsibility for managing our home during the week while still attending school. I didn’t wait for direction. I did what needed to be done with the resources available, preparing meals, caring for others, and ensuring stability in small but meaningful ways.

That experience taught me my first leadership lesson. Leadership is about responsibility, empathy, and action, not authority.

Professionally, I started at entry level and progressed step by step through resilience, consistency, and hard work. Along the way, I experienced both poor and exceptional leadership. I worked in environments where politics outweighed merit and advancement was not always earned. But I was also fortunate to work with leaders who saw my potential, invested in my development, and encouraged me to complete my studies.

Those contrasting experiences shaped a conviction I still hold today: leadership is not a title. It is a responsibility, to people, to performance, and to doing what is right with fairness and integrity.

Why leadership evolution matters now - Our industry is changing rapidly, yet many leadership models have not kept up. We speak often about innovation, but far less about the human impact of transformation. As a result, we are losing talent faster than we are developing it. This is not a shortage of capable people. It is a shortage of engaged, empowered, and supported people.

Across Africa and globally, we are seeing growing youth-led movements that highlight deeper questions about leadership, accountability, and trust. For insurance and reinsurance, these shifts have both human and material consequences, from social instability to changing risk patterns. While AI can enhance decision-making and efficiency, it cannot replace judgment, trust, culture, or relationships. Only people can do that.

Research consistently shows that how someone feels about their job is shaped far more by their direct leader than by the organisation itself. That means culture, performance, and retention are being influenced daily by leadership behaviour, not by policies or values statements. Leadership evolution is therefore no longer an HR initiative. It is a business continuity strategy.

Gen Z is misunderstood, not entitled - Gen Z is often labelled as difficult or entitled. I disagree. They are misunderstood. They question decisions not because they lack respect, but because they value clarity, logic, and purpose. What some leaders interpret as entitlement is often ambition and strong self-awareness. They do not follow blindly, and that should not be confused with disobedience. It is critical thinking.

We also need to acknowledge an uncomfortable truth. Many of us raised them this way. We taught our children to speak up, to question, and to be confident because we grew up in times of scarcity and wanted them to have better. Now they bring those values into the workplace, and we label it rebellion.

Gen Z is not rejecting hard work. They are rejecting burnout. They want growth, fairness, and to feel heard. When they ask for feedback, it is not impatience, it is commitment. They are saying: I am willing to give my best, but I need to see development and progress.

In that sense, Gen Z is not the problem. They are the mirror showing us what leadership needs to become: more human, more present, and more authentic.