From try line to boardroom: talking DEI with Dame Inga Beale
Dame Inga Beale’s always done things a little differently. Even growing up, she was conscious of feeling displaced from those around her. An original thinker. A free spirit. Far from being disconcerted, she very quickly gained a sense of independence and the courage to try things on her own. “It’s one of the reasons I’ve been successful,” she said as we caught up with her recently to discuss DEI in the boardroom.
A boardroom’s like a rugby team
As you might expect, her career has followed a similarly unconventional path. This was no case of ‘right school, right university and the fast-track up the corporate ladder.’ After starting and then tiring of an accountancy degree, she entered the world of insurance without a focus in her career. In fact, as the only woman among 35 underwriters, “sport was the only escape. All that mattered was rowing and rugby.”
“Diverse representation around that table is essential.”
But sport was more than an escape. Playing rugby for Wasps showed her the importance of having a diverse team, where people of all shapes and sizes each bring something specific that helps the group function effectively. “In rugby, you need all sorts to be successful and are valued for the skills you bring to the team.” It’s little surprise, then, that she compares the makeup of a rugby team to that of a boardroom, where a variety of different characters helps you build a successful team dynamic.
Off the beaten track – literally
Tired of working in a traditional, male-dominated workplace, she walked out on her job and went backpacking. It was while working in Australia that she experienced her moment of awakening. It came in the form of her new manager, who became her first female role model. From that moment on, Dame Inga had a clear approach in her career. Something to aspire to. A direction.
Becoming the difference
She duly achieved a leadership position at GE Capital, where she was proactively put into a management role because she was the only woman. There’s a lot of debate about whether hiring people purely because they’re from underrepresented groups is the right approach – that it diminishes their value as a professional. For Dame Inga, there’s no debate: “I would never have got a leadership role in insurance if I hadn’t been the only woman,” she said. Considering everything she’s achieved since then, it would have been a huge waste if the company hadn’t taken a chance on her.
The coup de gras of Dame Inga’s unorthodox journey to the boardroom was her appointment as the first female CEO of Lloyd’s of London, a company over 300 years old that didn’t employ a female broker until the 1970s.
Changing the faces
“Because they were so homogenous … they were a kind of club. Nobody wanted to upset things. Also, they were very successful, so they said ‘why do we need to change and why do we need to do things differently?’ But of course you do when you look at the macro world … and the only way to make that change happen, I felt, was to bring new people in, have different voices, voices that said ‘why don’t we do it like this?’”
You get that difference by looking beyond the obvious. “Culture change absolutely has to start in the boardroom. I made sure I got different voices round the table, people different to me. I gave them the safe space to challenge. It doesn’t mean it’s all harmonious, but you become creative and innovative. Organisations should put customers at the heart of what they do – not group them into blocks as they have the same characteristics. You can be very different to someone who looks like you.”
Give your people a voice
Having diverse people in place is one thing, but diversity of thought doesn’t just happen. You need to initiate dialogue and make people feel heard. Through a leadership blog inviting comments from the business and reverse mentoring for the exco, Dame Inga introduced a culture of openness and two-way communications at Lloyd’s. Find out more about how she achieved this in our five key takeaways from the InX Leadership Summit.
“We need inclusion and people to feel they belong, but I don’t want clones. I want the difference.”
To hear Dame Inga talking more about diversity in the boardroom, watch the video below:
For more on giving your people the freedom to express themselves and building communities without judgement, read our article on Building a Culture of Allies in our Unlocked: Culture magazine.