How did we get here so fast? It was just the other day when we did the cohort pairing for both our local and international Roots and Wings mentorship journey. For anyone with a solid plan, clear vision of their personal growth, coupled with determination; it doesn’t matter how their journey begins. For most successful individuals, it’s not how you start that counts the most, but rather how you continuously find ways to make anything work. Our industry is rich with opportunities for all; whether you accidentally found yourself here or by some strike of sheer luck you made the cut. It all starts with a decision, a chance, and most probably a pounding heartbeat because of self-doubt but the victory is indescribable.
The Insurance Institute of Gauteng is living up to its vision, which comprises of clear emphasis to continue investing in the insurance industry. This journey transmutes the lives of insurance professionals via a series of created possibilities that enable them to engage, connect and grow!
Behind these victorious phrases are blood, sweat, tears, failure, betrayal, disappointment; the list can fill up these pages. I am pretty sure this is how our mentees feel right now after their big and exceptionally successful final presentation and graduation days for our local and international cohorts which took place in November. The satisfaction of a great reward comes with a huge responsibility to pay it forward, otherwise, all this personal development and transformation would be in vane. This industry needs future leaders who will spearhead forward-thinking conversations that will aid the process of reinventing the wheel, in order to support the longevity built by other mentors over decades. Our industry is wealthy; from knowledge, experience, expertise and importantly, willing participants who are accountable for its growth and that of our economy.
It’s pen’s down for the Roots and Wings 2023 programme! But “ain’t nobody stopping us now, coz we are on the move!”. That’s how the IIG Roots and Wings roll. We close off this incredible year with immense gratitude to our insurance community for supporting the vision of the IIG and fellow insurance professionals in both our motherland and outside our borders. We salute the mentees for exceeding the expectations of this programme by consistently showing up, preparing, and importantly growing to a point where they don’t even recognize the old self. Now, the proverb “it takes a village to raise a child” has never been this surreal and we look forward to an enriched, fun-filled learning experience in 2024. Now, let’s all raise our glasses to the collective effort of the IIG, all our sponsors, industry stakeholders, esteemed partners LCA (the glue that sticks everything together like no other) and all insurance professionals……CHEERS!
#BreakTheMould!
The Roots and Wings programme will eternally be grateful to our long-standing great partners; Insurance Institute of Gauteng (IIG), Discovery Limited, Sasria SOC Limited, Chubb, Emerald Risk Transfer (Pty) Ltd and Howden Broking (Insurance)
Article Written by: Thuso Mafumo
