Lafond and other top executives at Insurity recently volunteered to share their career-building knowledge and advice with dozens of graduate students during a series of weekly leadership presentations. Some 30 students attended regularly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all wanted to give back to the school and help students have a smooth transition to the workforce,\u2019\u2019 he says. \u201cOur team understands the value in sharing what they do with the next generation. It wasn\u2019t difficult to get them to participate.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
The Insurity team discussed everything from business strategy to the growing importance of technology, how to boost employee retention and how to resolve important issues when the team doesn\u2019t agree. The presentations also featured a question-and-answer session with executives, during which no question was off limits.<\/p>\n
Rare Chance to Probe the Nuances of Business<\/strong><\/p>\n Laurissa Berk, program liaison and the director of global & experiential education for graduate-business STEM programs, says the Insurity executives\u2019 insight was greatly appreciated by the students.<\/p>\n \u201cThe opportunity to be mentored by the CEO of a large company is extremely powerful. Having access to the expertise of an entire C-suite is a unique opportunity to understand\u00a0the nuances of business that few students get to explore,\u2019\u2019 Berk says. \u201cOur students took full advantage. Discussions were lively as students received the behind-the-scenes scoop on management, decision-making, buy-in and strategy.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cWe are very grateful to the Insurity team for their investment in and dedication to our students and their professional development.\u00a0This commitment to providing essential leadership skills is just one of the many differentiators of a UConn Business education,\u2019\u2019 she says.<\/p>\n Trust is a Critical Component of a Successful Team<\/strong><\/p>\n Brenda Burns \u201988 (CLAS), Vice President at Insurity, spoke with students about the importance of conflict resolution among leadership.<\/p>\n \u201cHow well a team meshes and trusts each other is critical to a company\u2019s success,\u2019\u2019 she says. \u201cYou want to have healthy<\/em> conflict that highlights challenges and allows the team to solve those problems together. If you don\u2019t, it\u2019s a detriment to the entire business. It takes time to settle these things, so that everyone feels heard and supports the decisions and direction that the organization is taking, but it is an important part of the process.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Burns says the UConn-Insurity leadership series was beneficial for all.<\/p>\n \u201cThe students I had the privilege of meeting asked great questions and were all knowledge seekers,\u2019\u2019 she says. \u201cWe love new perspectives here and the crosshatch of ideas. We told them no question is off-limits. No one held back.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Burns also emphasized to the students that no task is too small when you\u2019re new to the workplace.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes people don\u2019t want to pay their dues, and think that somehow all good things should just come to them,\u2019\u2019 says Burns, whose first job at age 12 was working in the tobacco fields. \u201cBut everything is a learning opportunity.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n When Burns worked at her first job in insurance, handling administrative tasks, a senior vice president noticed how hard she worked.<\/p>\n \u201cThat experience opened other doors. She recognized my capability and recommended me for other things. Ultimately, I got tremendous exposure to other leaders,\u2019\u2019 she says. Lafond agreed, saying early in his career, although he worked in finance, he asked to listen in on sales calls to gain a deeper understanding of the business.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the things that\u2019s unique about our executive leadership team at Insurity is the enormous emphasis on growing and investing in our employees\u2019 careers,\u2019\u2019 Burns says of the company with 1,300 employees in the U.S. and abroad. \u201cWe\u2019re proud of that culture.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Innovation, Analytics Are Essential Today<\/strong><\/p>\n Kirstin Marr, Chief Data Analytics Officer, spoke about the skyrocketing demand for data and data scientists. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is predicting a 28% growth in data analytics jobs between now and 2026.<\/p>\n \u201cThe need for data scientists and massive amounts of data is just exploding,\u2019\u2019 she says. \u201cPredictive modeling, machine learning, and artificial intelligence are here to stay,\u2019\u2019 she says, adding that the information must be centralized, accessible, trustworthy and well-governed.<\/p>\n \u201cExecutives must have confidence in the information they\u2019re using, so the business can make sound decisions,\u2019\u2019 Marr says. \u201cWhat\u2019s exciting for these students is that being new to the workforce isn\u2019t a detriment for them because there is such a need for their skills. They\u2019re not competing with someone who has been in the field for 30 years.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Marr, who began her career as an English literature major with plans to work in publishing and magazines, advised students that every career is a winding road. A job at HomeAdvisor introduced her to e-commerce and she developed skills in consumer search, brand development, business-to-business development and reputation management, all setting the stage for her current role.<\/p>\n Avoid companies that are just using the buzz words and pursue companies that explain how you can have a direct impact on their growth, she advises.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you like to build things, as I do, this is the most innovative time. The possibilities are endless,\u2019\u2019 she says. \u201cWe\u2019re always looking for self-starters, motivated and purpose-driven people. I tell students to let their purpose shine through. It\u2019s a great time to be entering business because there is so much need and so much opportunity.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n What Does the CEO Do?<\/strong><\/p>\n Lafond says his most important task as CEO is identifying the company\u2019s top five goals.<\/p>\n \u201cAs CEO, I need to prioritize what we\u2019re doing as a company, and what we\u2019re not going to do. There are more good ideas than you can pursue, and if you try to do them all, you\u2019ll be mediocre because you can\u2019t do them all at once,\u2019\u2019 says Lafond, who is a member of the School of Business Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n He also devotes time to making sure his teams have the right members and chemistry to be successful, and making sure employees are valued, listened to, and understood. He will explain a decision or a policy 20 times, in small groups, large groups, and emails, to make sure his employees understand why changes are being made.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of senior executives don\u2019t take the time to do that. If you don\u2019t explain decisions or why you\u2019re taking a particular direction, your employees won\u2019t come on the journey with you,\u2019\u2019 says Lafond, who also pens thank-you notes to employees who excel.<\/p>\n For Students: \u2018A Worthwhile Journey\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Lakeesha Brown \u201924 MBA, the Interim Chief Human Resources Officer for UConn and the Vice President of Human Resources for UConn Health, participated in the Insurity leadership program and says the series gave her a different perspective.<\/p>\n \u201cI was able to ask questions about how they got into their careers and what brought them to the C-Suite,\u2019\u2019 she says. \u201cFor me that is exciting and interesting information that helps me understand what motivates the candidates I am interviewing for senior-level positions.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Samarth Sharma \u201924 MSBAPM, says the sessions were helpful to him, particularly those that focused on leadership and strategic vision.<\/p>\n \u201cMy career has spanned roles where bridging the technical and managerial divide was paramount, similar to the interdisciplinary approach I observed among the Insurity leaders,\u2019\u2019 says Sharma, a serial entrepreneur.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was compelling to see how these executives navigate the complexities of the tech and business worlds, offering actionable insights that I can apply to my career journey,\u2019\u2019 he says. \u201cThe series has been a worthwhile journey, greatly enhancing my understanding of the executive mindset and business strategy.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Leadership series allowed students to ask probing questions, gain behind-the-scenes knowledge<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":214890,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[147,1731,2193,1862,2461,99,2235,2458,2234],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2105],"class_list":["post-214888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-entrepreneurship","category-hartford-county","category-busn","category-staff","category-student-life","category-today-homepage","category-undergraduates","category-university-life"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-11 06:24:11","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/121"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214888"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":214985,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214888\/revisions\/214985"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/214890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214888"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=214888"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=214888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"A](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/insurity-2-1500x1000-1-1024x683.jpg\")