Is Your Organization Preparing Leaders for the Lives They Will Actually Lead?

Every organization in the insurance industry prepares midlevel leaders for operational risk.

Very few prepare them for personal risk.

Yet some of the most significant threats to leadership capacity do not begin inside the organization.

They begin at home.

Divorce.

Caregiving.

The death of a parent.

Grief and loss.

A leader may physically return to the meetings, the team, the deadlines, and the decisions.

They may look like the same leader.

But their capacity may not be the same.

This is where Heart Led Leadership Fitness™ matters.

What Is Heart Led Leadership Fitness™?

After spending decades in risk management, workers’ compensation claims, return to work, and executive leadership, I believe we need to expand how we approach leadership development.

I have also personally navigated and grown forward after divorce, caregiving, grief, and profound loss.

These professional and personal experiences shaped how I define Heart Led Leadership Fitness™:

Heart Led Leadership Fitness™ is the disciplined practice of strengthening the inner leadership capacities that preserve sound judgment, healthy relationships, and sustained performance before, during, and after personal disruption.

These disruptions may include divorce, caregiving, grief, loss, and other major life transitions.

Why fitness?

Years of HIIT, or high intensity interval training, taught me something that applies far beyond the gym:

We do not build strength during the hardest interval. We reveal the strength we have developed through consistent training.

Leadership works the same way.

Divorce does not suddenly create resilience.

Caregiving does not automatically create emotional endurance.

Grief does not instantly produce wisdom.

These experiences often reveal the inner capacity a leader has already developed. They also expose the areas that may need strengthening.

Put differently:

Personal disruption does not create leadership. It reveals the level of heart fitness a leader has already developed.

Personal Disruptions Are Not Isolated Personal Problems

In 2025, the United States had approximately 63 million family caregivers. According to AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving, seven in ten were employed.

Among employed caregivers, half reported experiencing work disruptions, such as arriving late or leaving early, because of their caregiving responsibilities.

Research from AARP and S&P Global also found that 84 percent of surveyed working caregivers said caregiving had a moderate or high impact on their daily stress.

Consider what these numbers mean inside the insurance industry.

Some of the people carrying these responsibilities are experienced claims leaders, underwriting managers, operations leaders, risk professionals, and workers’ compensation people managers.

They have not suddenly lost their expertise.

However, the person carrying that expertise may be operating with reduced emotional capacity.

Over time, that reduced capacity can affect:

• People
• Performance
• Profit
• Institutional knowledge

This is why personal disruption represents an often overlooked leadership retention risk.

One Heart Led Leadership Fitness™ Practice to Start Now

Do not wait until a valuable midlevel leader is visibly struggling before asking what they need.

Build the muscle beforehand.

During your next leadership development conversation, ask:

“When your personal capacity is reduced, what helps you remain clear, connected, and effective as a leader?”

Then listen.

Do not immediately try to solve the problem.

Do not automatically lower performance expectations.

Do not turn the conversation into therapy.

Instead, help the leader reflect on three important questions.

1. What keeps me grounded?

Consider the values, practices, routines, and relationships that provide stability during difficult seasons.

2. What signals tell me my capacity is changing?

These signals may include decision fatigue, withdrawal, irritability, difficulty concentrating, reduced confidence, or changes in communication.

Recognizing these signals early can help a leader respond before they begin affecting the team.

3. What helps me reset before these signals affect how I lead?

The answer may involve taking a pause, establishing a boundary, asking for support, reflecting, delegating, reprioritizing, or working with a coach or consultant.

I call this putting in the heart reps.

I practice these heart reps three times each week.

The objective is not to make leaders immune to personal disruption. That is impossible.

The objective is to help them build enough heart capacity so that when life changes, they do not have to abandon themselves to continue leading.

The Leadership Development Question Has Changed

For years, organizations have asked:

“How do we make our leaders more resilient?”

I believe there is a more useful question:

“Have we helped our leaders build enough heart capacity to continue leading without abandoning themselves?”

Resilience should not mean enduring everything silently.

Returning to work does not necessarily mean a leader has fully returned to leadership.

A leader may be present in every meeting while privately struggling to think clearly, communicate confidently, or remain connected to their team.

The insurance industry has an opportunity to address this gap intentionally before valuable leaders disengage, underperform, or begin questioning whether they still belong.

Human first. Performance follows.

Here is the question to bring into your next executive, HR, or talent development conversation:

Is Your Organization Developing Leaders Only for the Jobs They Hold, or Also for the Lives They Will Experience While Holding Them?

Leadership development cannot focus only on technical knowledge, operational performance, and business results.

It must also consider the human being responsible for delivering those results.

Leaders do not always need someone to solve their personal challenges.

Sometimes, they need a safe and respectful way to acknowledge that something has changed without feeling pressured to share private details.

A thoughtful conversation can help a leader feel seen while protecting their dignity and privacy.

Begin With a Privacy Respectful Conversation

Managers, executives, and HR professionals do not need to become therapists.

They also do not need to have the perfect words.

They need a respectful way to acknowledge a change, begin a conversation, and remind the leader that support may be available.

The RISE™ Privacy Forward Conversation Starter is a free practical guide designed to help leaders approach these conversations with empathy, confidence, and respect.

Inside the guide, you will discover:

• Conversation starters you can use when you notice a change
• What to say when a leader appears withdrawn, overwhelmed, or emotionally exhausted
• How to show concern without asking for private information
• Common phrases that may unintentionally close the conversation
• A simple follow up approach that helps leaders feel remembered and supported
• How the RISE™ Framework supports leadership renewal and retention

You do not need to have the perfect words.

You only need a thoughtful place to begin.

Download the free RISE™ Privacy Forward Conversation Starter.

When Your Organization Needs More Support

Sometimes one thoughtful conversation is enough to help a leader feel seen.

Other times, changes in communication, confidence, engagement, or performance may point to a deeper leadership retention gap.

If your insurance organization is examining leadership retention, employee engagement, leadership development, or how to support midlevel leaders after caregiving, divorce, grief, or loss, let us explore the challenge together.

We can identify where personal disruption may be creating an unseen leadership retention gap and consider whether a Heart Led Leadership Fitness™ experiential workshop powered by the RISE™ Framework could help your leaders strengthen the clarity, confidence, and capacity they need to grow forward.

The purpose is not to make leaders immune to difficult seasons.

It is to help them continue leading without feeling that they must abandon themselves in the process.

Schedule a consultation with Licia to explore what support may be helpful.

Protecting people. Performance. Profit. And the institutional knowledge you cannot easily replace.