CELEBRATING DISTINGUISHED WOMEN OF SUBSTANCE INSPIRING THE SOCIETY POSITIVELY
As a mother, wife and career woman, how have you been able to manage all these responsibilities and still able to maintain a successful career?
As a female professional, let me state that the road to success for the average professional woman is very stressful and challenging to her intellect, physique and character. It requires God's grace and endurance to be able to play our natural roles of wife, mother and governess
simultaneously. No matter your set professional goal, you must not, as a woman, allow your responsibilities to your husband, children, elderly parents and others, to suffer. If the home front is at peace, you will enjoy the support of immediate and extended family members and the confidence of colleagues at work. These were my values and luckily I had a very understanding, supportive and caring husband who encouraged me to pursue my dreams. The need to have a very good support system cannot be over emphazised.
What would you describe as the greatest passion that has brought you this far in your career?
In simple terms, it is the desire to lend a helping hand, openness, transparency and a commitment to sustain the trust of clients. As you know, insurance is about trust. You sell an intangible asset for a promised protection. When the unexpected happens, you must be there to comfort and reassure your client (the insured) that “all will be well”. No excuses. The insured must be supported and restored to his/her previous situation as promised in the insurance policy. In all my dealings with underwriters and the insured (both potential and existing), I remain open and transparent to earn their trust. So, what has brought me thus far, is commitment to and delivery of excellent service based on trust and technical competence. I walk my talk. With the prevailing harsh economic environment, especially with the global economic crisis, how can you describe your experience in the last few years as regards your role in the
running of your organization inparticular, and the industry where you operate, in general?
In this male-dominated business environment and Industry, it has not been easy surviving and making a breakthrough. The business environment has been harsh and difficult particularly because underwriters sell intangible, but useful, service.
There are challenges but as someone who has served and led in various board rooms, I have been able to leverage my experience to overcome them. Learning the ropes is key.
Let me seize this opportunity to give credit to my late husband, Prince Adebajo Abiodun Babington-ashaye, FCA, Past President of ICAN who inspired and prepared me for leadership position. When he was alive, each time I had boardroom challenges and critical business decisions to make, we would both sit down engage and review all aspects of the matters, identify options and zero-in on what the optimum decision and line of action should be. I learnt a lot from him including people management and how to build inclusive leadership. He would always insist that taking decisions in a hurry could be disastrous. His model was: identify the challenge and the contending issues involved; evaluate the various options (and their possible impact) based on available information. Based on the critical assessment and the resources available, take decision by selecting option(s) with optimal benefits. This model has continued to be useful to me.
Do you think social media has a bad influence on the society especially on the girl-child?
In terms of access to information and learning opportunities, the social media is very good. However, there are a lot of trash and obscene contents in social media that can derail the girl-child and negatively impact the society. Sincerely speaking, parents must learn to “censor” what their children watch and read in addition to teaching them the right family values. Charity must begin at home. If you do not teach your children as a parent, they will learn bad values from social media and peer groups. No matter how busy you are, as a parent, please create time to engage your children.
What advice do you have for upcoming women professionals aspiring to be like you?
There is no short cut to success. Young girls, with the guidance of their parents, should think about their career and future. They should remain focused on what they set out to do and seek for mentorship and coaching opportunities. They must learn to dress decently too and be wary of the negative influence of peer groups. The way they dress is the way they will be addressed. They should take more interest in reading, studying and scanning the environment and envision the type of future they desire and pursue it with their might. It is often said that a person's attitude will determine her altitude. So, they must develop the right values and attitude. Working hard is key. Hardwork does not kill, it keeps you trim and indeed, prepares you for better opportunities. When an opportunity comes, you would be ready to grab it with both hands. As a young lady and a growing Christian, I was fascinated by the issue of trust and fidelity. Incidentally, these were and still are the values that underlie
Insurance. So I took interest and studied Insurance in the tertiary institution and subsequently, pursued a career in the field. All my working life which spanned over 35 years have been in the Insurance Industry. I followed my passion with vigour. They should follow their passion with appropriate guidance and mentoring. Finally, to succeed, whatever they set out to do must be aimed at solving a problem in society or meeting the needs of specific stakeholders. the opportunities offered by FBA Foundation. As I stated earlier, the Foundation provides learning and career opportunities for its members, business insights in networking platforms, one-onone mentoring program, personal and development fora. It also holds focusedretreats as well as continuous discussions on how to maintain work life balance especially for upwardly mobile ladies. I am satisfied and proud of the achievements of my mentees over the years in their career and family lives. So, I invite young ladies to latch in on these initiatives to change their narratives for the best.
Also, as part of our social corporate responsibility at Funmi Babington-ashaye Foundation, we realized the need to join our voice to the global menace of poor mental Health, depression and most especially post partum depression. There are lots of misconception around mental health and post partum depression. On the 19th November 2022, our foundation organized a walkathon to create awareness to equip members of the public with necessary information to prevent further spread of the menace. Recently, there have been several cases of suicide globally and Nigeria in particular.
To all women, “Trust yourself, if you don't learn to trust yourself, you will never be happy. You'll always be deferring our authority to someone or something outside of you.” – Paul Selig.
You are much more!!! See you at the top.
Sincerely speaking, parents must learn to “censor” what their children watch and read in addition to teaching them the right family values.