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With a central theme on building relationships and ensuring professional growth, Guardian's 2006 Women's Leadership Summit was held in Miami, Florida in mid-October. The event provided 80 of the company's leading female Financial Representatives, Marketing Directors, and Long Term Care/Disability Income Specialists with a forum to network and share best practices to help take their careers to the next level.
Planned by Guardian's Home Office management in partnership with the Women's Leadership Advisory Board, an organization comprised of talented Financial Representatives from various General Agencies at Guardian, the Summit focused on making connections. The goal of the event's organizers was to ensure the professional growth and future success of Guardian's female Financial Representatives by facilitating connections that open doors for developing professional relationships; connections with other Guardian advisors and guest speakers that help participants learn from each other; connections to interactive workshops for optimum knowledge-sharing; and connections to unlimited opportunities for networking and mentoring.
"Everything we do at Guardian is based around building relationships," says Emily Viner, Field Vice President, Agency Growth and Advanced Markets Group. "It's this mindset which guides the actions of our talented Financial Representatives and further differentiates Guardian in the marketplace. Through events like the Women's Leadership Summit, and our involvement with organizations such as the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), Guardian reinforces its commitment to the financial advancement and empowerment of women."
Attendees at the Summit had the opportunity to hear from some of their esteemed colleagues on various topics such as the importance of coaching, how to run a more productive and efficient business, gathering referrals, and leadership. They also heard the latest news on The Living Balance SheetSM, Guardian's new proprietary financial aggregation tool, and how using this interactive system can empower them to offer their customer new levels of service.
"To me, the most tangible benefit of the Summit was the opportunity it provided our sales professionals from all parts of the country, and at all levels of service at Guardian, to meet and share important career building information," says Kathy Readinger, Second Vice President, Marketing, Technology, and Product Services. "One attendee who stands out in my mind is one of our newest recruits, having only been at Guardian three months at the time of the Summit. She expressed her gratitude to the Board for holding the Summit as the event gave her a model of how our business works and how we all support each other's drive for success. This feedback reaffirmed for me why we held the Summit and truly reflects the spirit of partnership and collaboration that's alive and well at Guardian."
Annette Hammortree, CLTC, RFC, a Financial Representative with Guardian's O'Malley and Associates Agency in Chicago, Illinois, a Financial Planner and Investment Specialist with Park Avenue Securities, and a member of the Board that planned the Summit, was pleased by the number of her colleagues in attendance and the quality of the discussions and networking that took place. "The women at Guardian take their careers very seriously and are very thankful to have been able to spend time with other successful women who are also trying to find the balance between work and family, while still being successful in their profession," she says. "Since the Summit, I have received numerous requests for additional materials relating to the workshops that I facilitated. It's this commitment to learning from others and being the best that illustrates why our people are the 'cream of the crop.'"
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