Lloyd's of London CEO, Richard Ward, Shares Lessons in Leadership with Tomorrow's Business Leaders

New York, NY – December 14, 2009 /PRNewswire/ — Lloyd's, the world's leading insurance market, recently completed a speaking tour addressing three of the leading business education institutions to discuss the future of global risk management and the challenges and opportunities facing business leaders.

Lower Trust, Greater Expectations

Today, expectations of leaders are greater than ever before, with levels of trust in business at the lowest in a decade. This dynamic adds diverse and often counter-intuitive complexities of doing business that must be understood and mitigated.

The lecture series, titled, "Risk, Opportunity, Leadership," was delivered by Lloyd's CEO, Dr. Richard Ward, who touched upon those very complexities and the challenging operating environment that many leaders find themselves in. He provided insights on how a low trust environment can impact transaction costs, lower brand value, make it difficult to attract and retain quality talent, and invite unwanted regulation that could reduce flexibility.

"Tomorrow's leaders will not be judged simply by how much wealth they can generate for investors, they will also be expected to create economically, ethically and socially sustainable businesses," said Ward. "To do this, business leaders will need to regain the trust of stakeholders, encourage collaboration on a global landscape and balance investor interests with those of customers and employees."

Dr. Ward was welcomed by The Harvard School of Business, The Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, and The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania—all of which have been historically ranked among the top-five full-time MBA programs.

Risk Management Tools for Future Leaders

The tour presented a unique opportunity for Lloyd's to establish a connection with the business leaders of the future, as the interactive forums allowed students to ask questions about the market, Dr. Ward's career path and his lessons for leadership. These included:

• Stay away from risks you don't understand. Understand the risks you face, assess them correctly and ensure that you have oversight of the people who are taking risks and know that they are managing them effectively;
• Be selective and learn from mistakes. If you've had a bad experience in the past with a risk, don't repeat it; and if you don't understand the risk, don't take it on. It is critical to learn from experience. If something seems too good to be true, it usually is;
• Have the courage of your convictions to pursue a change agenda. When you know what you're doing is right, keep doing it. You may face a hostile reaction, but keep at it and ultimately you will succeed. Remember, big business transformation requires patience, because you need to bring people along with you;
• Build coalitions to ensure support and success. One of the most effective ways to achieve difficult transformational change is through consensus building. Finding the common thread is essential;
• Create a climate where employees are part of the solution. A successful leader won't meet his objectives by creating a climate of fear where employees do things because they think that is what the CEO wants. Today, the challenge is to create a climate where employees feel they are part of the solution and certainly not part of the problem; they need to feel they are encouraged to be open and debate issues they feel strongly about.

Ward shared these lessons through various personal experiences from his career as well as through challenges the Lloyd's market has faced in the past—some of which were nearly catastrophic for the market, and others where lessons learned from the past helped to avoid crisis in the present.

"Many myths exist about what exactly Lloyd's does, especially in the U.S.," explained Ward. "We wanted to demonstrate our role in navigating global risk management with insight, experience and a cautionary view of the path ahead for business."

For 321 years, Lloyd's has insured the world's largest, most complex risks, with more than 45 percent of its business taking place in the U.S. Lloyd's longevity, ubiquity and capacity to underwrite the most unusual of risks is unmatched in the industry.

About Lloyd's of London

Lloyd's is the world's leading specialist insurance market and occupies fifth place in terms of global reinsurance premium income, and is the second largest surplus lines insurer in the US. In 2009, 74 syndicates are underwriting insurance at Lloyd's, covering all classes of business from more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. Lloyd's is regulated by the Financial Services Authority.