Thoughts of Wilma

“A crisis is an opportunity riding the dangerous wind”. The corona crisis, once again, confirmed to me the truth of this Chinese proverb. The Covid-19 pandemic has knocked on my door no less than three times in person. The first time, it surprised me like virtually everyone else in the world, with the unexpected attack on the health of millions of people worldwide and grinding to a halt of the entire global economy. The second time, I had the fright of my life after an unfortunate fall down the stairs. Anyone who knows me a little, knows that with a Read more ...

As a former top athlete, I was not so nimble, but strong. It was all about physical strength, speed and endurance. The ability to move quickly and easily wasn’t called “agility” in those days even though I see a lot of similarities between sports and business. In a world of accelerating change, increasing complexity and rising polarization between people, we need to find new ways to unlock ourselves from slow-moving. We need to keep an open mind and anticipate solution for tomorrow’s challenges. To nurture that change, leadership style, change management and culture are main drivers to shape agility. They Read more ...

Nowadays, everybody is talking about agility. Companies around the world are trying to follow this new way of rapidly adapting to changes while operating in a productive environment. But behind every company, there are human beings. In the end, no business goals, no departments and also no budgets, can embrace agility – it has to be embraced by the employees. It is simple: A company can’t change by itself; it has to be done by the people. And this means that people need to be open for new things, open for changes, open for innovation. If this is not the Read more ...

At the end of last year, I had to undergo a surgery on my knee. I had to take it slow for a while and walk with crutches first. My knee was not ready to get back to my daily routine. In some sense, I was not completely free to do what I usually do. But I had finally time to bring my soul and my body in a good balance again. In my opinion, this is very important to pick up the energy that is so needed in our fast-turning business world. However, I also learned something more: Finding Read more ...

A few weeks ago Eurapco organised the team offsite meeting. It is the perfect moment to review what we are doing as a company and a team. It also helps to just reconnect outside of the environment of the office. I have found that every year, this offsite meeting brings new energy to the team. But this meeting also made me think about our company values. Company values can shape an organization. They are becoming much more important nowadays. Not only when it comes to driving a team in the right direction, but also for employer branding. Many millennials are Read more ...

What is Agile? Agile software development refers to a group of software development methodologies based on iterative development, where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing cross-functional teams. Agile methods or Agile processes generally promote a disciplined project management process that encourages frequent inspection and adaptation, a leadership philosophy that encourages teamwork, self-organization and accountability, a set of engineering best practices intended to allow for rapid delivery of high-quality software, and a business approach that aligns development with customer needs and company goals (cPrime, 2018). This definition of Agile is closely related to software development, but it is being Read more ...

According to the Global Gender Report female talent is under-used and undervalued. Men’s wages are rising faster and further and at this rate it will take another 217 years before pay is equal. A crazy statistic to introduce this month’s topic of diversity at the workplace. To me, men and women are the same in the workplace. Whether you are a man or a woman, I need you for what you are good at, for your skills. In many of our companies and even countries a cultural change is needed to make this kind of thinking common. What's important is Read more ...

The insurance industry is changing at a pace we have never encountered before, and we have to change along with it in order to remain relevant and on top of our game. To achieve excellence within these changes we all need to develop, not only on a company level but also on a personal level. So how can we do this? Today I am proud to tell you about the Eurapco Academy. The Eurapco Academy has developed several programmes relevant to today’s market challenges. It is business focused and was created to provide our Partners with state-of-the art further education and development Read more ...

We hear great things about the future. We won’t have to drive anymore as mobility innovates, less people will live with hunger, and more people will live longer because of medical advancement. At some point we might not even have to think anymore! But are we ready for this change? Our current welfare models are not built for people living for such a long time. At the same time young people don’t have the financial literacy to deal with these new models and ways of getting money. Financial literacy means being able to use knowledge and skills to manage financial Read more ...

This month of the year you are highly likely setting goals, or reviewing the ones you had. You are considering ending a bad habit or starting a new, good one. Well, if I can be of any help, please keep reading. A couple of weeks ago I re-read the book ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ by Steven Covey. This very famous book presents 7 habits successful people have. They are the following: Be proactive Begin with the end in mind Put first things first Think win-win Seek first to understand, and then to be understood Synergize Sharpen the Read more ...