From the Middle East to the North of England, conference season is in full swing. And so are the fascinating conversations around risk priorities and strategies. But if we hope to take what we’ve learnt to the board, we need to be speaking their language.
Conference season is well and truly upon us, and with that comes lots of travelling.
Things kicked off, for me at least, with the Dubai World Insurance Congress in April, where we held our inaugural SR:500 Exchange event.
This series brings together senior risk professionals for full and frank discussions about the thorny issues affecting the industry. This time the hot topic was people risks (read my write-up of the discussions on page 53).
A week later I was off to Switzerland for Risk-!n, an event packed full of highly credible and fascinating speakers, all sharing ideas, strategies and their real-world successes. (If you want to catch up on everything we talked about, we’ve covered the event in full on our here, just search for Risk-!n.)
COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN
One thing that always strikes me when I travel as a Brit, is how widely English is spoken across the globe.
It’s astonishing that I can fly to the Middle East and host a roundtable where everyone is speaking my language. Likewise, back in sunny Zurich all the presentations were in my mother tongue.
It’s a huge privilege to be able to communicate so freely and easily – to put out your message with all its nuances and be understood. However, it’s a privilege I fear risk professionals do not enjoy.
A common theme across both this issue (which is one of our biggest and most jam-packed to date) and the conference season so far, is the challenge of communicating risk effectively, especially to the board.
Monte Carlo simulations might enthral risk teams – but they frequently fail to capture the imagination of a CEO. And as one presenter at Risk-!n put it: “Do you really want to lecture the board members on mathematics and statistics and integral calculus?”
But it’s not just the board. Risk leaders need to engage a wide range of people, including CISOs, sustainability teams, HR, IT, security. Each has their own goals, priorities and, yes, their own ‘language’.
Unlike Brits who are able to travel the world so blithely, confident they’ll be understood by many, without having to learn the local language, risk managers must become fluent in multiple professional dialects. And they need to translate their work carefully, so it resonates with every key stakeholder.
This isn’t easy. But it is essential. Because unless you can speak the right language, you can’t build a strong risk culture, improve decision-making, or make senior management care about risk. In a nutshell, without communication, it’s impossible to do the job.
LEARNING TO TRANSLATE
The good news? The profession is evolving. The rise of the chief risk officer role is proof that risk is breaking through – into boardrooms, strategy meetings, and wider business conversations.
You’ll find plenty of examples in this issue of risk managers doing just that – speaking the right language, getting traction, and driving impact.
And what of my travels? I’m next heading to the ACC in Liverpool. I’m hoping to spend my time here learning from risk professionals who are innovating – whether that’s in risk identification, measurement, mitigation, or transfer.
If that’s you, come find me, let’s have a conversation and see if we’re speaking the same language.
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