Words of Wisdom from Women to Watch

Chapter 10A Growth Story

Carol L. Murphy

Managing Director Aon Risk Solutions

I’m writing this while vacationing with my family in Dublin, having just over a week ago celebrated my 26th year with Aon, 30 years in our industry. My daughter was lamenting the return to school in a few weeks, and I empathetically (or so I thought) related it to my working day in and day out. She replied, “That is not fair, because you love your job!” Indeed, it’s true.

I’ve been blessed and have a number of perspectives to draw from in considering women’s advancement in our industry: that of an earnest and optimistic college graduate entering our business, that of a senior-level professional with three kids and a mortgage, that of a leader with colleagues to empower and engage, that of a leader in our company’s Women’s International Network (WIN). There’s a lot of discussion about what our companies should do to promote diversity and inclusion. That is an important conversation. But there’s far less said about what we can do to help ourselves and each other grow our own talent, regardless of gender. So that’s my focus, and it starts with developing your growth mind-set. My own growth story closely parallels Aon’s growth these 26 years. Some stories regarding the lessons learned along my own growth journey follow.

Good-bye Perfectionism

An important lesson that I learned early on was to let go of perfectionism and focus instead on executing positive outcomes for clients. One of the areas that ...