Leading by example — Monica Maharaj

Monica Maharaj, Lead Regional Liability Claims — NZ Broker & Specialist Claims understands the significance of self-driven learning and development, and the importance of boldly taking on opportunities outside your comfort zone.

As a panel member of ANZIIF's 2024 Rising Stars in Insurance Seminar in Auckland, Maharaj will share how she has demonstrated these qualities throughout her life.

Noble goals 

At age eleven, Maharaj decided she wanted to be a lawyer. She was attracted to law because she believed she could help people — a noble goal for an eleven-year-old.

Already then, Maharaj understood that in order to achieve her ambition, she needed to stretch beyond her comfort zone.

Recognising that she needed to overcome her shyness, she joined the school debating club describing this as “backing herself early on in life”.  She was passionate about writing and at age fourteen, started writing for her local paper in her native Fiji.

At age fifteen, she applied for a scholarship to study in New Zealand.

An excellent student and a high achiever, Maharaj gained the scholarship and arrived in New Zealand on her own at the age of sixteen. She completed two years of high school, achieved outstanding grades, and went on to complete graduate and post-graduate studies, graduating in 1998 with a Master of Law with Distinction.

Looking for a challenge

After graduating, Maharaj worked in private practice for five years in the areas of family law, civil litigation, and employment law. She then spent several years as an in-house employment lawyer in the corporate sector.

While working in the corporate sector, she began looking for a new challenge where she could apply her law degree and employment law experience and where she “could make a real difference for people.”

She also wanted a role with compatible hours for raising a young child. “Fortunately for me,” she says, “that role came up at Lumley in 2006 and I haven’t looked back since.”

Among Maharaj’s proudest achievements is leading the "superstar" underwriting team at Lumley during its merger with NZI in 2014.

Maharaj has held other leadership roles, including Debt Recoveries Manager and Regional Claims Manager for Specialist Claims at NZI.

She relishes her current role. “There is the opportunity for continual learning and improvement in my role, for not only myself, but to benefit our customers, my employer, and my team,” she says.

She adds that some of the challenging aspects of being in the insurance industry are linked to managing the disruption of the current market and economic climate in respect to retention which places pressure on brokers and customers as well as workload management.

Inspired by technology

Technological advances bring challenges too. But Maharaj finds these inspiring.

“I am very excited about the various roles we will play in insurance working alongside the technological advancements,” she says.  “The human factor, both with our ability to make judgment calls and to empathise will have a bigger role to play as we move more towards automation."

According to Maharaj, an essential quality of being a "rising star" in insurance is taking leadership opportunities both with your employer and in the wider industry.

Maharaj models this quality. She is the co-president of the Insurance Network, which was set up to provide learning and networking opportunities for those in the insurance industry.

Currently, she sits on the New Zealand Insurance Law Association (NZILA) Committee and the ANZIIF Liability Committee. She has also held governance roles and has sat on the Board for Dress for Success. These involvements enable Maharaj to give back to the community.

Maharaj’s leadership qualities have earned her accolades. She was included in Insurance Business New Zealand’s Elite Women 2023, one of only 33 insurance leaders throughout New Zealand on the list that year.

This year, she has again been listed as one of Insurance Business New Zealand’s Elite Women 2024. She was among the “19 distinguished awardees” of the 80 women recognised.

Instilling values

Maharaj is a strong proponent of leading by example. “Treating everyone with integrity, fairness and respect will in turn earn the respect of your team and will instil those values among your staff,” she says. 

“In my professional life, I have tried to emulate leaders I admire who have encouraged me to take roles that took me well outside of my comfort zone and who taught me that your people are your most valuable asset,” she says.

“My experience has taught me that if you take care of your people, the business will largely take care of itself."

Maharaj is looking forward to giving back by sharing her knowledge, experiences and advice with the participants at the Rising Stars in Insurance Seminar.

She will encourage participants to follow their passion, as “you can’t be truly successful if you are not following your passion.” She will also advise them that “leadership success always starts with a vision”.

At the seminar, Maharaj will recommend to participants that they “set their professional goals, find a leader who will support them, find strategies to develop their skill set for career advancement and take those opportunities outside of your comfort zone". And most importantly, ensure that they are in a role that they love.

Find out more about the Rising Stars in Insurance Seminar