NIBA Mentoring Program: Mentee Spotlight - Sanjay Adhar

How did you first hear about and what you to participate in the NIBA Mentoring Program?

The first time I heard about this program was at a NIBA Convention a few years back. I recall NIBA highlighting how rewarding this program can be, the professional career benefits associated and previous participants that are now leaders in our industry.

Knowing that this program pairs you with experienced insurance professionals outside of your workplace and seeing our industry constantly evolve, I felt this would be a great opportunity to share my career goals, see if they were still relevant, and to seek perspective and guidance on how best to reach these goals. In was an easy “yes” from my end when my team leader asked if I had interest in joining this program.

What did you want to achieve through the Program?

I had a good idea of what my short, medium and long-term goals were. I wanted to use this program to expand my skill set, improve my confidence, gain industry awareness, ensure my goals are relevant and to overall strive to be the best professional version of myself.

Working in Distribution at Allianz for the last four years, I’ve always had a goal in mind, which is to be one of the best Broker Relationship Managers in market. Knowing NIBA would pair me with an experienced insurance broker, who would have experienced multiple Relationship Managers in the past, I knew this would be a great opportunity to rate myself honestly, identify areas of improvement, share ideas and work on an achievable plan to bridge the gap between where I am and where I wanted to be.

How was your experience being a mentee?

As a mentee, I have nothing but great things to say about my experience throughout this program, If anything, I wish I had participated earlier on in my insurance career. Throughout the 12-week program, my mentor and I had weekly catch ups where we would review my progress, share experiences, discuss any current obstacles, and determine if any of my original goals required amendments. I was fortunate to be paired with Anthony Scott, who brought a world of knowledge, experience and energy to each session and ensured I stayed on track throughout the 12-week program.

What has the Mentoring Program given you?

The reality is that we don’t know everything in our professional life. Having the opportunity to connect with an experienced professional and gain perspective, insights and advice into your own career is an opportunity which seems far too valuable to pass on.

In today’s day and age, we can easily say we are time poor and lose sight of our career goals and the necessary time and effort required to purse these goals. This program in some ways, forces you to make time and put in effort to understand your present situation, ensure your goals are achievable, and determine whether you have the right framework in place to successfully pursue these goals. This program has allowed me to identity my strengths and weaknesses and how to become a professional within our industry. The best thing about this is despite the program concluding, I know I have built a solid trusting relationship with my mentor and can always lean on him to bounce ideas and situations in the future.

Are you keen on joining the 2024 NIBA Mentoring Program? Please send your expression of interest to mentoring@niba.com.au, specifying whether you'd like to participate as a mentor or mentee.