Flora Minja urges women to challenge the status quo

Dar es Salaam. Dr Flora Minja is the Acting Group CEO of Strategis Insurance Tanzania. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Health from the Muhimbili University.

Her career journey started 17 years ago when she joined the claims department of Strategis Insurance as a Case Manager at a time when the company was purely a medical insurance service provider. She said  her entry into the insurance industry was not planned.  

She had completed her medical degree a year before and had just finalised her internship, and planned on going into medical practice when the opportunity at Strategis arose.  

She says that she had not expected the success she has attained thus far at that time, and attributes it to three main aspects, family support, hard work and support from her mentors and colleagues.  

     
She admits that she is privileged to have supportive parents who believe in her and always encourage her and her siblings to always do their best.

  “Our parents instilled in us a spirit of hard work and being responsible, they built in us confidence that we can achieve whatever we set out to do if we put in the effort,” she says.

" I believe it is important to encourage and build confidence in children from an early age that they are able to achieve their dreams, and this is both for girls and boys," she says.

 
She grew within the company to the position of Chief Operating Officer before becoming the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Medical Division and has been acting Group CEO, which is the top assignment in the company.

“Among the aspects that helped me grow career wise, is the fact that over the years I have been overseeing various departments within the Medical Insurance division which included Case management, Claims and Provider Network Management. 

These areas are very important as far as Medical Insurance business is concerned and make up the engine of the business since they carry the interests of both internal and external stakeholders including clients, intermediaries and healthcare providers,” she says.
   This helped her gain knowledge and hands on experience on the operational aspects of the medical insurance business.  She acknowledges her colleagues and the company’s management for having faith in her abilities and for the support that helped her grow to where she is today. 

The experience gained enables her to oversee the company’s strategy, operations and growth.
Adding to that, she says her major achievements include being able to provide a positive contribution to driving the company’s vision and mission and attaining growth in market share, good company reputation and increased profitability.
Commenting on the challenges she faces through working in a male dominated field she says, challenges are normal and expected in different areas of life and one must build resilience and overcome them in order to succeed.  

She says, although key leadership positions in today’s corporate world are male dominated, not only in Tanzania but worldwide, she insists that as women we should choose to challenge the status quo and take a more active role by going out of our comfort zone and putting in the effort required to reach the positions.  Many organisations look solely at ability and performance, and I am a living proof of this as I have not been treated any differently from my male colleagues and my opinion has always been equally valued at Strategies”, says Dr Flora.   

Asked on how she balances career and family life she says that one must first define their priorities, and this will be followed by striking a balance. 

"My main priority is my family and thus I find it important to be in a flexible workplace that values the importance of families.  Support from family and friends has also been key in balancing work and family life.  Another added advantage that women have is the ability to multitask which has helped her be able to manage her time and at the same time focus on her duties. "

Sharing her advice to women who would like to attain CEO positions she says, they should recognize the potential they have, believe in themselves and be ready to face the challenges encountered as they climb up the ladder.  The challenges should be used to strengthen their leadership muscles and gain more skills.
In addition, she says that the right mentors are key to getting to the desired destination in your chosen career.  “I was privileged to have had two great mentors to whom I am truly indebted and without whom I would not have been able to reach where I am now, and coincidentally they were both men.  Thus, I believe that there are many qualities that women can learn from their counterparts.  Men and women need each other in leadership development, and it is not necessary for women to only consider having mentors who are women for career advancement.”  
Further, women must pursue personal development and learning including leadership skills and give themselves sufficient exposure that will make them competitive when it comes to acquiring top positions,” adds Flora.

Commenting on her leadership style she says, she believes in collaborative leadership where team members can participate in decision making as this allows the team to provide their input and be responsible. 

However, one can be called upon to use other kinds of leadership styles depending on the situation. She is appreciative of the good team at Strategies.
 She believes in her team and realizes that leadership is never about the leader but is about those you lead, thus empowering them is very important as in the long run it is the team that makes leaders excel or fail.