Opinion: Coaching versus leadership – How you listen can steer your business

The two days of last month’s (13 and 14 May 2026) annual Biba Conference in Manchester always pass in a productive whirlwind of conversations, connections and cocktails.

However, one of my favourite parts of the conference agenda is the Women in Insurance Breakfast, sponsored by law firm Carpenters Group, which trade body Biba introduced last year for the first time to open the event’s second day.

This year’s succeeding iteration of this motivational morning meeting did not disappoint and, in particular, hearing from Canadian broker leader Traci Boland certainly gave delegates plenty to think about in terms of leadership styles and supporting future talent coming through the organisational ranks.

This is a topic close to Insurance Times’ heart as we continue our talent-centric Destination Insurance campaign.

Boland is yet another market representative that fell into an insurance career. Initial dreams of becoming a police officer were supplanted by a move into figure skating – she coached national synchronised figure skating teams for a little over 12 years.

However, following the 9/11 terrorist attack in the US, Boland returned to her native Canada and ended up working in her father’s insurance broking business – and she has not looked back since.

As well as being the current partner and manager of her own firm, Ontario West Insurance Brokers, she is the former chair of the Insurance Brokers Association of Canada, past chair at the Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario and spent two years as the Canadian representative for the World Federation of Insurance Intermediaries.

Her insight on leadership, therefore, is not to be sniffed at.

Key takeaways from her fireside chat, conducted by Biba’s head of communications, Pam Quinn, included the importance of listening and the difference between coaching and leadership.

Boland explained: “[A] coach tells you what to do. You have to listen. [A] leader listens to their team, reflects on it and comes out with a good decision that’s going to help their entire team.”

Putting this into practice, Boland emphasised that treating employees equally does not mean treating them the same, underscoring that how we listen heavily influences how we can lead.

“I treat my staff fairly, but I don’t treat them all the same. They’re not all the same person,” she said. “I want to make sure that everybody in my office feels valued and heard at all times.”

Linked to this, Boland advised that instead of “complaining constantly” to leaders about pain points, professionals looking to have an impact should come to these conversations armed with “good answers on how to solve” any issues. Although raising awareness of friction areas is always helpful, Boland noted, leaders “don’t know everything” and are typically open to collaboration.

Time:To listen

In fact, Boland went as far as to say that “the act of listening” is the most important thing individuals can do while at work.

She continued: “[When I was younger], when chief executives would talk, I was trying to think of my next statement instead of actually listening to what they were saying. That has been my hardest lesson, to be able to sit in the conversation, look [at] somebody eye-to-eye and digest what they’re saying.”

To encourage this behaviour, Boland learned “reflective speaking”. She described this “skill” as “when you’re speaking with somebody, you take one of their [words] or a piece of [their] statement and bring it back in the next line that you’re saying. So, you’re engaging them in the conversation”.

Boland additionally spoke on the related importance of emotional intelligence – a subject Canada is in the process of launching a three-part educational series on for women working in insurance.

“Faking it until you make it is going to break you,” Boland warned. “Ask questions, listen actively and be able to own your own self and your emotions within a room.

“Understanding who you really are is so important, making sure that your voice is strong and that you don’t bend like a willow.”

Boland’s definition and views of leadership correlate with what we already know is the heartland of UK general insurance – that it is a people driven, collaboration focused industry, where it is just as important to listen as it is to speak out, whether you are listening to clients, customers, colleagues…or yourself.