On 11 June 2026, Gauteng Women in Insurance (GWII) hosted another Trailblazers Leaderwalk at iTOO Special Risks in Parktown, bringing emerging leaders together for an honest look at what executive leadership actually involves.
The Trailblazers Leaderwalk series exists to give future leaders practical insight that goes past the polished version of leadership, and this session held to that. It was led by Huntley Smith, former COO, in a 90-minute session built around the realities of the role rather than the success stories.
Huntley ran the session in four parts. It opened with The Unfiltered, six honest realities of operating at the executive level. The Hot Seat followed, where he took live questions from the room, including the ones most people only ask in private. The Hard Decision put a real COO scenario in front of the audience and worked through it together, with the uncomfortable lesson that the obvious responses were the wrong ones, and that the right move was to hold back and let the responsible manager own it. The session closed with The Gap, a ten-behaviour framework setting out what separates competent leaders from the ones people actually follow.
The thread through all of it was that leadership is a responsibility, not a reward, and not one everyone will want once they see what it asks of them. It is also a skill, which is the part most people overlook. Leadership gets treated as something you either have or you don’t, when in practice it can be built and developed like any other skill, and that work can start well before you ever hold a manager title. Attendees were encouraged to take on stretch work, get comfortable with discomfort, and build the confidence to lead when the path is not clear.
Once the session wrapped, a cocktail hour with snacks and networking gave attendees a chance to reflect on the discussion and connect with peers.
We thank our accelerator facilitators (below) for accepting our challenge to facilitate discussions:
- Alexander Karvelas (Bryte Insurance)
- Emelda Tladi (Hollard Insurance)
- Fisokuhle Charlotte Nkosi (ITOO Special Risks)
- Matlhogonolo Zulu ((ITOO Special Risks)
- Patience Dube ((ITOO Special Risks)
- Simphiwe Magangane (Howden Broking South Africa)
- Tavio Roxo (OWLS™ Software)
- Thuso Mudau-Mafumo (Absa Insurance Company)
A word of thanks
Thank you to all who attended!
#GWII #SheLeads #ConnectLeadInspire