This year’s BBC coverage of the Chelsea Flower Show was incredible; there were so many beautiful, interesting and inspirational gardens to see.
It’s got me thinking about my own garden, how growing and nurturing plants – flowers, fruit or vegetables – from the smallest of seedlings is a real privilege. Nature is awe-inspiring. Even when things don’t go to plan, there’s always something new to learn, such as putting squirrel-proof netting over my seedlings!
And this idea also applies to business.
When it comes to our team, I like to grow my own. There’s something powerful about spotting potential, nurturing talent, and helping people flourish. It builds loyalty, confidence and often uncovers skills and strengths that just needed the right conditions to thrive.
We treat our colleagues as individuals, supporting them to be in the right roles, with the right tools, recognition and room to thrive
But just like any good garden, it’s not about doing one thing in isolation.
Alongside growing your own, sometimes you need to introduce new varieties, bringing in experienced professionals from outside can add something fresh, different, and immediately impactful. It brings new perspectives, sharpens thinking, and helps stretch our ambitions.
At OneFamily and Beagle Street, we value both. We work hard to scout and support internal talent, with leadership and women-specific development programmes designed to help people grow into their potential.
Last year, I was delighted to promote several inspiring colleagues into leadership roles; their insight, shaped by deep understanding of our organisation, has already proved invaluable.
But we also make a point of bringing in external talent when it’s right, those who can challenge us, complement our existing strengths and accelerate our progress. The combination of internal insight and external perspective is a powerful one.
Helping people grow, whether they’ve been with us a long time or are just joining, is one of the most rewarding parts of leadership
Our goal is to build the scale in life insurance that we’ve successfully achieved in children’s savings to help to protect even more people against life’s big challenges.
As a modern dynamic mutual, we are owned by our members for our members. We don’t have shareholders to pay, so we can reinvest our profits to design the products and services that our members need.
In short, OneFamily’s team puts our members first in everything we do. It’s built into our values and ethos, so we actively listen to them and shape our services to fill their needs. But we can always do more. We should do more. We must do more.
And that is precisely what we intend to do with the life insurance market.
We’re also investing in clearer career pathways, so colleagues can visualise where their role might take them, and we support moves across the business with skills development and taster days.
And because we’re a diverse organisation, we treat our colleagues as individuals, supporting them to be in the right roles, with the right tools, recognition and room to thrive.
Helping people grow, whether they’ve been with us a long time or are just joining, is one of the most rewarding parts of leadership. Like in any garden, not everything goes to plan, and there’s always something new to learn. But the process never stops being inspiring.
Because growing your own team while also welcoming new growth from beyond is how you build something truly resilient and full of life.
There’s just a little less squirrel proof netting...
About Jim Islam, OneFamily's CEO
Jim places great value on the importance of education, citing it as the foundation stone upon which social mobility can be built. As OneFamily’s CEO, he wants to hold out his hand of support to those who don’t know where to turn and to use his platform to lift people up and inspire them to fulfil their potential.
He encourages thinking big, having great aspirations and setting audacious goals to free potential. With education, encouragement and empowerment he thinks that any child can achieve their biggest and most colourful of dreams.
