As a leader, I see real value in building that broader understanding and giving people room to use it. Specialists who understand what the business is trying to achieve ask better questions, recognise implications earlier and take initiative without waiting for something to arrive neatly within their job description. As we grow, that way of working deserves as much attention as the systems and structures we build around it.

Expertise needs context

Insurance relies on specialist knowledge, but very little of the work stays conveniently within one function. An underwriting decision shapes the broker’s conversation with a client, a technology process determines what information reaches the underwriter, and the way a product is presented affects how easily a broker can understand and use it.

Those connections exist whether we discuss them or not, so I would much rather have the conversation while there is still time to do something useful with it. Technology can question whether a process supports the underwriting decision, compliance can help shape a workable approach early, and marketing can point out that a broker may need rather more explanation than the people who spent six months developing the product.

That input can save considerable work and reveal that the thing we have been asked to build is only part of the problem, preferably before everyone becomes attached to the solution.

Use the knowledge, not just the job title

In a small business, people develop knowledge well beyond the role they were hired to do. They hear broker feedback, work through difficult placements and learn why a seemingly straightforward request has three other consequences. It would be a waste to build that understanding and then ask people to contribute only within the boundaries of their title.

I want people to use what they know, including when it means questioning the brief or spotting something the rest of us have missed. Leaders need to welcome that contribution, particularly when the decision had felt comfortably settled five minutes earlier. Accountability still matters, but being responsible for the answer does not mean having to produce every part of it yourself.

Growth makes this worth protecting

As a business adds teams, agencies and locations, keeping people connected takes more deliberate effort. The conversations that happen naturally when everyone is within earshot need more thought when people are spread across offices, and shared understanding cannot be assumed to grow at the same pace as headcount.

For me, the opportunity is to build those connections into the way the business grows, so people understand what happens before a piece of work reaches them, what needs to happen next and how their decisions affect the broker. Common systems and clear processes help, alongside the judgement to recognise when a five-minute conversation would resolve the matter.

Brokers should feel the benefit of a larger business through the expertise and support available to them, with the same ease of dealing they valued in the first place.

Keep the broker in the conversation

That broader understanding also needs to extend beyond our own teams. We can have a thorough internal discussion and still miss something obvious to the broker who has to explain the cover, gather the information or manage the client’s expectations.

Brokers bring context we cannot get from our own processes, including why a request is difficult to fulfil or why an approach that works for one client creates unnecessary work for another. Bringing that knowledge into the discussion helps us develop something that works in practice as well as it does on paper.

For me, that is an important test of growth: keeping people close enough to understand the whole outcome as the business becomes larger and their roles become more specialised. We employ people for their expertise; we should give them the context and opportunity to make the most of it.