2021 Women to Watch Awards Americas EMEA
Carol Etchebarne Managing director
Sedgwick France SA
Paris
Facing a challenge that seemed nearly insurmountable, Carol Etchebarne relied on unwavering confidence in the team around her and a strong belief that she was the right person to keep her company from collapsing.
When she took the role of interim CEO of Sedgwick France SA in 2019, prospects for the company’s survival were slim: Revenue was shriveling, employees were leaving and morale was low, Ms. Etchebarne recalled.
Sedgwick France, formerly the French unit of Cunningham Lindsey Group Ltd., which Sedgwick acquired in 2018, had struggled for some time, Ms. Etchebarne said. But she was confident that her 12 years of experience with Cunningham Lindsey, where she served as chief of strategy and innovation at the time of the acquisition, gave her a deep understanding of the unit’s operations and would make a difference in turning things around.
It would have taken a year for a new CEO without that familiarity to understand the company well enough to fix it, she said, adding, “I didn’t think we had a year.”
“We needed Carol to set the course and the right direction,” said Ian Muress, CEO of Sedgwick International. “And it was a tough gig.”
Employees who remained were demoralized, Ms. Etchebarne said, and that was troubling. “In a service company, the difference is made by people,” she said.
Among her first moves was to coach the board and the company’s leaders on how to lead effectively, she said. “And that worked. That really began the turnaround of the company,” she said.
“She rolled her sleeves up and moved the business forward from a really difficult place,” Mr. Muress said. “We were in a whitewater spell in France and she helped navigate us through that rapid. And now our French business is doing fantastically well.”
With the company stable and thriving, Ms. Etchebarne can concentrate on other matters.
Her emphasis on gender parity helped reshape the makeup of Sedgwick France’s executive committee, which has reached 50% female representation for the first time.
Ms. Etchebarne is known as an outspoken champion for women in insurance, standing up for equal pay and career opportunities in areas such as loss adjusting that traditionally have been male-dominated.
