DONALDSON… I drive the fact that we promise to pay claims as quickly as we can to return the claimant to the pre-claim position. This is the time our insured need us, and this is the time when they need to feel the value of our promise (Photos: Joseph Wellington)

Today the Jamaica Observer publishes the ninth of 12 stories on the nominees for this year’s Business Leader Award being held under the theme “Business Leader: Executive Steward”. The nominees are among the top CEOs in Jamaica.

News that Sharon Donaldson had been nominated for the Business Leader Award began filtering down to the staff of General Accident once the Jamaica Observer team showed up at her office for the interview and photo shoot on Tuesday.

The moment was at once electrifying and sobering. There were cheers and spontaneous outbursts of applause for the managing director — a nod to her accomplishments as well as a tacit recognition of the weight of the award for which she was being considered.

During her 16 years of stewardship, Donaldson led the transformation of General Accident from a minion within the general insurance industry to its current position of number two player.

For her entire professional life the chartered accountant has been a demonstrable numbers cruncher. She came to the job with an unerring grip on cash-flow management and actuarial risks, so it is no wonder that this company has enjoyed nine straight years of underwriting profit — a rarity in this business — and posted overall net income of $400 million last year.

“From my perspective, successful management of an insurance company rests on the effective management of cash flows,” declares the London University (LLB) alumnus. “As an accountant it is an essential skill that is well honed,” she continues. “It is the nature of what we do as accountants — numbers tell the real story.”

And who could question this essential truth?

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/sharon-donaldson-driving_117876?profile=1373