Elephant Auto Insurance CEO: Happy Employees Are Better Employees
By Dave Hendrick
Elephant Auto Insurance CEO Kevin Chidwick did not take the direct route to the C-suite.
A product of a working-class background in Portsmouth, England, Chidwick’s early years included jobs as a garbage collector, a toilet cleaner and cement mixing bowl scraper, among other non-executive level positions.
After training as an accountant and taking a mentor’s advice to seek an MBA, Chidwick eventually joined the insurance conglomerate Admiral Group plc, and was named CFO of the company a year after joining.
Now, as CEO of the Virginia-based Admiral subsidiary Elephant Auto Insurance, Chidwick leads a fast-growing, direct-to-consumer business with plans for continued disruption in the market.
Chidwick recently came to the University of Virginia Darden School of Business as part of the Leadership Speaker Series, telling students his simple but effective leadership rules and why he always tries to ensure that his employees are enjoying their work.
The University of Virginia Darden School of Business prepares responsible global leaders through unparalleled transformational learning experiences. Darden’s graduate degree programs (MBA, MSBA and Ph.D.) and Executive Education & Lifelong Learning programs offered by the Darden School Foundation set the stage for a lifetime of career advancement and impact. Darden’s top-ranked faculty, renowned for teaching excellence, inspires and shapes modern business leadership worldwide through research, thought leadership and business publishing. Darden has Grounds in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the Washington, D.C., area and a global community that includes 18,000 alumni in 90 countries. Darden was established in 1955 at the University of Virginia, a top public university founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 in Charlottesville, Virginia.
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Darden School of Business
University of Virginia
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