Corporate Culture & People, 31 July 2025
“No one can do it. Until they’ve done it.”
Women in Leadership with Astrid Simmlinger
For Astrid Simmlinger, Head of Operations Life & Health Insurance at ERGO Austria, responsible leadership means making conscious decisions. In her opinion, a leadership position is not a reward, but a commitment.
Astrid joined ERGO in Vienna immediately after graduating and has now been working in various roles in both Germany and Austria for 15 years. Her career took off when she accepted the position of Assistant to the CEO of the ERGO Group. “I allowed myself the luxury of choosing positions because of the managers. That proved to be a recipe for success for me.” Consequently, one interesting job followed another. Her most important lesson on this journey: “I am responsible for whether I enjoy a job or not. If the chemistry with the manager is right, you can achieve a lot.”
Five years ago, Astrid was offered the opportunity to set up the health insurance division at ERGO Austria from scratch. It was actually a task that encompassed everything the division manager shied away from at that point: working in a specialist area and taking on a management position. So she jumped straight in: “I used to think that that area of work would be boring, and I struggled with whether I was capable of managing people and working with a dedicated team. But nobody can do it until they've done it.” And so Astrid Simmlinger built up a new division from the ideation phase to profitable growth. “The seeds I sowed have sprouted. Now I have to make sure that the small plants grow into strong, weather-resistant oak trees.” Astrid is driven by the impact and visible success of her work, especially when she is enjoying what she is doing. Continuing to learn and evolving is very important to her.
Astrid is particularly proud that she took on this leadership responsibility despite her hesitation. “I haven't simply survived for five years, I have also grown a lot.” She now says with conviction: “My job fulfils me and the team is everything for me. On a bad day, it supports me and gives me strength when we all pull together.” But that doesn't happen all by itself; for Astrid, it requires self-reflection and self-management. “Only when I know my abilities, my impact, and my limits I can be authentic and a role model. I can't ask others to do what I'm not willing to do myself. Leadership is not a reward, but a commitment.”
Who is Astrid's own role model when it comes to leadership? “I was advised to create my ideal manager by combining the best qualities of people I know, in other words, a ’Frankenstein role model’. When necessary, I ask myself how certain people would handle the situation.” She describes herself as determined, self-critical and rational. And communicative, sometimes too communicative. “The saying ’I knew I shouldn't say anything, yet I heard myself speak’ fits me perfectly.’” One of her strengths is clarifying situations immediately when she has exceeded her goal. Another is considering what is in it for the other person when she wants to convince them about a certain idea. “Even if there is no advantage for the other side, I at least gain trust by addressing it openly.”
Through intensive conversations with friends and family and as a volunteer sailing instructor for children, Astrid Simmlinger has found the perfect balance to her career. Her wish for future generations would be: “That leadership as a woman becomes a matter of course and no longer requires any special initiatives. Because men and women may contribute equally in all phases of their professional and private lives and have an optimal infrastructure at their disposal to do so.”
Women in Leadership bei ERGO
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