Lincoln Financial Group’s Dennis Glass On The Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times

An Interview With Sara Connell

Lean into your organizational values. It all comes back to this. When a crisis situation comes along that may affect the company, employees’ jobs, or their personal lives — it’s important to lead with empathy and keep your values front and center. An example here is the pandemic — empathy and compassion have been absolutely vital in all facets of how we have led through this crisis… in the ways we have communicated with our teams, in how we’ve worked with our peers, and in how we’ve interacted with our partners and customers.

As part of our series about the “Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times,” we had the pleasure of interviewing Dennis Glass.

Dennis R. Glass is president and CEO of Lincoln Financial Group. In May 2022, Glass will retire from his role as president and CEO and become Chairman of the Board of Lincoln National Corporation.

Prior to his current role, Glass was president and chief operating officer of Lincoln Financial Group from April 2006 until July 2007. Previously, Glass served as president and chief executive officer of Jefferson Pilot Corporation, which merged with Lincoln Financial in 2006. Prior to joining Jefferson Pilot in 1993, Glass held executive-level finance and investment positions in the insurance and investment industries.

Glass currently serves as co-chairman of the board of the Alliance for Lifetime Income, a non-profit organization focused on creating awareness and educating Americans about the importance of protected lifetime income. Glass also serves on the Board of the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), along with several other ACLI committees. He has previously served on other industry boards and is active in numerous charitable and civic activities.

Glass is an alumnus of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he received a bachelor of arts degree and a master’s degree in business administration.

Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

I grew up in the Midwest — my father was a tool and die maker and my mother was a homemaker. Much of who I am is based on those Midwest values I learned early on… doing the right thing, working hard, prioritizing relationships with family and later, my colleagues.

I went to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where I started to take an interest in finance, accounting and business. That led me to my first professional job, working at Northwestern Mutual in the bond department. It was in this role that I really began to build an understanding of how companies operated — I was able to analyze various businesses across industries… gathering insights on how they built strategies, how they created competitive advantages. It was a particularly powerful place to get started, and it gave me an incredible foundation for my career.

Something I learned early in my career was to take chances. After a few years at Northwestern Mutual, the company had sponsored a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) on the New York Stock Exchange, and they needed a CFO. The job was offered to somebody else who turned it down. I decided that it was a great opportunity to expand my horizons, so I took the chance, and it provided tremendous experience. It was a very unique opportunity because I was at a private company, and went to a public company. When it comes to career development, taking risks and doing something different often leads to broadening your background and progressing in your career.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

I had three great mentors early on in my career, and each of them gave me a piece of meaningful advice that I still use today. These three learnings from my early mentors are the foundation for how I’ve navigated my career and how I lead Lincoln Financial today:

1. Do the right thing. This one is simple. Do what’s right for your customers and stakeholders, your colleagues, your community. Almost always, it will be what’s right for the business.
2. Develop processes to guide your work. Process often doesn’t have to be complex or elaborate. It simply means putting a repeatable plan or guideline in place that helps you execute successfully.
3. Do something significant. This one is truly up for interpretation. Significant can have many different meanings and can vary dramatically from person to person. It doesn’t have to be something big or poignant — it’s something that has a meaningful impact for you, personally — whatever that may be.

These three insights have been a north star for me throughout my career, and I feel incredibly grateful to have had mentors who took the time to share what they had learned with me. As I’ve grown in my career, I’ve always tried to follow their lead, sharing my own insights with others and bringing people along with me as I have experienced success.

Extensive research suggests that “purpose driven businesses” are more successful in many areas. When your organization started, what was its vision, what was its purpose?

Lincoln Financial has been in business for 117 years, and throughout that time, we’ve always had a very clear vision and purpose: providing financial peace of mind to everyday Americans, enabling them to plan for and protect their financial futures. Each day, our 11,000+ employees come to work — whether in the office or virtually — to deliver on that purpose. Being that we are in the life and disability insurance business, often our employees will help our customers and their beneficiaries get through some of the most difficult times in their lives. This was especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even during a time of immense personal challenge for all of us, our employees provided unwavering support for the customers we serve, with incredible empathy and care. To me, this is a shining example of our mission as an organization, and I could not be more proud of our people.

Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?

We have faced several macro crises throughout my tenure as Lincoln’s CEO, and each crisis has its own characteristics. The pandemic, for example, impacted every single employee both personally and professionally, on every level. What I think is so important in a crisis situation — especially one on such a large scale like the pandemic — is to define a clear strategy for how you are going to handle that crisis, with the information you know at the time, and then clearly communicate that strategy… early and often. It’s okay if you don’t have all the answers — putting a strategy in place will give the organization an anchor in uncertain times.

At Lincoln, our strategy in response to COVID-19 had three primary guiding principles from the very beginning:

1. Protect our employees, their health and safety, and the health and safety of their families.
2. Continue to serve our partners and customers without disruption, and
3. Do our part to help our communities and our country get through the crisis.

We communicated those objectives to our people and made sure everybody understood that we were making decisions with those three things in mind. Through the pandemic, transparent and frequent communications to our employees, partners and clients have been front and center. During a time of tremendous uncertainty, we strived to provide some form of stability and clarity.

Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?

At Lincoln we have eight core leadership traits. These traits are the basis for how we all work together, and ultimately, our culture as an organization. One of these core traits — and the one I believe is most important — is optimism. I don’t mean naïve optimism in the sense that we’re going to wake up tomorrow and all of our concerns will disappear. My optimism is based on the fact that we have the right strategy, we have the right people, and we have the right resources to both capture new opportunities and overcome hurdles. This optimism is the foundation for my drive and my motivation to get through any difficult period. I’ve never considered giving up because I know that at Lincoln, we never need to solve problems alone — we have an outstanding team, and we’re all working together to advance the company.

We’ve been through a lot in recent years — a financial crisis, a pandemic, market volatility, a heightened focus on racial justice in our country — and I firmly believe that every challenge or change has made us stronger at Lincoln. There will always be new challenges on the horizon, and our world will continue to evolve… but if you have a strong and optimistic culture, it will continue to propel the company forward in the face of whatever comes your way.

I’m an author and I believe that books have the power to change lives. Do you have a book in your life that impacted you and inspired you to be an effective leader? Can you share a story?

The First 90 Days by Michael D. Watkins is a book that I have referenced often, and one that I often recommend to others. It provides fantastic insights for taking on a new role or a new challenge. Coming into a new position is such an important and vulnerable time for a leader, and it also provides so much opportunity. This book offers great, tangible strategies for how to maximize those important first few months.

What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?

Be as clear and as transparent as possible with your team. You may not have all the answers, but if you can tell people what you know, how the company is responding and WHY — you can inspire confidence, and likely a sense of calm. Lead with compassion and optimism. Yes, there may be a challenge in front of us, but here’s how we are going to tackle it and here’s how we’ll leverage our strengths to get through it.

When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?

Sometimes the most important thing we can do as leaders is to listen. It’s critical to consistently seek feedback and insights from employees, and act on the feedback. Creating a two-way relationship with your people is invaluable, particularly in times of uncertainty. You can hear to employees’ questions, concerns or ideas and respond directly. At Lincoln we do this in a number of ways — we have robust surveys that measure overall employee engagement, and we also have more frequent, quick-hit surveys on specific hot topics. Letting people know that you hear them and you’re taking action based on their input is essential to employee engagement and morale.

Another important component when it comes to inspiring and engaging employees is consistently talking about your organization’s purpose — and how employees’ work contributes to that purpose. Today more than ever in the wake of the pandemic, employees are evaluating if their work gives them meaning. This is where communicating and bringing employees along as strategic decisions are made becomes exceedingly important.

What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?

It’s always important to communicate transparently with your employees and key stakeholders, but when you are in a crisis situation, further elevating communications is critical. Each key audience — both internal and external — needs to understand what’s happening, and how you’re responding. Often this may mean increasing frequency of communication.

How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?

For a company to be successful, everyone has to be focused on the most important things, and essentially, all be rowing in the same direction. This requires consistent understanding of strategic objectives and what we all need to do to achieve those objectives. If you have the right people, the right strategy, and people understand the strategy and the role they play… you’ll be able to navigate the unexpected and pivot where needed within your overall strategic framework.

Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?

I have two key questions that I ask myself before making any given decision: is it in the best interest of our employees and is it in the best interest of our customers. Generally, if something checks those two boxes, it’s the right decision for the company and for our shareholders. This has been a foundation for me, both in the good times and in the challenging times… it always comes back to what’s right for our people, and the people we serve.

Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times? Please share a story or an example for each.

1. Be visible, and communicate clearly about what you know, what you don’t know, and if possible — what’s next. For this example, I go back to the Financial Crisis of 2008. When the crisis began, we knew our employees were anxious, and we didn’t have all the answers. But what we could do was communicate, remain calm, and be visible for our people. Our leadership team walked the floors of our offices, talked to people candidly, and reinforced what we did know — we had a strong foundation, and we would navigate this challenge together… just like every other challenge we had faced before. In times of uncertainly, leadership visibility makes a difference.
2. Define your strategy, and overcommunicate that strategy. Sharing your strategy is critical during times of change, and a great example here is mergers and acquisitions. When you’re bringing companies together, you’re not just integrating operations… you’re integrating cultures. This can create uncertainty in an organization. One of the fundamental things you can do to mitigate that uncertainty is to ensure you are clear about the strategy and rationale behind the merger or acquisition. Talk about why bringing these organizations together is the right thing for the company and for your stakeholders. What it will do for the organization moving forward. Change is never “easy,” but if people understand the strategy and the role they play in achieving that strategy, it makes the change much more digestible.
3. Gather feedback from your people and act on their input. After the crisis of racial injustice that reached an inflection point in the summer of 2020, at Lincoln we defined an 8-point action plan to amplify our focus on supporting diversity, equity and inclusion — within our “walls” and beyond. Part of that plan included hosting a series of what we called “meaningful conversations” across our company. We facilitated open and candid dialogues among employees, gathering input and ideas, and incorporating that feedback into our actions.
4. Tap into your organization’s strengths. One of our greatest strengths at Lincoln is our culture. Again, using our focus on racial justice and equity as an example — we leveraged the incredible relationships and connections across our company to ensure employees had the space to have the tough conversations. We tapped into our network of Business Resource Groups, our employee-led teams that are designed to support Lincoln’s diversity objectives, and equipped leaders with the tools to have open discussions with their teams.
5. Lean into your organizational values. It all comes back to this. When a crisis situation comes along that may affect the company, employees’ jobs, or their personal lives — it’s important to lead with empathy and keep your values front and center. An example here is the pandemic — empathy and compassion have been absolutely vital in all facets of how we have led through this crisis… in the ways we have communicated with our teams, in how we’ve worked with our peers, and in how we’ve interacted with our partners and customers.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

One of the quotes that has inspired me most is from one of our Board members. Anytime we would face a crisis situation, he would turn to me and say “Dennis, we’ve seen worse… and it will get better.” To me, this quote embodies that theme of optimism… optimism based on the fact that we have the right people, the right strategy, the right resources to move forward despite any challenges that would come our way.

How can our readers further follow your work?

I’ve been part of the Lincoln Financial family for nearly 30 years, and I will continue to be involved with this great company in my role as Chairman of the Board after May 2022. To follow along with Lincoln and all the great things our team is doing, visit LincolnFinancial.com or follow us on social media — on LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram.

Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!