Skip to main content

Q&A With Millennial CEO And Book Author Rick Lindquist

Rick Lindquist

Millennial Rick Lindquist is making his mark in the business world and enjoying the success of his co-authored 2014 bestseller book, The End of Employer-Provided Health Insurance. Lindquist, in his 30's, is the President and CEO of Zane Benefits, Inc. 

He joined Zane Benefits as its thirteenth employee in 2007. He was promoted to Director of Sales in 2009 and took over as President in 2011. Rick received a Bachelor of Science in Economics and a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science from Duke University.

Today, he kindly answered questions about leadership, mentors, his book, and Millennials in the workplace.

Q&A with Rick Lindquist, President and CEO of Zane Benefits, Inc.

1.  Which of your leadership skills helped you most to rise through the ranks at Zane Benefits?

Lindquist: Professional will, which is defined in Jim Collins’ famous book, Good to Great. My parents taught me this concept at a young age, and it was reinforced through sports. It’s a simple concept. First, you must do whatever must be done to produce the best long-term results for the company, regardless of how difficult it may be. Second, when mistakes are made, you always hold yourself accountable rather than pointing fingers outward. Professional will and general curiosity are two core leadership skills we look for in team members at Zane Benefits. Curiosity is the sign of a world-changing, great, individual.

2.  How much of what you read in books and on Blogs about how to lead Millennials do you believe is good advice. Why or why not?

Lindquist: I just read The Alliance by Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn. It’s a terrific book about leading all workers (especially Millennials) in today’s workforce. It emphasizes a framework that ensures continuous mutually-beneficial value creation between employer and employee. Today’s workers are more empowered than ever. In order to attract, develop and retain the best people (especially with respect to Millennials) in today’s job world, you must have a plan to advance your workers’ career opportunities during their time with you. Good advice.


 3.  What inspired you to co-author your book?

Lindquist: It was all about empowering the healthcare consumer and small business owners through education. At Zane Benefits, we help small businesses level the health benefits playing field. Our approach is quite different than the traditional approach to company health insurance where the employer picks one plan for everyone. Instead, we enable each employee to purchase their own individual health plan independent of employment and provide a real dollar defined contribution from the company to cover the cost. Contrary to common belief, everyone wins with our solution because the employee gets choice and lower premiums and the employer saves money and removes a significant administrative burden. The book is about sharing our learnings from eight years at Zane Benefits with all small businesses and educating employees on the advantages of individual health insurance.

4.  What was the most difficult thing about co-authoring your book?

Lindquist: It was definitely the timeline. We decided to write the book in July 2014 and had a deadline of November 2014, which is when open enrollment happens for individual health insurance. That gave us roughly four months to get the project done and edited (while also running a fast growing software company). It was hard, but with the help from some key team members (especially Christina Merhar and Michael Dyer), we got it done. It was totally worth it. The emails we receive from readers thanking us for the content are fulfilling.

5.  What leadership skills did you learn while playing sports in high school and college do you use today in the workplace?

Lindquist: It’s funny. I love hiring athletes because high-level sports teach two core leadership skills: professional will and curiosity. Great athletes recognize the need to do whatever is necessary for the long-term interests of the team. And, the best athletes (the captains) nearly always hold themselves accountable versus pointing fingers at teammates. Also, the most successful athletes have learned the benefits of being curious. Curiosity, or asking why and how, is the shortcut to winning in athletics. The same applies to business.

6.  What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a CEO in your early 30's?

Lindquist: Not sure there are any disadvantages. I love my job. It doesn’t feel like work. I’m so lucky to be able to lead (and be led by) a team of great people who share my number motivation: Zane Benefits’ mission to level the playing field for small businesses.

7.  How important have mentors been to your career?

Lindquist: Huge. I would not be here without them. There are way too many to list. I’m talking hundreds (if not thousands) of people. Other than my parents, the most influential mentor so far has been my partner and co-author, Paul Zane Pilzer. Without Paul’s mentorship and full support, I would not be here today. That reminds me of a funny story about Paul and my first meeting. When I first interviewed with Paul in 2007, I asked him about Zane Benefits’ company health insurance plan because my father had told me: “A good job comes with good (employer-provided) health insurance.” My father’s advice was ignored when I accepted Paul’s job offer and purchased an individual health insurance policy for $57 a month—I am still with the same insurer today.

8.  What's your favorite book about leadership and why?

Lindquist: Good to Great. It validated my core values with respect to leadership style. The best CEOs are Level 5 Leaders which is defined as someone with both professional will and unflinching humility. It also gave me a framework to better lead people way smarter than me. Here’s our version of the framework as we apply it at Zane Benefits. First, get the right people on the bus, then figure out the what. Second, confront the brutal facts of the business. You must do this together. Third, figure out what you are all deeply passionate about, what you can be the best in the world at, and what drives your economic engine. The intersection of these three circles is your BHAG, or big hairy audacious goal, The BAHG forms the basis for your company’s great opportunity. Fourth, create a culture of self-disciplined people who take disciplined action consistent with the big hairy audacious goal. Fifth, use technology to accelerate momentum. And, manage the company toward continued improvement and results.

9.  What's your advice for how best to lead Millennials in the workplace?

Lindquist: First, cancel your group health insurance plan if you have one and give employees money so they can choose, manage and keep their plan when they switch jobs. : ) Seriously though, the best advice on leading Millennials is to recognize that they are not joining your company to be “lifers”. They are focused on building experience and skills toward personal professional goals that develop rapidly as they advance in their careers. The only way to attract them, develop them, and keep them is to “give them the keys” in a structured fashion and work together in a mutually beneficial way. Read The Alliance for more.

Lindquist and his book have been featured on Marketwatch, MSN, Forbes, and Bloomberg. You can follow the him on Twitter.

Co-author and mentor to Lindquist, Paul Zane Pilzer

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Three Essential Parts Of A Mission Statement

A lot of companies struggle when creating their mission statement. Author  Peter F. Drucker  provides the following good advice in one of my favorite book's of his,  The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Organization : Every mission statement has to reflect three things : Opportunities Competence Commitment In other words, he explains: What is our purpose? Why do we do what we do? What, in the end, do we want to be remembered for? How well does your mission statement meet Drucker's recommended three requirements?

Effective Listening: Do's And Don'ts

Here are some great tips from Michelle Tillis Lederman's book, The 11 Laws of Likability .  They are all about: what to do and what not to do to be a leader who's an effective listener : Do : Maintain eye contact Limit your talking Focus on the speaker Ask questions Manage your emotions Listen with your eyes and ears Listen for ideas and opportunities Remain open to the conversation Confirm understanding, paraphrase Give nonverbal messages that you are listening (nod, smile) Ignore distractions Don't : Interrupt Show signs of impatience Judge or argue mentally Multitask during a conversation Project your ideas Think about what to say next Have expectations or preconceived ideas Become defensive or assume you are being attacked Use condescending, aggressive, or closed body language Listen with biases or closed to new ideas Jump to conclusions or finish someone's sentences

6 Ways To Seek Feedback To Improve Your Performance In The Workplace

Getting feedback is an important way to improve performance at work. But sometimes, it can be hard to seek out, and even harder to hear.  “Feedback is all around you. Your job is to find it, both through asking directly and observing it,” says David L. Van Rooy, author of the new book,  Trajectory: 7 Career Strategies to Take You From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be . As today's guest post, Van Rooy offers these  six tips for how to get the feedback you need to improve performance at work . Guest Post By David L. Van Rooy 1.       Don’t forget to as k :  One of the biggest mistakes people make is assuming things are going perfectly (until they make a catastrophic mistake). By not asking, you’re missing out on opportunities for deep feedback: the difficult, critical feedback that gives you constructive ways to improve. 2.       Make sure you listen :  Remember, getting feedback is about improving your performance, not turning it into a “you versus the

10 Quotes From The 5 Levels Of Leadership -- John C. Maxwell

Soon I'll post my full review of John C. Maxwell's latest book, The 5 Levels of Leadership .  In the meantime, here are some of my favorites quotes from the book that I believe should become a must-read book by any workplace/organizational leader: Good leadership isn't about advancing yourself.  It's about advancing your team. Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others. Leadership is action, not position. When people feel liked, cared for, included, valued, and trusted, they begin to work together with their leader and each other. If you have integrity with people, you develop trust.  The more trust you develop, the stronger the relationship becomes.  In times of difficulty, relationships are a shelter.  In times of opportunity, they are a launching pad. Good leaders must embrace both care and candor. People buy into the leader, then the vision. Bringing out the best in a person is often a catalyst for

5 Tips For Generating Ideas From Employees

Your employees have lots of ideas.  So, be sure you provide the forums and mechanisms for your employees to share their ideas with you.  Hold at least a few brainstorming sessions each year, as well. And, when you are brainstorming with your employees, try these five tips: Encourage ALL ideas.  Don't evaluate or criticize ideas when they are first suggested. Ask for wild ideas.  Often, the craziest ideas end up being the most useful. Shoot for quantity not quality during brainstorming. Encourage everyone to offer new combinations and improvements of old ideas.

3 Things Your Mission Statement Must Have

A lot of companies struggle when creating their mission statement. Author Peter F. Drucker provides the following good advice in one of my favorite book's of his, The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Organization :" Every mission statement has to reflect three things : Opportunities Competence Commitment In other words, he explains: What is our purpose? Why do we do what we do? What, in the end, do we want to be remembered for? How well does your mission statement meet Drucker's recommended three requirements?

How To Survive And Then Reset To Ultimately Thrive

“Uncertainty is here to stay. Rather than seeing it as an obstacle to overcome, integrate it into your strategic approach to invigorate your high-growth potential and outperform competition under any market condition,” explains Rebecca Homkes , author of the new book, Survive, Reset, Thrive .   “Most books aren’t honest enough about how hard it is to reset ,” adds Homkes. Yet, resetting and leaning into change is essential. “If you are ready to embrace change as a central element of your growth strategy, this book is for you.” Homkes’ book is a timely, comprehensive, and essential read for business leaders looking to take the next step toward ensuring high growth for their companies. The book brings together more than 15 years of Homkes working directly with high-growth companies of all sizes and across a wide variety of industries.   Survive, Reset, Thrive (SRT) is a practical and innovative interconnected three-mode approach :   Survive : Stabilizing your business when

3 Coaching And Mentoring Tips

Here are three great tips from the book, The Everything Coaching and Mentoring Book : Coaches do not motivate their employees; they inspire them to motivate themselves.  This is best accomplished by allowing employees to see clearly where they stand in the organization versus where they want to be in their careers.  That is, what are their self-interests versus what the company can offer them. A mentor always exercises the power of suggestion. That is, wise mentors offer up plenty of suggestions to their mentees. They pose alternatives.  But they refrain, as much as possible, from telling their mentees what to do. Mentoring is all about sharing experiences.  It is about mentors imparting the multiple lessons that they've learned to their mentees and helping them better navigate through their own careers.  By absorbing these lessons--of mentors' mistakes and successes--mentees are better prepared to move forward with knowledge and confidence.

Use A Board Of Advisors

David Burkus often provides valuable comments to my various Blog postings, and he's a person who effectively uses a board of advisors, instead of mentors, to help him achieve success. "I've found that in my life, it was easier and more effective to set up a board of advisors," said Burkus, the editor of LeaderLab . "This is a group of people, three to five, that have rotated into my life at various times and that speak into it and help me grow. I benefit from the variety of experience these people have." LeaderLab is an online community of resources dedicated to promoting the practice of leadership theory. Its contributors include consultants and professors who present leadership theory in a practitioner-friendly format that provides easy-to-follow explanations on how to apply the best of leadership theory. Community users can download a variety of research reports and presentations about leadership and leadership versus management. For example, a pr

How To Avoid 8 Common Performance Evaluation Pitfalls

As the year comes to a close it's likely time for many business leaders to tackle the annual performance appraisal process. So, here is a good reminder from author Sharon Armstrong about how to avoid eight performance evaluation pitfalls .  These are in what I consider is the best chapter of the book The Essential HR Handbook , that she co-authored with Barbara Mitchell. 1.  Clustering everyone in the middle performance-rating categories 2.  Overlooking flaws or exaggerating the achievements of favored employees 3.  Excusing substandard performance or behavior because it is widespread 4.  Letting one characteristic - positive or negative - affect your overall assessment 5.  Rating someone based on the company he or she keeps 6.  Rating someone based on a grudge you are holding 7.  Rating someone based on a short time period instead of the entire evaluation period 8.  Rating everyone high, to make you look good There's other great information in this 250-page book th