'The privilege of a lifetime'
Retiring CEO Jack Salzwedel reflects on his tenure with American Family
In his final blog as CEO, Jack Salzwedel answers the question many have asked about his tenure leading American Family Insurance: What are you most proud of?
This is my final blog as CEO of American Family Insurance. It’s been a privilege to be part of the senior leadership team these past 10-plus years, and to help steward my company forward. As my last day gets closer, I’ve been thinking a lot about the journey I’ve been on the past decade. I’m trying to put into words the gratitude I feel for this company, its customers, its people – agency owners and employees – and everyone at our operating companies.
It’s amazing to consider the path we’ve been on together! With that journey coming to an end, I’ve gotten a couple common questions:
- What are you most proud of during your time as CEO?
- What was the defining moment in your career?
I’m proud of so many things. The growth over the last decade is a big one. American Family basically doubled the size of our organization at a time when the industry … well, didn’t. Revenue, assets and surplus all enjoyed tremendous growth. We also maintained our strong financial capital position, and customer satisfaction and retention numbers. We more than doubled our workforce. We added new distribution options, technology and expanded our geographic footprint.
But for all the impressive business results – the what of our business – I’m most impressed with the how: How we got these results. American Family Insurance has emphasized innovation, speed and nimbleness, and lean startup principles. We developed so much talent across our enterprise. We embraced diversity, equity, inclusion and justice concepts in how we interact with each other and our customers. As my last day as CEO gets closer, these are the things that bring me the most pride.
Go to Jack's LinkedIn page to read the entire post.
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About the American Family Insurance group
Based in Madison, Wisconsin, American Family Insurance has been serving customers since 1927. We inspire, protect and restore dreams through our insurance products, exceptional service from our agency owners and employees, community investment and creative partnerships to address societal challenges. We act on our belief in diversity and inclusion by constantly evolving to meet customer needs and preferences. American Family Insurance group is the nation’s 13th-largest property/casualty insurance group, ranking No. 232 on the Fortune 500 list. The group sells American Family-brand products, primarily through exclusive agency owners in 19 states. The American Family Insurance group also includes CONNECT, powered by American Family Insurance, The General, Homesite and Main Street America Insurance. Across these companies the group has more than 13,500 employees nationwide.