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

How To Build A High Performing Sales Team

Based on Stephanie Friedman 's 20 years of sales experience, her new book, Built to Grow: A Handbook For High-Performance Sales Teams , is the perfect step-by-step, go-to-market field guide for startup founders. Friedman offers readers a structured and repeatable methodology for building a high-performing sales function from a company’s earliest days. The book is divided into three phases of startup growth— Experiment, Build, and Scale. Within each of the three phases, Friedman covers: Sales Playbook Hiring Revenue Management Customer Success Compensations Culture Internal Collaboration Some of my favorite takeaway tips from the book include: No matter how experienced your salespeople are, any high-performing sales organization should follow one simple but important rule: No call without an agenda. This helps reinforce the necessary discipline around call preparation and ensures your customers have the best possible experience when talking to your...

High-Performing Teams Are Made Of This

According to Ron Ricci and Carl Wiese, authors of the book, The Collaboration Imperative , high-performing teams have the following characteristics: People have solid and deep trust in each other and in the team's purpose--they feel free to express feelings and ideas. Everybody is working toward the same goals. Team members are clear on how to work together and how to accomplish tasks. Everyone understands both team and individual performance goals and knows what is expected. Team members actively diffuse tension and friction in a relaxed and informal atmosphere. The team engages in extensive discussion, and everyone gets a chance to contribute--even the introverts. Disagreement is viewed as a good thing and conflicts are managed. Criticism is constructive and is oriented toward problem solving and removing obstacles. The team makes decisions when there is natural agreement--in the cases where agreement is elusive, a decision is made by the team lead or executiv...

Decide

Many years ago, I worked with a person who could not make decisions. Neither big nor small decisions. That indecisiveness paralyzed our business in many ways. Unfortunately, the book, Decide: Work Smarter, Reduce Your Stress, and Lead by Example , had not been published. Had it, I would have shared it with my co-worker. Decide , published this past February, teaches readers how to make better decisions based on the real results they want to experience. The author, Steve McClatchy, explains how to use the two forms of human motivation -- Gain, or Prevent Pain , to make more effective decisions. For example, he demonstrates how inserting a Gain task in the middle of a Prevent Pain day can give you the energy you need to move forward and make the Prevent Pain tasks take less time through motivation. Deeper into the book, you'll be reminded about not only the problems with procrastination, but also about the benefits of procrastination, and, if you are ...

Coherence: The Secret Science Of Brilliant Leadership

Coherence: The Secret Science of Brilliant Leadership is the new book by author Dr. Alan Watkins . Trained as a medical doctor, Watkins is now an honorary senior lecturer in neuroscience and psychological medicine at Imperial College, London and an affiliate professor of leadership at the European School of Management, London. According to Watkins, coherence is the biological state achieved when elite performers experience maximum efficiency and super effectiveness, where body and mind are one . Coherence provides one of the most unique approaches to showing leaders how to be younger, smarter, healthier and happier -- which gives them the power to make decisions under pressure and achieve sustainable success. Prepare to spend quality time reading Coherence . It's not light reading. Kind of feels like a medical text book in parts. But, it's worth your commitment to it. I particularly found useful Watkin's discussion on culture , where he w...

5 Compelling Benefits Of Having An Ethical Culture

In Andrew Leigh's book, Ethical Leadership , he provides these compelling and important benefits of having an ethical culture in your business/organization: Customers prefer dealing with companies who put ethics at the center of their culture. Most employees would prefer to earn less working for an ethical company than being paid more and working for an unethical company. More than one in three people at work say they've left a job because they've disagreed with the company's ethical standards ( Trevino, L and Nelson, K - 2011 ) If you adopt an early warning system against misconduct it reduces the risk of you facing expensive litigation. An ethical culture helps you make your company a strong affirming place to work in. "The foundations of an ethical culture include values, attitudes, meaning, behaviors, purpose, and management practices," explains Leigh.

More Leadership Quotes From John C. Maxwell

The real gems in John C. Maxwell's book, Everyone Communicates Few Connect , book are the abundant leadership and communication quotes, such as these: To add value to others, one must first value others. People may hear your words, but they feel your attitude. All good communicators get to the point before their listeners start asking, "What's the point?" The first time you say something, it's heard. The second time, it's recognized, and the third time it's learned. In the end, people are persuaded not by what we say, but by what they understand. People pay attention when something that is said connects with something they greatly desire. Maxwell also says that: Management is about persuading people to do things they do not want to do, while leadership is about inspiring people to do things they never thought they could . The book covers five principles and five practices to help readers so they can connect one-on-one, in a group, or...

Make It Easy For Your Employees To Volunteer

Start planning now for this year's National Volunteer Week, April 15-21 . That's the week when nonprofit organizations throughout the U.S. will celebrate and honor their volunteers. If you are not already volunteering, what a great time to start. Make a commitment to yourself to start volunteering before that week starts! And, if you are a workplace leader who supports a volunteer program at your business, you already know that by encouraging employees to give back to your community you are: building teamwork motivating employees attracting new hires In fact, job seekers much prefer companies that have a strong volunteer program. And, a growing number of businesses are rewarding employees who volunteer by giving them extra vacation time and other incentives. Fortunately, throughout the U.S. there are hundreds of volunteer opportunities where employees can contribute individually, or where leaders can organize teams of employees to volunteer together on a routin...

Six-pillar Roadmap For How To Move From Merely Surviving To Truly Mattering

In the new book, The Mattering Effect: Creating A Life Of Meaning And Worth , podcaster and author John R. Miles reframes today’s most common struggles and empowers individuals and institutions alike to break bad habits and reclaim a sense of worth and belonging. “Organizations have spent the last decade chasing 'engagement' and 'psychological safety,' yet global productivity is stalling and 60% of employees report they do not feel valued in the places where they spend their days,” shares Miles. He calls this “The Great Erasure”—a condition where high-achievers become highly visible to the organization while becoming invisible to themselves. In addition, Miles argues that many of today’s most common struggles—burnout, anxiety, loneliness, and disengagement—are not personal failures or mindset problems. They are the result of unmattering: the gradual erosion of felt significance within modern systems that reward performance while overlooking presence. Fortu...

3 Things To Avoid When You Give Your Next Speech

If you don't want to get your speech off to a bad start, the communications experts at Speechworks suggest you: Don't apologize (particularly about your anxiety or lack of preparation. Apologies put your audience on the defensive. Don't start by telling a joke (which may not be all that funny, or is irrelevant, or that may even be offensive to someone in your audience). Don't beat around the bush (including, don't list off a lot of people you want to thank. Don't waste your audience's valuable time) Instead: If you need to deal with your anxiety, practice like crazy . Rehearse particularly your first line over and over. Start your presentation by laying out for your audience a key issue that they are facing in their business . If you must thank someone, do it at the end, or thank your introducer briefly, pause, and then start right into the meat of your message .

How To Make One Bold Move A Day

Shanna A. Hocking ’s new book, One Bold Move A Day , is all about meaningful actions women can take to fulfill their leadership and career potential. Specially, Hocking reveals the transformative mindsets needed to make one Bold Move a day. Those are: Gratitude Mindset And Mindset Happiness Mindset Progress Mindset “Each of these four mindsets individually plays a special role in the process of continuously showing up for yourself and others,” explains Hocking. “Each mindset contributes in a different way to your success, but they all complement each other and together they will become the foundation to your Bold Move Mindset.” Hocking explains in her book that a Bold Move is one that challenges you to grow . “Sometimes it’s about capitalizing on an opportunity, and sometimes it’s about creating that opportunity for yourself,” explains Hocking. Keep in mind, too, that a Bold Move for you might not be the same as someone else’s. ...

Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

Search This Blog