How Principal CEO Dan Houston starts his day
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Photo: Courtesy of Principal Financial Group
Dan Houston split his childhood in two very different places: Houston, population over 2 million, and Dow City, Iowa — population under 500.
- Through that experience, the Principal Financial Group CEO met a diverse array of people and how both perspectives are important to understand.
What he's saying: "I've always said the two ways we learn are the people we meet and the books we read." (Houston reads only non-fiction.)
State of play: Now, as the CEO of one of Des Moines' top employers, Houston travels 130 nights of the year around the world.
- But while society is getting more polarized, he believes understanding others and learning about other cultures is more important than ever.
- "I don't believe that society is well served by letting the two ends of the spectrum dominate the narrative for policymaking," Houston tells Axios.
Here's how he starts his day:
⏰ Wake up: 3:30-4am. He arrives at the office before 5am.
🍳 Breakfast: An English muffin with peanut butter. "I've done that all my life." No coffee.
📚 What he's reading: The Wall Street Journal, the Des Moines Register and industry-specific materials.
- "I have a very broad palate for reading and gathering intel."
🗓 His pro-tip: Houston has an open calendar for 30-minute meetings before 6:30am for community members and interns. The first 15 minutes is for them and he takes the last 15 minutes.
- He uses it to learn what people in the community are thinking about, improve placemaking and get more people interested in leadership roles.
- "I definitely have a pretty good pulse on a lot of the businesses around town and what's going on, so I without a doubt benefit greatly from having that program in place."