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According to Assurity CEO Tom Henning, the organization is “based on the idea of people banding together to help… [+] one another for the greater good This extends beyond insurance protection to every aspect of how we do business and form relationships.”
Bill Sitzmann is a writer who lives in New York City
Since the publication of Better Business: How the B Corp Movement is Remaking Capitalism, I’ve been invited to speak on a number of podcasts about the book and the significance of sustainable and fair business in the post-Covid era. Assurity, a life insurance firm based in Lincoln, Nebraska, invited me to be a guest on their Good Business podcast, which was one of the more fascinating invitations. This got me thinking about why an insurance company would sponsor and publish a business podcast. I spoke with Tom Henning, President and CEO of Assurity, to learn more about this. “At Assurity, we think business can be an instrument of positive change,” he told me. This is also true “Our mutuality is an important aspect of Assurity’s 130-year history. We were founded on the idea of individuals banding together to support one other for the greater benefit. This extends beyond insurance protection to every aspect of how we do business and form relationships.” As he explained to me, a podcast that promotes sustainable business is a natural extension of the company’s overall aim.
Please check my edited email conversation with Tom below for more on Assurity and what it means to be a “good business” in the insurance industry and beyond.
Christopher Marquis (Marquis): What is Assurity’s social mission, and why is it important to an insurance company?

Assurity’s President and CEO, Tom Henning
Bill Sitzmann is a writer who lives in New York City
Tom Henning (Tom Henning): “We make our habits first, and then our habits make us,” says an old adage. “First we choose our values, and then our values form our culture,” is an apt corollary for businesses. Values serve as a compass for companions when making decisions.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR YOU
We believe that principles like sustainability and generosity are more than just excellent ideals; they are essential to the survival of humanity. As a Certified B Corporation, we must be a leader in showing and supporting sustainable business practices in order to use business as a force for good. It’s not just about the money. We care about our policyholders, distributors, and home office employees, but we also care about the environment and the community as a whole. The two don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
Being a B Corporation is crucial to us. B Corps are for-profit businesses that vow to achieve both social and financial objectives. In 150 industries and 74 countries, there are already 4,000 B Corps like us. B Corps include Patagonia, New Belgium Brewing, Ben & Jerry’s, and Amalgamated Bank, and several states have approved rules permitting businesses to incorporate as “benefit corporations” in the last four years.
We need to be profitable at Assurity, but we also want to establish a company that does good in the world. One might imagine that in today’s brutally competitive world, a corporation that thinks and behaves altruistically is bound to fail. To a pure free-marketeer, a B Corp is simply shareholder money spent on social good. The growth of B Corps serves as a reminder that the concept of organizations as lean, mean, profit-maximizing machines is not dictated by either capitalism or human nature. We aspire to make our work not just profitable but also meaningful as individuals.
Marquis: It was a pleasure to be a guest on the Good Business podcast recently. However, an insurance company’s normal product is not a podcast on “good business.” Why is it vital for you to conduct interviews with other socially conscious business leaders?
Henning: Our mutuality is an important aspect of Assurity’s 130-year history. We were founded on the idea of individuals banding together to support one other for the greater benefit. This extends beyond insurance protection to every aspect of how we do business and form relationships. This movie does a wonderful job of explaining who we are: what it means to be a cooperative organization, how we make insurance purchasing simple, and why we value sustainable practices.
We are accountable to the interests of our customers, employees, community, and environment as a Certified B Corp. It was critical for us to connect with other corporate leaders who are working to make the world a better place so that we could join our voices and make a bigger impact. It takes a lot of people to make a difference, but when we work together, we can do more. The podcast’s ultimate purpose is to achieve this.
We’re sharing some of the best tales from firms like Ben & Jerry’s, Whole Foods Market, Arbor Day Foundation, B Lab, and more in Assurity’s Good Business podcast, covering some of their accomplishments and challenges in establishing more sustainable businesses. Every couple weeks, new episodes are released, and you may listen to them wherever you get your podcasts. Marquis: What does it mean to be a “good business” and why does it matter? What will happen if you don’t do business in this manner?
Henning: What should any company’s goal be?
The prevailing position in corporate America for a long time was that espoused by economist Milton Friedman in a September 1970 New York Times article titled “The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Profits.” This used to be my belief. I was mistaken.
Fortunately for the world, many corporate leaders’ perspectives, including mine, have shifted.
When John Elkington, a well-known British management consultant and sustainability expert, created the phrase “triple bottom line” in 1994, he was ahead of his time. In economics, the triple bottom line emphasizes that businesses should devote as much attention to social and environmental concerns as they do to earnings. Instead of one bottom line, the triple bottom line idea proposes three: profit, people, and the environment. A triple bottom line measures a company’s commitment to corporate social responsibility as well as its environmental impact over time. The concept was that a business might be run in such a way that it not only produces money but also improves people’s lives and the environment.
With his 2018 missive headlined “A Sense of Purpose,” Larry Fink, the CEO of financial firm BlackRock, caused quite a stir. In this letter, he argued that for a corporation to succeed over time, it must demonstrate not only financial performance but also how it contributes to society positively.
Employee satisfaction is driven by a strong sense of group purpose, according to 89% of executives polled by E&Y: It can affect an organization’s ability to transform, according to 84% of respondents, and it helps boost customer loyalty, according to 80%. The Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) movement has gained popularity in corporations across the United States. Most large publicly traded corporations now feel obligated to release an annual “Corporate Social Responsibility Report,” or CSR.
Customers and employees are drawn to businesses that strive to make a positive difference in the world. Millennials, who are expected to make up 75% of the workforce by 2025, are particularly interested in organizations that have a social purpose. When it comes to social purpose and accountability, millennials have high expectations for company actions, and they want to work for firms that uphold these principles. To put it another way, they want a firm that is more than simply about making money; they want a company that has a mission.
Business leaders are increasingly aware of the need to modify their social contracts with society. Today’s corporate executives have the problem of imagining how to rebuild the corporate-social compact in the twenty-first century so that businesses contribute to societal well-being in unique and relevant ways. To make business a positive force!
It’s a fantastic path to become a purpose-driven corporation, and one that I hope more and more businesses will take in the future years. Adopting a genuine mission necessitates a higher level of maturity in a company’s own consciousness.
Marquis: How can firms, particularly small enterprises, get started with a social mission?
Henning: I enjoy what the Rhythm Systems Consulting Firm has to offer in terms of assisting business leaders in defining their mission. They agree that your purpose doesn’t identify your products or services, set financial targets, or focus on accomplishing specific long-term commercial objectives. Instead, your company’s purpose should inspire you and make you proud of it. And you can see this goal still being relevant in 100 years. They argue that having a clear purpose guides you in deciding which opportunities and activities to accept and which to reject. A purpose is genuine, and company stakeholders will respond with enthusiasm rather than cynicism.
So, what can management do to bring purpose to life in their organization? The six key concepts of the Rhythm System in making that a reality appeal to me.
First and foremost, there is communication. The message will be consistently reinforced by addressing the purpose frequency.
Second, do what you preach. The most crucial method to bring an organization’s core principles and purpose to life is for leadership to live them out every day. It sends the incorrect message to say the environment is important yet not support a thorough recycling program.
Finally, link alignment to the company’s mission. We must ensure that we attract people who are aligned with the company’s mission, and that each individual associate can clearly see how what they do every day adds to the company’s mission.
Fourth, maintain consistency. An organization’s mission should not change. It is possible that the strategies will work. It is vital for leaders to be aware of their surroundings./nRead More

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