In June 2024, after an extensive review, CEO Julie Wood at QBE North America introduced the large commercial insurer’s revised strategy—to focus on core customers and segments where the company has meaningful market position, relevance and scale. “We were finding our way around our appetite and marketplace in the U.S.” Woods says. “Our new strategy shifts away from generalist, commodity-type business toward becoming a niche specialist.”
The decision to strategically reposition QBE North America as a provider of niche insurance products to select commercial customers was a bold move. QBE North America, with $7.3 billion in gross written premium in 2024, is part of Australia’s QBE Insurance Group Limited, a global insurance leader with operations in 26 countries. The parent company’s strong global brand helped it gain a foothold in North America in the late-1990s and early aughts. In 2024, QBE North America’s middle market business segment, which brought in some $500 million in gross written premium, struggled with profitability, impelling a strategic reassessment and the insurer’s decision to close down the segment. “We deliver a profit in North America, but you have to earn the right for investment capital and to gain the confidence of the parent company, the board and shareholders,” she says.
The generalist nature of serving different mid-sized companies required significant human capital and systems to assess diverse risks and handle the underwriting, pricing, reserving and claims management. By narrowing the focus on niche insurance markets and extending this lens to gradually introduce new property and casualty insurance products with selective distribution, the path ahead is clearer. “Fundamentally, we believe we can build better products in the areas we’ve chosen,” Wood says.
In this era of erratic change, finding a clear path—the aim of all CEOs—is akin to navigating a three-masted merchant ship in 1492 to locate a sea route from Spain to India. Although shifting geopolitical policies and economic headwinds and tailwinds disrupt explicit paths, a guiding North Star is still fundamental in crafting a roadmap, says Benjamin Finzi, founder and leader of Deloitte’s global CEO program over the past 10 years. “Successful CEOs, whether they admit it or not, have a theory of the future, what the world will look like in three to five years,” he says.
Once this vision of an endpoint is in mind, the journey ahead requires strategic readjustments in response to evolving geopolitical, macroeconomic, technological and competitive threats and opportunities. These challenges are legion today, forcing CEOs to assess a cacophony of constant disruptions. To hear through the noise, the best CEOs “have a certain ‘version of resilience,’ characterized by not worrying about the stuff they really don’t have to worry about,” says Finzi. “So many things hit them at once that they have an algorithm in the brain that computes, ‘I hear that, but I’m not going to worry about it.’”
That ability to recognize back-burner distractions frees up time to reflect on more pressing threats and make strategic readjustments to address them. These modifications should be influenced and shaped by the organization’s mission, purpose and values, the inherent components of its culture, says Finzi. “The CEO falls back on these components to find language that will inspire, motivate and guide the movement toward the endpoint,” he explains.
Chief Executive reached out to four CEOs about their methods of homing in on a theory of the future, identifying necessary tactical adjustments and rallying people around the organization’s new direction.
Strong Values Lead the Way
At QBE North America, CEO Woods’ theory of the future suggested a rare opportunity to leverage the insurer’s strong values and underwriting and claims expertise to better meet the demands of niche customers for its crop, accident & health, cyber and financial lines. “We hear time and again a desire for consistency in pricing and a better claims experience,” she says. “That’s our vision and what we’re building toward.”
Successfully serving its specialty property and casualty insurance coverage customers entails coupling relevant talent and expertise with investments in cutting edge technology tools like gen AI and machine learning and a culture that values work flexibility, open communications and collaboration. “People need to share business stories, be cognizant of KPIs under stress and be ready to adjust,” says Wood, who became CEO in September 2023 after nine years at top insurance broker Marsh. “Teams need to stay grounded in the marketplace to get feedback from brokers and customers on high-level macro trends in the industries served. We encourage creativity to speak up; that’s the value of transparency. No one should hoard information.”
Woods also views the opportunity to be part of the company’s journey toward refocusing around specialty insurance as a talent draw for QBE. “A new chapter is unfolding here with differentiated brands and the opportunity to do different things in different ways,” she says. “That’s a powerful value proposition for talent in the early stages of their career.”
Driving Toward Diversification
In crafting the strategy at Harbor Foods, a fourth-generation family-owned independent distributor serving more than 7,500 restaurants, hospitality venues, convenience stores and independent grocers, CEO Justin Erickson applies market and customer knowledge passed down from his father, grandfather and great-grandfather to current market challenges.
“I try to stay focused on differentiating and positioning Harbor in a different light than our competitors,” says Erickson. “Like many of the customers we serve, we’re purpose-driven and customer-centric. We look for ways to solve their problems and serve them better, a value proposition that has helped us consistently grow over the decades through Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, Idaho and Nevada.”
Such assessments prompted Erickson to strategically reposition the company in the foodservice business, beyond its roots in serving convenience stores and neighborhood grocers. In 2019, Harbor bought a portion of a large foodservice distributor, Food Services of America (FSA), that included a 250,000-square-foot distribution facility in Kent, Washington, FSA’s executive leadership and many employees, and 1,700 of its independent restaurant customers. “It was important strategically to diversify the business by adding broadline foodservice distribution,” explains Erickson. “We now serve a much wider variety of customers.”
Shortly thereafter, he restructured the organization into two operating companies: Harbor Wholesale, in charge of retail distribution; and Harbor Foodservice, in charge of foodservice distribution. Harbor Foods Group was formed as the parent company of both operating companies, which have different methods of acquiring products from vendors, packaging, shipping and sales channels. Each operating company is led by its own president.
“We’re able to focus on each specialized niche and still pull them together for back office efficiencies,” he says. “This wasn’t a strategic decision; it was all about customer service and operating effectiveness. Our mission—‘supporting the local entrepreneurs that provide jobs in their communities, bring convenience to busy lives and invite us all to experience life around the table’—remains the same. That’s our North Star.”
Recent economic volatility hasn’t changed that, says Erickson, who notes that his company has endured more than a century’s worth of ups and downs. “At the end of the day, we distribute food to stores and restaurants,” he says. “People need to eat. The fundamentals haven’t changed.”
Nevertheless, he acknowledges the need to make certain adjustments. “Growth is tough right now, which is something I hear from most people in our business, especially businesses that sell things to consumers,” he says. “Prices have disproportionately impacted lower-income people who shop in convenience stores and quick-serve restaurants. Everyone is fighting for market share now, forcing us to be clear on our value proposition and not race to the bottom to be the lowest-priced provider.”
For the past decade and more, Harbor has expanded its geographic footprint via the acquisitions of other wholesale and foodservice companies. In 2022, Harbor paid $40 million to acquire MTC Distributing, a third-generation Modesto, California-based wholesaler with 300 employees, a 150,000 square foot distribution center and annual sales of approximately $330 million. The company presently tallies four large distribution centers, positioned geographically to serve its markets, and 1,100 employees.
Erickson is quick to note that stewarding Harbor’s growth trajectory includes disciplined decision-making that ensures each expansion aligns with its core mission and competencies. “When you push the top line and grow for the sake of growth, you get pulled into areas you’re not good at,” he says. “I once read that the most important thing in a strategy is figuring out when to say no. Fortunately, we have a great executive team and board of directors here that ensure we don’t stray from our mission of taking care of customers and our people-focused culture. That has been our strategic advantage in acquiring companies and will continue to be it.”
Speaking Truth to Power
CEO Steven Horowitz’s version of resilience—what he worries and doesn’t worry about—is shaped by the mission of CareCentrix, a provider of in-home care services to 14 million people, with approximate revenues of $1.5 billion. “What matters is our North Star, which is focused on delivering better quality of care to patients, making sure they get home quickly when they’re in a hospital or care facility and doing what we do as efficiently and inexpensively as possible,” he says.
In a climate characterized by market shifts and regulatory threats, achieving that mission requires more adaptive, iterative strategies that allow for flexibility and responsiveness to unforeseen challenges, he notes. “It’s critical to have some idea of direction, where you see the company in the next three to five years,” says Horowitz, who became CareCentrix’s CEO in 2022 after a decade as its CFO. “But it’s not the same thing as the rigid five-year strategic plans we had years ago.”
As an example, he points to the company’s execution of large-scale initiatives, particularly its ongoing technology transformation. “We’ve moved from a traditional project-based structure to an agile structure where we have a general goal in mind but do things in small chunks. One step informs the next step, adjusting as you go along,” he explains. “You still have the endpoint in mind, but how you get there can be very different than you thought.”
This more flexible approach to changing tactics is informed by a combination of KPIs and people speaking truth to power. “I’ve had salespeople tell me the market has changed, and we need to do something different now. That’s not easy to accept,” he says.
“The hardest thing for many CEOs is to change their mind when confronted with reality. But if you don’t [reconsider], you could be looking at an Enron-size debacle, where nobody questioned leadership even though they knew things were wrong. Everyone here is empowered to question anything, even if it comes from me,” he says. “I have no idea who will win the Super Bowl next year, but it’s probably not the Giants.”
More than a Numbers Game
CEO Bobby Chacko at Bonduelle Group Americas, a wholly owned subsidiary of the large French family-owned company Groupe Bonduelle, also finds value in on-the-ground insights. The manufacturer and distributor of high-protein bistro bowls, salad kits and branded Ready Pac fresh foods to supermarkets leverages Net Promoter Score (NPS) metrics to analyze customer satisfaction, but Chacko also does his own legwork, asking consumers what they’re buying and why. “As with any analytical solution, you need to first diagnose the problem,” he says.
“NPS makes sure we’re on track with our purpose, measuring whether the work we’re doing is having the desired effect,” says Chacko, who became CEO in March 2024, after CEO tenures at Ocean Spray Cranberries and Smuckers Natural Foods (TruRoots Company today). “But I also visit supermarkets and talk to shoppers to get a sense of how they’re coping and behaving. Not just lower-income shoppers but higher-income people, too. I’m curious about what they’re buying. Are they sacrificing healthy foods for less-healthy items that cost less? Like any analytical solution, you need to first diagnose the problem.”
Armed with consumer insights, Chacko looks for areas where tactical adjustments can change the value picture for consumers. “Are the products in the right place, have they been put through a different supply chain, do they have the right price, and are they being merchandised correctly?” he says.
For example, during one store visit, Chacko noticed that a Bonduelle product previously merchandised in the produce section had been moved to the deli section, where peer products were 20 to 30 percent less expensive. The product also had fewer consumer facings—not as many products viewable to consumers as before—indicating supply chain restocking issues.
Discussions with the retailer led to the product being restaged back into the produce section and a lower-priced product with more deli-style appeal staged in that section. The decisions produced more robust sales for the retailer, elevating the products from a supply chain fulfillment perspective.
“It’s all about balancing the price point, availability and store architecture to make it a win for us, the retailer and the consumer. Strategy is only as good as the execution,” says Chacko. “Details matter in real time. To find out what’s wrong, you have to see it with your own eyes.”
