John Hoffman’s strong work ethic was established at a very young age.
Growing up in the small town of Waseca, Minn., Hoffman mowed lawns for a local horse stable, cleaned stalls and spread hay.
“I did every blue-collar job you could probably imagine by the time I got to college,” Hoffman says.
He graduated from Minnesota State University, Mankato in 1999 with a major in international relations and a minor in Spanish, then moved to Sioux Falls, S.D., to take a position with Principal Financial Group, a Fortune 500 financial services company with $257.7 billion in assets under management.
He quickly made his mark at the company.
At just 24 years old, Hoffman became the youngest ever to be selected to Principal’s field executive development team, which was a new program at the time. Shortly after, Hoffman moved to the Minneapolis office. He says his mentor at Principal, Jim Clark, saw management potential in him early on and helped him get a shot at the field executive development team.
“At the time, I worked extremely hard so my work ethic piece was there,” he recalls. “I also was very social, which helped, and I was confident.”
The 6-foot, five-inch, 250-pound Hoffman credits part of that confidence to sports; he was a college football and basketball star. He also credits his self-assurance to the success that he witnessed his father experience throughout his business career. Bob Hoffman worked for many years with Glen Taylor, owner of Taylor Corp., a huge, multi-national business, and majority owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Today, Bob Hoffman is a vice president at Minnesota State University-Mankato and is focused on merging the university and the business community in the state.
Hoffman says his passion for business also comes from his father.
“What I cherish most about growing up were the talks with my dad,” he recalls. “I would sit in his home office on Sunday nights and pick his brain. He ran companies for Taylor Corp. and I learned a lot from him. Looking back, I think that had the most influence on me.”
Hoffman spent two years in his role on the field executive development team before being promoted to a managing director of the Minneapolis office. At age 27, he was one of the youngest managing directors ever named by Principal. He also was one of the youngest ever to qualify for MART (the Management Achievement Round Table), which is awarded only to a select few Principal managers in the country.
Hoffman later became the youngest regional managing director ever named by Principal at the age of 32. Today, he leads one of Principal’s largest and most successful offices. He’s responsible for managing the leadership team, revenue growth and overseeing financial advisors across Minnesota. He has excelled in recruiting, sales, growth and retention.
“This is one of the best offices in the country,” he says, “and it was a big deal for them to give the keys to someone who was 32. From a production standpoint, we’re one of the two largest offices in the United States.”
Hoffman oversees 75 financial advisers, 60 brokers and 40 support staff and manages eight leadership teams. He’s says he’s proud of his team and what they have accomplished: “I’m very cocky about team goals and humble about individual goals.”
Working for a financial services company, he says, means a lot of responsibility. Principal offers businesses, individuals and institutional clients a wide range of financial products and services, including retirement and investment services and life and health insurance through its diverse group of financial services companies.
“We help people manage their assets and help them with their financial planning,” he says. “We change clients’ lives. There’s a lot of pressure on you. The past couple of years have made everybody dig deeper. This business had been booming and you can get a little sloppy. Now in the last two years, everybody has refocused. We’re getting back and grinding it out. It’s been challenging, but it’s a good challenge.”
For the online Finance & Commerce story, click on http://www.finance-commerce.com/article.cfm/2010/07/03/Principal-Financials-Hoffman-excels-in-recruiting-retention
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