.floatimg-left-hort { float:left; } .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 12px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} As a young training director for Brenton Banks Inc. in 1993, Kathleen Souhrada wasn’t seeking a new employer at the time. But a chance meeting with an executive from Principal Financial Group Inc. changed that.

“I was at a total quality management seminar, and I met someone from Principal, and he did exactly what we want leaders to do: he started recruiting me,” said Souhrada, who is now assistant vice president of recruiting and diversity for Principal. “I had only been (in Des Moines) for 18 months and had always heard that Principal was a great place to work.”

The executive invited her to lunch, which Souhrada would later realize was effectively a second interview, and before the check came he offered her a position with the company.

Quick study

If companies, like schools, could nominate someone as “most likely to succeed,” Souhrada would easily fit the bill. Ralph Eucher, Principal’s senior vice president of human resources and Souhrada’s supervisor, calls her “one of our best plug-and-play leaders.”

“She is a quick study; she is able to take a new assignment and quickly determine what is needed,” said Eucher, who has known Souhrada for about 10 years. “She has been in five or six positions, and she has been successful in all of them. I attribute that to her ability to quickly assess a situation and determine where she needs to go. She is also a very effective collaborator, and that serves her well.”

A native of Grand Island, Neb., Souhrada expected to become a “number cruncher” after graduating from the University of Nebraska with a degree in marketing and finance. Her first job was with Commerce Bank in St. Louis as a management trainee before coming to Des Moines to work for Brenton Bank, which was acquired by Wells Fargo & Co. in 2000.

Souhrada, 45, began her career at Principal as manager of the individual client services training, and two years later was named manager of individual annuity services. She was assigned as a senior project and marketing manager for Principal Bank in 1997, and in 2000 was promoted to chief marketing officer for the bank. She moved to the human resources department in 2006 as director of employment, and was named to her present position in 2008.

“Early on, I was lucky to have a leader identify that one of the things I really like to do is problem solving,” Souhrada said. “So all of my opportunities throughout my career have been going into areas that maybe are experiencing some challenges. Maybe it’s process re-engineering (that’s needed), maybe it’s creating a different type of team. But really I’ve been given the latitude to get in there and get my hands a little bit dirty.

“I’ve made some mistakes along the way, but luckily this is a culture of ‘expect a lot; support a lot,'” she said. “So that as I’ve made mistakes or had growing pains along the way, I’ve been lucky enough to have leaders who have spent time with me to say, ‘How could we have done this differently?’ ‘What are the things you learned from this experience?’ So it’s very much a supportive type of environment.”

Souhrada has participated in the formal leadership programs that Principal offers, among them the Women’s Network for Leaders.

“We have different development programs, speakers and opportunities to really develop in our careers (ways to handle) some of the challenges that might be unique to women,” she said. “One that comes to mind that was really insightful for me was we had the board members who are women come and talk to us about their careers and the challenges they’ve faced and that they continue to face.”

As part of another program, “Dimensions of Leadership,” Souhrada worked with a group of other leaders within the company, leading up to a “capstone” project presented to Principal’s senior leadership teams. Her team analyzed the employee-benefit budget and made a recommendation supporting the development of an in-house childcare center, which came to fruition about two years later as the Principal Child Development Center.

Souhrada said she has also benefited from Principal’s formal mentorship program, which pairs younger leaders with senior-level leaders. She was paired with an executive who leads Principal’s institutional retirement investor services.

A seemingly simple question from her mentor – “Do you understand how the Principal makes money?” – led to four weeks of lunchtime discussions with him.

“Principal has a very complex business, and while I thought I understood, there are so many different streams of revenue,” Souhrada said. “He explained to me in very easy-to-understand terms how the Principal makes money, and it was probably the most useful development that I’ve had at the company.”

For Souhrada, developing people is the most satisfying part of her job.

“It’s motivating the team,” she said.

Retooling

At the same time, the past 18 months have been “really challenging,” as recruiting slowed from a torrent to a trickle.

“While it would have been easy to kind of throw in the towel and get a little down, we instead thought through how can we retool to really rebuild the machine so that when the economy does turn, we’re ready,” she said. “That’s what I like doing: a combination of problem solving and then motivating team members to their best performance levels.”

Though Principal believes the economy will improve in 2010, the company is taking a measured approach to hiring as it seeks to keep expenses in line with revenues, Souhrada said.

“We have seen an increase in the number of positions that are beginning to come in, but it’s more of a trickle. This next year, I think we’re confident that things will begin to turn, but we’re taking a cautious approach.”

Souhrada said her own career goals have evolved as she has gained experience.

“Early on in my career, I was focused on achieving a certain level or position,” she said. “Now, I think there’s a certain wisdom that comes with age.

“What’s more important to me now is working for a company where I can have a good work-life balance” She and her husband, Frank, have three daughters: Hanna, 17, Haley, 14, and Harper, 1.

Souhrada “is a shining example of someone who really lives our core values,” Eucher said. “She is well-respected, and she has also been a true champion of our diversity efforts. She’s an excellent role model across the organization.”

Principal was fortunate that a good recruiter spotted Souhrada early on, he said.

“It’s always interesting to me how you attract talent like Kathleen, and how it really becomes a magnet for bringing more talent into the organization.”