Leading Across 22 Countries: How to Keep Values Consistent at Scale — with José Suquet

Downsize Once, Then Keep Your Word: José Suquet on Consistency at Scale

In this post: In his 21st year as Chairman and CEO of Pan-American Life Insurance Group, José Suquet explains how one set of truth, one kept promise, and years of leadership development built a culture that holds across 22 countries, through Hurricane Katrina, the financial crisis, and COVID.

When José Suquet arrived at Pan-American Life Insurance Group as an outside hire, he had to make cuts. He paired the bad news with a promise his employees could hold him to. "I had to downsize, but I told them that I'm only going to do it once," he said on Activating Greatness, the leadership podcast from Velocity Advisory Group.

He kept it. There were no mass layoffs during the financial crisis. None during COVID. Now, with AI driving the latest wave of anxiety, he has said the same thing again.

Suquet, Chairman and CEO of a company that sells life, health, and accident insurance across 22 countries in the Americas, is in his 21st year leading the organization. That is about three times the typical CEO tenure, he noted. His explanation for the longevity is less about strategy than about something harder to fake: being the same leader, with the same values, year after year.

One Set of Truth

Suquet did his homework before he ever interviewed. He hired his own consulting firm for a one-week assignment to tear apart the company's financials and strategy. Pan-American Life had a strong balance sheet, he said, but "kind of was mixed up" in its strategy.

On his first day, he handed each direct report about two pages of questions on their areas. They were shocked. Then he traveled the company's territory, not to New York or London but to Tegucigalpa, Guatemala City, and San Salvador, to listen.

Every location had its own version of events. Suquet's goal was to reduce them to one. "Everybody has a different set of truths," he said, "and I firmly believe that there should be one set of truth." If he had to break the tie himself, so be it. From that single truth came values with no room for negotiation, including transparency, authenticity, and integrity. Some lapses meant you were out of the company.

Countries, regulations, markets, and politics still differ. What travels, he said, is purpose, values, clarity, and mission. With those consistent, execution can be local.

Financial Strength as a Promise

For an insurer, consistency has a balance-sheet dimension. Some life insurance claims come due 20 or 30 years after a policy is written, usually when a family or business faces a crisis. "You really can't do that if you're not sitting in a position of strength," Suquet said.

That forced hard conversations with salespeople, who naturally want the best-performing product, the highest commission, and top-tier service all at once. "Something has to give," he said.

The discipline paid off in 2020. Reinsurance contracts typically include a clause excusing payment in a pandemic or war. Suquet refused to lean on it. "I said we've got to pay," he recalled, and the company persuaded its reinsurers to step up. He credits that decision, and years of repeating the message about financial strength, with earning the trust of agents and brokers.

"I had to downsize, but I told them that I'm only going to do it once."

José Suquet, Chairman and CEO, Pan-American Life Insurance Group

Build Disciples, Not Followers

His first priority from day one, Suquet said, has been talent and leadership development: finding people who embrace the company's values deeply enough to be trusted with a product line or a country.

That bench mattered when AIG's subsidiary ALICO was sold to MetLife during the financial crisis. Suquet called MetLife's CEO and offered to take several smaller countries off its hands. Because the acquired employees first met a team fully aligned with Pan-American's values, many later joined its management team. "There's no way we could have done this with the original cast of characters," he said.

As the company prepared to acquire the ALICO operations in 2012, it built a formal program called Peak Leadership. Cohorts of 24 to 30 people met three times a year in overlapping three-year cycles until COVID halted the program. In 2019, more than 100 graduates gathered in one room. When travel stopped a year later, Suquet said, those relationships kept the work moving. Jason Nickles described a similar effort to balance tradition with transformation at another insurer.

Skip Levels on Purpose

Suquet meets with the mailroom as readily as with his direct reports. He loves skip-level meetings and treats a manager's discomfort with them as a warning sign. "I know that I don't have the right leader if somebody is worried that I'm meeting with somebody below them," he said.

Those conversations, many now held virtually as quarterly catch-ups, show him who is ready for more. Since 2015, the presidents of two U.S. businesses, the general counsel, the chief investment officer, and the vice chairman and CFO have all retired, by their own choice. Because he already knew the people beneath them, the transitions were seamless. He is now planning the next wave.

The no-layoff promise carries expectations in return. Managers must "walk through hot coals" to justify even a replacement hire, and employees must keep their knowledge current. "If you don't keep up with your knowledge, then we're going to have a problem," he said.

Listen With Discipline

Suquet's rapid-fire answers circled back to the same themes. His daily habit is authenticity; he speaks openly about his own health and his wife's, so "people really never guess" what he is thinking. The most underrated skill is listening "with discipline." Five words in a paragraph, he said, can signal a change in how someone feels, and a leader who keeps talking will miss them. Ryan Payne made a related case that silence is not agreement.

What should leaders stop? Trying to be the smartest person in the room. Hire people smarter than you, make sure they share your values, check on them, and get out of their way.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you keep company values consistent across multiple countries?

José Suquet, Chairman and CEO of Pan-American Life Insurance Group, starts by establishing "one set of truth." After a listening tour across Latin America, he broke ties where needed and set non-negotiable values, including transparency, authenticity, and integrity. Because purpose, values, and mission stay constant across 22 countries, execution can be handed to local leaders who know their markets, regulations, and politics.

Why do skip-level meetings matter for succession planning?

Suquet holds skip-level meetings with employees at every level, from the mailroom to senior leaders, plus quarterly virtual catch-ups. The conversations show him who is ready for more responsibility. When five senior executives retired after 2015, he already knew the people beneath them, so succession was seamless. He also sees a manager's worry about these meetings as a sign of the wrong leader.

How can a CEO avoid mass layoffs during a crisis or the shift to AI?

Suquet promised employees he would downsize only once, then kept that promise through the financial crisis and COVID, and has extended it to AI. Instead of cutting 10% or 15% at a time, he makes managers justify every new or replacement hire and expects employees to keep their skills current. He argues that hire-and-fire cycles are especially damaging to the people who stay.

What is the most underrated skill for leaders?

For Suquet, it is listening with discipline. "God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason," he said. Many leaders do not want to stop talking, yet five words in a paragraph can reveal a shift in how someone feels. Disciplined listening means hearing what people say, why they say it, and the intent behind it before responding.

The Takeaway: Be Consistent

The best leadership advice Suquet ever received comes down to two words: be consistent. "People can handle tough decisions, but they really have a tough time handling uncertainty about your values," he said. He paired it with a practical rule: "An 80% solution that you can implement 100% is better than a perfect plan that never gets executed."

That combination explains 21 years at the top. Suquet has not been perfect, and he talks openly about the trials. But his people have never had to wonder where he stands. In a business built on promises that come due decades later, that consistency is the strategy.

Listen to the Full Episode

Hear José Suquet's full conversation with host Alec McChesney on Activating Greatness. Watch on YouTube, or listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.