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How to Help Yourself and Others During Challenging Times
Fred Sievert is highly respected in the finance and insurance world. He is literally a “Legend of the Industry”, retiring as the president of New York Life Insurance, a Fortune 100 company.
Since he was trained as an actuary, one would think that he would be biased towards science over religion and faith. But in his mind, it is far more probable that God created all forms of life instead of other scientific theories of creation and evolution. He retired from the corporate world a little sooner than expected, so that he could “go back to school” and complete his masters degree in religion
“Dad, play nice with the other kids, and don’t forget to share.” – Fred’s daughter, addressed to Fred on his “first day in school” at age 59
When asked about the biggest challenge he faced, Fred shared his crushing experience when he convinced his superiors at New York Life Insurance to acquire a company that he thought would help their distribution strategy. They put him in charge of that project… and it failed and lost $30 million! But he bounced back from that and became a better leader. He became such an effective leader that he eventually became the company’s president!
When have you gotten a glimpse of God? – Fred Sievert
People have a lot of those “glimpse of God” moments, but they don’t have the chance to tell about it. Fred shares his own stories to somehow give people permission to share theirs.
In his book, Grace Revealed, Fred collected 19 fascinating stories from different people. They followed a common pattern:
- They were people in very serious crisis
- They reached out to the Lord in desperation and received overflowing grace
- Their gratitude for that grace caused them to give that grace back to enduring Christian service
To take those stories even further, Fred hired a researcher to document how prevalent the challenges the people in the book encountered. This lets readers in a similar situation know that they are not alone.
Fred’s final piece of advice: You’ve had some sort of “glimpse of God” experience. Prepare yourself to tell it to somebody. The Holy Spirit will give you opportunities to tell that story so you can positively impact somebody’s life.
What You’ll Learn
- Why Fred went to school again at age 59
- The power of spiritual sharing, as Fred learned from his daughter
- Fred’s profound experience in India that made him decide to go to divinity school
- The biggest challenges Fred encountered, and how his faith helped him overcome them
- Why Fred does not pray to hit sales goals, and what he prays for instead
- How and why you should share your “glimpse of God” moments
Resources
- Grace Revealed: Finding God’s Strength in Any Crisis by Fred Sievert
- Stories of God’s Grace
- Fred Sievert on Facebook
- Fred Sievert on Twitter
Bio
Fred Sievert started his career as a teacher, later entered the insurance business, and retired in 2007 as president of New York Life Insurance Company, a Fortune 100 corporation. He received the highest honor bestowed on insurance industry leaders by the American College of Financial Services (The Solomon Heubner Gold Medal Award) in 2008 and was named a “Legend of the Industry” in 2012, a joint award bestowed by the American Council of Life Insurance and The Actuarial Foundation. In 2013, Fred received the Lifetime Achievement award bestowed by the Million Dollar Round Table of New York.
Following his retirement, Fred attended Yale Divinity School and was awarded a master’s degree in religion in 2011. He teaches business school courses on strategy and leadership and serves on the boards of five nonprofit organizations and two for-profit corporations. He has had a number of non-fiction essays and articles published, most notably a highly acclaimed article in Wealth Channel magazine in 2013 titled “Happier Healthier, and Younger in Retirement”. In 2014, Fred published his first book, God Revealed: Revisit Your Past to Enrich Your Future and is currently writing a second book with the working title Grace in any Crisis.
Fred and his wife, Susan, have five grown children and three granddaughters.
