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Q&A: Kirt Walker of Nationwide on His Career and People-First Leadership

Kirt Walker’s career crossed Nationwide’s P&C and financial-services businesses before he became CEO in 2019. Here is what his public comments say about his motivation and leadership approach—and what the title’s unidentified Q&A does not establish.
From TheFinanceBase Team3 min to read
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Kirt Walker’s public comments trace a path from 23 years in property and casualty insurance to senior financial-services leadership and, in 2019, the Nationwide CEO role. He has also linked his decision to enter insurance to a tornado in his Iowa hometown and described leadership as caring for employees and acting on their needs. The title “Q&A: Kirt Walker, Nationwide” does not identify a particular interview or transcript, so the questions below are reader-focused framing—not a claim to reproduce a specific Q&A.

What is known about the Q&A titled “Kirt Walker, Nationwide”?

The title alone does not establish which interview, event, or set of questions it refers to. The available material includes an Insured Retirement Institute interview, a 2020 public conversation with Workday co-CEO Aneel Bhusri, and a 2021 Gallup profile. None of those sources establishes that it is the exact Q&A named in the title, or provides a complete transcript matching it.

The questions in this article organize Walker’s documented career and public comments for readers. They should not be read as verbatim questions from an unidentified interview.

How did Kirt Walker’s career lead to the Nationwide CEO role?

In its June 5, 2019 announcement naming him CEO-elect, Nationwide said Walker had been with the company since 1986. At that point, he had spent 23 years in property and casualty (P&C), including leadership roles at Nationwide Insurance and Allied Insurance, and had served as president and COO of Nationwide’s financial-services business lines since 2009. The company scheduled his move to CEO for October 1, 2019. Those durations and positions describe his career as of the 2019 announcement, not a current role-by-role biography.

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Walker’s education, according to that announcement, includes a BA in management from Iowa State University and an MS in management, with an emphasis in leadership, from The American College. When named CEO-elect, he said, “I’m humbled and proud to lead this great company and iconic brand.”

In an August 12, 2025 announcement about the leadership of Nationwide Financial, Nationwide identified Walker as CEO. The company said Craig Hawley would become president and COO of Nationwide Financial on September 1, 2025. Nationwide described the business as a $50 billion operation that consistently outperforms competitors in earnings and sales growth; that characterization is the company’s, not an independent comparison. The same announcement said Nationwide Annuity represented more than $130 billion in assets in 2024.

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What motivated Walker to work in insurance?

In an interview with the Insured Retirement Institute (IRI), Walker recalled growing up in Algona, Iowa, and seeing an F4 tornado devastate the community. He said the National Guard, the American Red Cross, and insurance professionals arrived soon afterward. Walker connected that response with his understanding of insurance as a way to help families protect what matters, and said the experience inspired his career. This is Walker’s account of a personal memory, as reported by IRI.

What has Walker said about people-first leadership?

A July 20, 2021 Gallup profile connected Nationwide’s people-first approach with its use of Gallup’s Q12 employee-engagement assessment to identify employees’ wants and needs and help leaders decide what action to take. In that context, Gallup quoted Walker saying, “It’s about how you care about your people.” He also said, “We intentionally put people first.”

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Walker’s description emphasizes follow-through as well as intent. Gallup quoted him: “When something needs to be addressed, we’re going to be honest about it, and you’ll see action from us. It isn’t just words. It’s deeds.” These are his stated principles in Gallup’s account of Nationwide’s engagement practices; they do not, on their own, establish that a particular policy or business result was caused by his leadership.

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What public conversations and roles help place his comments in context?

On September 25, 2020, Great Place to Work hosted a conversation between Walker and Workday co-CEO Aneel Bhusri. The event description lists values-based culture, partnerships on difficult problems, COVID-19, racism, customer service, and serving stakeholders among its themes. The description confirms that the conversation took place, but does not establish it as the unidentified Q&A in the title.

For another dated leadership context, Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s 2026 executive-leadership listing names Walker as board chair and director. That is a hospital board role; it is distinct from his executive position at Nationwide.

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The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More, and Change the Way You Lead Forever
The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More, and Change the Way You Lead Forever
Author: Bungay Stanier, Michael.; Publisher: Page Two; Pages: 244; Publication Date: 2016-02-29
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