A couple weeks ago I had the pleasure of connecting for an early-morning one-on-one video interview with Principal Financial Group’s CEO and chairman, Dan Houston. He started off by explaining why he has been working from his office at Principal’s 711 High St. headquarters, while 95% of its employees around the globe have been working remotely from their homes. 

“I’m always the one who has said, ‘We won’t close,’ and we’re not closed,” Houston told me. “But somehow I felt that if the CEO is not here, that somehow would imply that we’re closed. … I’ve got great social distancing, I will say that. But I just couldn’t bear the thought of not manning the ship from here.”