MetLife's Donna Carr leads over 4,000 employees across the United States and India, and she does this successfully by being authentic and serving as her teams' unapologetic cheerleader and defender.
Carr, who is the head of Group Service and Operations for MetLife, was recognized as the 2025 Women in Insurance Leadership top ranked honoree. And, like many professionals in the industry, insurance was not her first career choice. She spent several decades in the financial services industry and worked at Bank of America before joining MetLife. "They were looking for someone to come in and help transform the operation and get it to the next level," she shares.
Part of the impetus in leaving wealth management was the opportunity to pursue an exciting opportunity. "I felt like I could really leave a footprint on something and make a change, and it allowed me to use what I call the proverbial toolbox of skills and traits that I've acquired over the years."
Her teams process more than 33 million claims annually and she leads the call center and operations functions for MetLife's U.S. Group Benefits business, which includes the company's group dental, disability and life insurance services.
Leading a team of this size is not without its challenges, but Carr shares that consistency is an important aspect of her success, and she treats all of her teams the same regardless of where they are based. "I just pride myself on being extremely transparent. I tell people you never have to guess that I'm thinking, you will know. I'm a huge believer in driving accountability and giving folks the freedom and space to deliver."
The importance of authenticity
Another key to her leadership success is her authenticity as an individual and a leader. "I learned a long time ago that when you try to pretend to be someone else, you kind of forget which role you're playing and where you're going in the play, so I abandoned that a long time ago…I am today what I will be tomorrow."
It's also important for her to instill pride in her team for the work they are doing and what they are accomplishing. She reminds her new hires that there are people at the other end of their claims and the decisions they make affect these claimants. In addition, she is her teams' biggest cheerleader.
"I pride myself on being the strongest defender for my team and I'm the biggest cheerleader. I just asked them to give me something to defend and give me something to cheer about and then I'll just take it from there…I think for a lot of leaders, that gets lost on them and they don't understand that that is our role — to be the cheerleaders and defenders of the people who work with us because that's how you build trust, and that's how you encourage them to grow and how you stretch them in new ways."
Making mentorship a priority
Carr understands the value of mentoring the next generation and providing growth opportunities. When she started in wealth management, there were very few women in the industry and even fewer women of color. "I promised myself at that time, because I have a daughter, that I would ensure that once I ended my career, that things would look differently for the folks who come behind me than they looked when I started in the industry…so every company that I've worked at, I've made it a mission and a goal to make sure that I helped pull someone else up."
She shares that the most successful mentoring relationships have been with individuals who are eager to grow, are looking for opportunities and are willing to hear the truth. "I tell the individuals, 'I will make time for you on my calendar, and we can have a conversation as long as what you really want is authentic feedback.' And I've adjusted my approach over the years and now it's, 'You have 30 minutes of my time, how do you want to spend it and what would you like to get out of this conversation?'"
Carr believes that preparation is key to making a professional mentoring relationship work, and she wants mentees to know what their goals are for the conversation and what they want to walk away with. "So, I tell everyone it's an interchange of information. It goes both ways and I've learned a ton from my mentees, and hopefully, they have learned a ton from me."
She says her mentors have played an important role in her development and success and they provide an important sounding board when she's facing challenges or major decisions, and she encourages other women to have strong mentoring relationships.
The keys to successful leadership
No leader is born with the skills they need to succeed, but Carr believes being a successful leader boils down to several aspects:
- Being authentic
- Being accountable
- Being open to continuous learning
- Having strong networks
- Seeking mentorship
"I tell women all the time to deviate from their path from time to time, and don't be afraid to take a risk and challenge yourself to pursuing new opportunities," she says.
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