Jon Held is shifting to a brand new position in his firm. It isn’t a full retirement, however all of us get the image. He acknowledged:
After 40 years as CEO of J.S. Held LLC, I’m proud to announce that I shall be transitioning to a brand new position with the corporate as Government Chairman of the Board, efficient April 1, 2025. My resolution to make this transition is a part of a deliberate succession, and I’m excited to see it come to fruition.
With this transition, our President & COO Lee Spirer will assume the position of President & CEO. After we recruited Lee to affix J.S. Held final yr, he was introduced in with this transition in thoughts. After working intently with him for the previous a number of months, it’s clear that Lee is the proper match to guide the corporate by way of our subsequent section of progress. I sit up for partnering with him to advance our mission and imaginative and prescient in help of all J.S. Held stakeholders – our group members, shoppers, and traders.
In my new position, I’ll proceed guiding the corporate’s strategic course with Lee whereas rising my engagement with our shoppers and the industries we serve – a ardour of mine that also brings nice pleasure and vitality daily.
I’m grateful for all that has led to this thrilling milestone for the corporate. It’s a second of celebration and validation, for me, that the perfect day of your enterprise life is when the cellphone rings and it’s not for you. I want you all the identical alternative in your profession.
Please be a part of me in congratulating Lee on his appointment to turn into President & CEO. The way forward for J.S. Held is vivid, and I sit up for all that we are going to accomplish collectively!
After I wrote a LinkedIn submit final week asking whether or not impartial property insurance coverage adjusters have been turning into disenchanted with their jobs and leaving the trade, I had quite a few responses. Steve Badger agreed. Being the badger, he then reposted it, including a consideration that contractors, public adjusters, and policyholder attorneys have been partially responsible for inflicting the exodus of property insurance coverage adjusters from the trade. This brought about an enormous blowup of feedback.
Jon Held wrote the next. I might recommend all of us learn it rigorously and take two reads of the final line of his remark:
[T]he downside is complicated, and lots of feedback listed below are honest. On the finish of the day, little funding is made in schooling, there’s an rising lack of collaboration, and there’s a frequent perception that the policyholder and insurer are enemies. Politics ought to train us that whenever you begin with mistrust, amicable outcomes are little greater than coincidence. Final week an previous good friend who has been a provider rep from the 70s and I have been reminiscing in regards to the time we met an insured and PA, and knowledgeable them that their declare was improper. We settled rapidly for an quantity increased than the declare. The adjuster to today believes that since he was taught “we pay what we owe”, informing his firm’s buyer of their error was his obligation. True story. Likewise, When the wintergarden of the world monetary heart reopened one yr to the day after 9/11 there was an enormous ceremony attended by the governer the mayor and the VP of the US. In his speech to the gang of a few thousand folks, the CEO of the insured thanked the carriers, the adjusters and the specialists by identify. Backside line, if you would like happiness, practice folks and make them really feel nice about what they’re doing.
For these of you who’ve watched my shows at IAUA and P.L.A.N. seminars concerning appraisal, I spotlight Jon Held as the kind of particular person a celebration to appraisal would wish to rent and consult with him as a “Grasp” of the appraisal craft. He has been concerned in probably the most vital property insurance coverage appraisal of the World Commerce Towers, he writes tutorial papers on all varieties of valuation matters, publicly defends the appraisal course of, and writes options and suggestions for making the appraisal course of honest and one in all integrity.
Success doesn’t occur by chance. It takes imaginative and prescient, relentless effort, and a deep perception in one thing better than oneself. Held is the embodiment of that perception. For over 4 many years, Jon has steadily constructed an organization from the bottom up, remodeling it into a world chief in consulting companies for the insurance coverage and authorized industries. It’s price pausing not simply to mirror on the corporate his group has constructed, however on the sort of chief Jon has been—one whose power comes not from title or place however from function, humility, and a fierce dedication to others.
Jon embodies the concept we should always attempt for—“to be, slightly than appear.” There is no such thing as a pretense in his management—solely presence. His phrases will not be flashy, however they carry the burden of expertise and emotional intelligence: “The most effective day of your enterprise life is when the cellphone rings and it’s not for you. I want you all the identical alternative in your profession.” It’s a easy assertion, but profoundly revealing. True leaders don’t construct empires for private glory. They construct groups, cultures, and alternatives that outlast their very own time on the helm. Jon’s legacy is not only within the firm’s progress or footprint within the trade however within the individuals who have been mentored, empowered, and uplifted underneath his management.
To steer with integrity, to develop an organization whereas staying grounded, and to depart it higher than at any time in its previous—these will not be simple issues. Jon Held has completed all of them with outstanding consistency. Take into consideration that assertion, “Backside line, if you would like happiness, practice folks and make them really feel nice about what they’re doing.” That line is greater than a administration philosophy—it’s a worldview. It speaks to the deep emotional intelligence that defines Jon’s method to management. He didn’t simply handle folks; he impressed them. He helped them really feel valued, succesful, and seen.
As Jon strikes into the subsequent chapter of his life, he leaves behind greater than a profitable firm—he leaves a mannequin of what trendy management ought to appear to be. Genuine. Empowering. Visionary.
Congratulations, Jon, and thanks for displaying the remainder of us what is feasible when management is rooted in character, not ego. You’ll have constructed an incredible public adjuster agency, restoration contractor firm or policyholder regulation agency as nicely. Nice management transcends.
Thought For The Day
“Management will not be about being in cost. It’s about taking good care of these in your cost.”
—Simon Sinek
