Jon Held is transferring to a brand new position in his firm. It isn’t a full retirement, however all of us get the image. He said:
After 40 years as CEO of J.S. Held LLC, I’m proud to announce that I might be transitioning to a brand new position with the corporate as Govt Chairman of the Board, efficient April 1, 2025. My choice 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 hitch J.S. Held final 12 months, 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 precise match to steer the corporate via 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 staff members, shoppers, and buyers.
In my new position, I’ll proceed guiding the corporate’s strategic path with Lee whereas rising my engagement with our shoppers and the industries we serve – a ardour of mine that also brings nice pleasure and power on daily basis.
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 very best day of your online business life is when the cellphone rings and it isn’t 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 grow to be President & CEO. The way forward for J.S. Held is shiny, and I sit up for all that we’ll accomplish collectively!
After I wrote a LinkedIn submit final week asking whether or not impartial property insurance coverage adjusters had been changing into disenchanted with their jobs and leaving the business, 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 had been partially responsible for inflicting the exodus of property insurance coverage adjusters from the business. This prompted an enormous blowup of feedback.
Jon Held wrote the next. I might recommend all of us learn it fastidiously and take two reads of the final line of his remark:
[T]he downside is advanced, and lots of feedback listed here are truthful. On the finish of the day, little funding is made in schooling, there may be an rising lack of collaboration, and there’s a frequent perception that the policyholder and insurer are enemies. Politics ought to educate us that if 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 had been reminiscing in regards to the time we met an insured and PA, and knowledgeable them that their declare was incorrect. We settled shortly for an quantity larger 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 12 months to the day after 9/11 there was an enormous ceremony attended by the governer the mayor and the VP of america. In his speech to the group of a few thousand individuals, the CEO of the insured thanked the carriers, the adjusters and the consultants by identify. Backside line, if you would like happiness, practice individuals 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 relating to appraisal, I spotlight Jon Held as the kind of individual a celebration to appraisal would wish to rent and seek advice from him as a “Grasp” of the appraisal craft. He has been concerned in essentially the most important property insurance coverage appraisal of the World Commerce Towers, he writes educational papers on all forms of valuation matters, publicly defends the appraisal course of, and writes recommendations and ideas for making the appraisal course of truthful and one in every of integrity.
Success doesn’t occur by chance. It takes imaginative and prescient, relentless effort, and a deep perception in one thing larger than oneself. Held is the embodiment of that perception. For over 4 a long time, Jon has steadily constructed an organization from the bottom up, reworking it into a world chief in consulting providers for the insurance coverage and authorized industries. It’s price pausing not simply to mirror on the corporate his staff has constructed, however on the form of chief Jon has been—one whose energy comes not from title or place however from function, humility, and a fierce dedication to others.
Jon embodies the concept that we should always try for—“to be, reasonably than appear.” There is no such thing as a pretense in his management—solely presence. His phrases should not flashy, however they carry the burden of expertise and emotional intelligence: “The very best day of your online business life is when the cellphone rings and it isn’t 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 isn’t just within the firm’s progress or footprint within the business however within the individuals who have been mentored, empowered, and uplifted underneath his management.
To guide with integrity, to develop an organization whereas staying grounded, and to depart it higher than at any time in its previous—these should not simple issues. Jon Held has finished all of them with outstanding consistency. Take into consideration that assertion, “Backside line, if you would like happiness, practice individuals 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 strategy to management. He didn’t simply handle individuals; he impressed them. He helped them really feel valued, succesful, and seen.
As Jon strikes into the following chapter of his life, he leaves behind greater than a profitable firm—he leaves a mannequin of what trendy management ought to seem like. 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’d have constructed an amazing public adjuster agency, restoration contractor firm or policyholder legislation agency as nicely. Nice management transcends.
Thought For The Day
“Management will not be about being in cost. It’s about caring for these in your cost.”
—Simon Sinek
