Jon Held is shifting to a brand new function in his firm. It’s not 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 will likely be transitioning to a brand new function with the corporate as Government 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 function of President & CEO. Once 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 correct match to guide the corporate by our subsequent section of development. 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 traders.
In my new function, I’ll proceed guiding the corporate’s strategic course with Lee whereas growing 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 small business life is when the telephone 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’ll accomplish collectively!
After I wrote a LinkedIn put up final week asking whether or not impartial property insurance coverage adjusters had 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 had been partially accountable 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 fastidiously and take two reads of the final line of his remark:
[T]he drawback is complicated, and lots of feedback listed below are honest. On the finish of the day, little funding is made in training, there may be an growing lack of collaboration, and there’s a frequent perception that the policyholder and insurer are enemies. Politics ought to train us that while you begin with mistrust, amicable outcomes are little greater than coincidence. Final week an outdated pal who has been a service rep from the 70s and I had been reminiscing concerning the time we met an insured and PA, and knowledgeable them that their declare was flawed. We settled shortly for an quantity greater than the declare. The adjuster to this present day 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 middle 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 USA. In his speech to the group of a few thousand folks, the CEO of the insured thanked the carriers, the adjusters and the consultants by identify. Backside line, if you’d like happiness, practice folks and make them really feel nice about what they’re doing.
For these of you who’ve watched my displays at IAUA and P.L.A.N. seminars relating to appraisal, I spotlight Jon Held as the kind of particular person a celebration to appraisal would need to rent and discuss with him as a “Grasp” of the appraisal craft. He has been concerned in probably the most important property insurance coverage appraisal of the World Commerce Towers, he writes tutorial papers on all forms of valuation subjects, publicly defends the appraisal course of, and writes solutions and ideas for making the appraisal course of honest and one among integrity.
Success doesn’t occur accidentally. 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, 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 staff has constructed, however on the form of chief Jon has been—one whose energy comes not from title or place however from objective, humility, and a fierce dedication to others.
Jon embodies the concept we must always try for—“to be, moderately than appear.” There isn’t a pretense in his management—solely presence. His phrases aren’t flashy, however they carry the load of expertise and emotional intelligence: “One of the best day of your small business life is when the telephone 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 isn’t just within the firm’s development or footprint within the trade however within the individuals who have been mentored, empowered, and uplifted below 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 aren’t straightforward issues. Jon Held has completed all of them with exceptional consistency. Take into consideration that assertion, “Backside line, if you’d 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 strategy 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 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’ll have constructed an excellent public adjuster agency, restoration contractor firm or policyholder regulation agency as properly. Nice management transcends.
Thought For The Day
“Management just isn’t about being in cost. It’s about caring for these in your cost.”
—Simon Sinek