Jon Held is moving to a new role in his company. It is not a full retirement, but we all get the picture. He stated:

After 40 years as CEO of J.S. Held LLC, I am proud to announce that I will be transitioning to a new role with the company as Executive Chairman of the Board, effective April 1, 2025. My decision to make this transition is part of a planned succession, and I am excited to see it come to fruition.

With this transition, our President & COO Lee Spirer will assume the role of President & CEO. When we recruited Lee to join J.S. Held last year, he was brought in with this transition in mind. After working closely with him for the past several months, it is clear that Lee is the right fit to lead the company through our next phase of growth. I look forward to partnering with him to advance our mission and vision in support of all J.S. Held stakeholders – our team members, clients, and investors.

In my new role, I will continue guiding the company’s strategic direction with Lee while increasing my engagement with our clients and the industries we serve – a passion of mine that still brings great joy and energy every day.

I am grateful for all that has led to this exciting milestone for the company. It is a moment of celebration and validation, for me, that the best day of your business life is when the phone rings and it is not for you. I wish you all the same opportunity in your career.

Please join me in congratulating Lee on his appointment to become President & CEO. The future of J.S. Held is bright, and I look forward to all that we will accomplish together!

After I wrote a LinkedIn post last week asking whether independent property insurance adjusters were becoming disenchanted with their jobs and leaving the industry, I had numerous responses. Steve Badger agreed. Being the badger, he then reposted it, adding a consideration that contractors, public adjusters, and policyholder attorneys were partially to blame for causing the exodus of property insurance adjusters from the industry. This caused a massive blowup of comments.

Jon Held wrote the following. I would suggest all of us read it carefully and take two reads of the very last line of his comment:

[T]he problem is complex, and many comments here are fair. At the end of the day, little investment is made in education, there is an increasing lack of collaboration, and there is a common belief that the policyholder and insurer are enemies. Politics should teach us that when you start with distrust, amicable results are little more than coincidence. Last week an old friend who has been a carrier rep from the 70s and I were reminiscing about the time we met an insured and PA, and informed them that their claim was wrong. We settled quickly for an amount higher than the claim. The adjuster to this day believes that since he was taught “we pay what we owe”, informing his company’s customer of their error was his obligation. True story. Likewise, When the wintergarden of the world financial center reopened one year to the day after 9/11 there was a huge ceremony attended by the governer the mayor and the VP of the United States. In his speech to the crowd of a couple of thousand people, the CEO of the insured thanked the carriers, the adjusters and the experts by name. Bottom line, if you want happiness, train people and make them feel great about what they are doing.

For those of you who have watched my presentations at IAUA and P.L.A.N. seminars regarding appraisal, I highlight Jon Held as the type of person a party to appraisal would want to hire and refer to him as a “Master” of the appraisal craft. He has been involved in the most significant property insurance appraisal of the World Trade Towers, he writes academic papers on all types of valuation topics, publicly defends the appraisal process, and writes suggestions and tips for making the appraisal process fair and one of integrity.

Success does not happen by accident. It takes vision, relentless effort, and a deep belief in something greater than oneself. Held is the embodiment of that belief. For over four decades, Jon has steadily built a company from the ground up, transforming it into a global leader in consulting services for the insurance and legal industries. It’s worth pausing not just to reflect on the company his team has built, but on the kind of leader Jon has been—one whose strength comes not from title or position but from purpose, humility, and a fierce dedication to others.

Jon embodies the idea that we should strive for—“to be, rather than seem.” There is no pretense in his leadership—only presence. His words are not flashy, but they carry the weight of experience and emotional intelligence: “The best day of your business life is when the phone rings and it is not for you. I wish you all the same opportunity in your career.” It’s a simple statement, yet profoundly revealing. True leaders don’t build empires for personal glory. They build teams, cultures, and opportunities that outlast their own time at the helm. Jon’s legacy is not just in the company’s growth or footprint in the industry but in the people who have been mentored, empowered, and uplifted under his leadership.

To lead with integrity, to grow a company while staying grounded, and to leave it better than at any time in its past—these are not easy things. Jon Held has done all of them with remarkable consistency. Think about that statement, “Bottom line, if you want happiness, train people and make them feel great about what they are doing.” That line is more than a management philosophy—it’s a worldview. It speaks to the deep emotional intelligence that defines Jon’s approach to leadership. He didn’t just manage people; he inspired them. He helped them feel valued, capable, and seen.

As Jon moves into the next chapter of his life, he leaves behind more than a successful company—he leaves a model of what modern leadership should look like. Authentic. Empowering. Visionary.

Congratulations, Jon, and thank you for showing the rest of us what is possible when leadership is rooted in character, not ego. You would have built a great public adjuster firm, restoration contractor company or policyholder law firm as well. Great leadership transcends.

Thought For The Day 

“Leadership is not about being in charge. It is about taking care of those in your charge.”
—Simon Sinek