Mike Hessling stepped into the role of CEO for North America at Gallagher Bassett in February 2020, as COVID-19 was starting to ramp up. Within a month of his appointment, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic, and Hessling suddenly faced a raft of unique challenges.
Watch now: Meeting challenges head-on
Hessling recently spoke to IBA about how Gallagher Bassett faced circumstances unique in modern history.
“In spite of the many challenges the pandemic has brought on, we’ve seen tremendous growth opportunities inside of our business,” Hessling said. “As importantly, what I’ve been able to see as a leader is the extraordinary talent we have and the resilience of our team. I’ve seen how they’ve responded to changing claim volumes, the changing environments of our clients – and throughout all of it, our team has done exceptionally well.”
Hessling has been a member of Gallagher Bassett’s global leadership team since 2012. Prior to becoming CEO, he served as North America chief client officer. Hessling said that stepping into the CEO role in the midst of a pandemic taught him valuable lessons about leadership.
“First, it’s so important in times of uncertainty to be able to communicate and provide transparency – and that’s for our clients, to be able to share what’s happening within our business and how we’re responding to the pandemic, but also for our team members, many of whom were working from home for the first time,” he said. “It was also critically important to meet team members where they were because work and life are intertwined … and being empathetic and understanding how the pandemic affected people on a very personal level was critically important.”
While the US is now contending with inflation, the war in Ukraine, and a rapidly changing labor market, Hessling said he remained optimistic about Gallagher Bassett’s future.
“We continue to be very bullish on our opportunities within our core risk management segment,” he said. “In times of uncertainty, clients look for partners they can rely on to be there through thick and thin to help navigate challenges and proactively manage their cost of risk. Interestingly, we also continue to see opportunity in the carrier space. Many carriers are now looking to partner with organizations like GB to help manage their claims, so that’s an area of continued growth and opportunity for our business.”
Watch now: Meeting challenges head-on
