Indiana 250: Jim Ryan

Jim Ryan joined Evansville-based Old National Bancorp, parent of Old National Bank, in 2000 and became CEO in 2019. Under his leadership, Old National last year completed a $6.5 billion acquisition of Chicago-based First Midwest Bank, bringing its total assets to $46 billion. Ryan is chair of the Evansville Regional Economic Partnership, vice chair of the Evansville Regional Business Committee, and secretary and treasurer of the Southwest Indiana Regional Development Authority. He is a member of the board of Deaconess Hospital and Deaconess Health Systems, Golf Gives Back and the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership.

First job

I was a dishwasher in a restaurant. You truly need a bias for action as a dishwasher, because if you let the dishes stack up, you will never go home. That job, along with my parents, taught me the value of hard work. It doesn’t matter what the job is, dishwasher or CEO of a publicly traded company—hard work is a necessary ingredient for success.

Favorite thing about being a leader

The positive impact you can make on clients, team members and the community. Also, it’s never the same day twice. Each day, I get to build relationships with executive leaders, board members and team members across the company.

Something surprising

I really enjoy boating, and my retirement goal is to travel the entire 6,000-mile Great Loop.

Toughest challenge overcome

If you look at my career, I have volunteered for a lot of things and taken on assignments because I have a great passion for learning. I get restless when not learning new things, and I’m good at developing a vision of where we need to go. But sometimes I get frustrated with how long it takes to get there. As a result, I really appreciate and rely on process-minded individuals who know how to put all the steps in place to get us across the finish line.

Leadership lessons

That emotional intelligence may be the most essential skill any leader can possess.

Advice for a young person

Have patience and faith in yourself and don’t be afraid to ask for help. Also, it’s sometimes hard to understand or envision how certain things are going to play out. But in the end, things tend to work out the way they should.

Favorite thing about living and working in Indiana

The people. The people of Indiana are some of the friendliest and most welcoming I have ever met.

Worries about

The impact of media and social media on society. We focus too much on our differences and not on what we can agree on to move forward.•