Leadership Division: Building Exceptional Leaders Through Involvement

The Leadership Division provides its members the opportunity to develop lifetime business relationships with the best and brightest people in community banking across the country. From networking with peers to political activism, members have the opportunity to help ensure the future of the Texas community banking industry.

Want to become a part of our team? Click here [1] for a membership application.

In the News...

Survey: U.S. Workers Spend $3,000 a Year on Coffee, Lunch
According to a Workonomix Survey from Accounting Principles, half of the American workforce spends more than $20 a week on coffee – about $1,000 a year. Two-thirds of workers buy their lunch, spending an average $37 a week or nearly $2,000 per year.

Read more on the study from Portfolio.com [2].

Pam DeCeault, Executive Vice President and Director at the Kilgore National Bank, has been named Citizen of the Year. Read more [3] about this True Texas Banker.

James Ryan James was recently promoted to the position of Vice President and City President of Bank Texas, Mineola market. He serves as one of the bank’s commercial loan specialists, responsible for originating commercial and consumer loans, while assisting with mortgage loans. Ryan graduated from Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School, receiving a BBA in finance.

Curtis Bull has been promoted to Senior Vice President at TIB-The Independent BankersBank, Dallas. He has served TIB as Correspondent Relations Officer throughout the West Texas region since 2005. Curtis earned a BBA degree in finance from Texas Tech University and currently serves on the advisory board of that university.

Joy Smith has been promoted to Senior Vice President at TIB-The Independent BankersBank, Dallas. She joined the bank in 2001, currently serving as Correspondent Relations Officer for Houston and the Upper Gulf Coast region of Texas. Joy earned a BBA degree in finance from Texas A&M University. She is President of the freshman class, Class LIV, at the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking at SMU.

Michael Moores has been appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Citizens National Bank in Henderson. He has more than 18 years of banking experience, joining Citizens National in 1993 as Assistant Controller. Moores recently served as Senior Vice President and Central Region Manager and will continue managing the bank’s Central Region branches. Michael serves on the IBAT Leadership Division Board of Directors as Vice President.

Mason Vaughan has been promoted to executive vice president of The First National Bank of Eldorado. He joined First National in 2003 as vice president after serving with the Texas Department of Banking. He was named senior vice president in 2008 and elected to the board of directors in 2009. Vaughan earned a BBA degree in 2001 from Angelo State University.

Happy Bancshares, Inc, Amarillo, has announced that Kerry Adair will be named President and CEO of Signature Bank following its planned acquisition of the bank in January 2012. He currently serves as President of the Amarillo market for Happy State Bank. The 28-year banker join Happy State in 2004. He began his banking career with the First National Bank of Amarillo. Kerry earned a BS degree from West Texas State University. Larry Webb, current EVP of Happy State Bank, will complete the new Signature Bank management team in 2012.

Steve Bowen named President of the Happy State Bank's Amarillo market. He has served with the bank for over six years, most recently as President of the Amarillo Soncy office. Bowen is a graduate of Texas Tech University with a BBA degree in finance.

Joe Boaz promoted to EVP and Regional Sales Manager for the First Victoria National Bank Huntsville/New Waverly market. He has 38 years of banking experience and holds an MBA degree from Sam Houston State University.

Tim Jones promoted to EVP and Regional Sales Manager for the First Victoria National Bank Brazos Valley/College Station/Bryan market. He has 27 years of banking experience and holds a BS degree from Texas A&M University.

John Jordan promoted to EVP and Regional Sales Manager for the First Victoria National Bank The Woodlands/Magnolia market. He has 35 years of banking experience and holds a BS degree from the University of Houston.

John Zacek, is the EVP and Regional Sales Manager for the First Victoria National Bank Victoria market. He has 29 years of banking experience and holds a BS degree in agriculture economics from Texas A&M University.

Overcoming Resistance

Stand Up and Tell the Awful Truth

Learn the art of telling powerful people what they don’t want to hear. Take a lesson from Doug Elmendorf, the man who runs the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

When he spoke to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction last September, he immediately dismissed questions of blame and laid out the committee’s options. Take cues from his approach:

Present a strong case. Keep your communication clear and succinct. Elmendorf told the committee “Putting the federal budget on a sustainable path will require significant changes in spending policies, significant changes in tax policies, or both.” Set up your sentences like short bullet points.

Maintain your cool. Avoid sounding condescending, impatient or curt. Attack the issue, not the people.

Offer options consistent with the facts. Allow the other person to make a choice.
Stand your ground. Remain firm on the issues when addressing comments and concerns. Example: When a powerful person makes a suggestion that shifts the focus, answer in a respectful yet fact-based manner that brings the conversation back on topic.

Tip: Earn credibility by developing a reputation for knowing your facts and moving things forward.

Source: Communication Briefings, January 2012. Adapted from “A Five-Step Plan for Speaking Truth to Power,” Scott Eblin.

Managing Effectively

Unusual Tactics Conquer Turnover

Outshine the competition to reduce turnover. Go beyond the traditional benefits and take these actions:

Focus on the stars. Spend 80% of your effort retaining the high-performing members of your staff.
Eliminate the low-performers. Follow through on performance improvement plans and let go of those who fail to measure up.
Add stability. Instead of treating low-wage positions as low-priority, recognize their value in providing continuity in your team’s efforts. Pay more than the minimum wage.
Offer peers the final vote. After you have narrowed the field of job candidates to two or three who would satisfy you, turn the decision over to your staff. Train a couple of your best employees in interviewing and allow them to choose the candidate you will hire. One hospital that took that approach dramatically lowered turnover in the 90- to 180-day period following employment.
Connect each week. Spend one hour each week chatting informally with staff to discover any emerging problems and to offer direct praise.

--Source: Communication Briefings, January 2012. Adapted from “8 Untraditional Ways to Retain the Best and Brightest in Healthcare,” Gary George, Becker’s Hospital Review.

Communicating Face to Face

Engage In Interesting Conversations

Make your chats with colleagues memorable. Enjoy great conversations when you use these techniques:

Be descriptive. Replace common phrases with vivid images. Paint a picture with your words.
Present comparisons. When giving a reaction or explanation, use contrast to add meaning. Example: “He’s a successful businessman. I’m not saying he’s Richard Branson, but he does all right.”
Add nonverbal cues. Convey confidence in conversation with great posture. Gesture; emphasize key words; and vary your speed, tone, inflection and volume to keep your listener interested.
Identify overlapping interests. Find the hobbies or topics you both enjoy to make conversations a dialogue rather than a monologue.
Be positive. Even if you are offering negative feedback, include a positive statement.

--Source: Communication Briefings, January 2012. Adapted from “The 12 Golden Rules of Great Conversation: Part 1 of 2,” Geoff Peart, Stepcase Lifehack.

Groom Leaders

Be confident the next person you promote is ready to lead. Assign the person responsibility for the team’s performance before you grant a title.

The team member will experience what it is like to lead others without the benefit of an official position. That will require the person to learn how to influence others. Use the assignment to coach the employee you want to promote.

--Source: Communication Briefings, January 2012. Adapted from “The 5 Levels of Leadership,” John C. Maxwell, Center Street.

Overcome Ruts

If your brainstorming sessions aren’t yielding any new ideas, take a 180-degree turn. Approach problems from the opposite direction.

Start by defining the problem you want to solve. Then ask an opposite question: “How could I cause this problem?” or “How could I gain the opposite results?”

For example, if you want to drive more traffic to your website, you would ask “How could we discourage people from visiting our website?”

After you have a set of answers, flip them around.

--Source: Communication Briefings, January 2012. Adapted from “Reverse Brainstorming,” Mind Tools.

Leadership Videos

Watch More Leadership Videos... [4]

Leadership Events

Jun 14 2012 - Jun 16 2012
27th Annual Leadership Conference [5]

In The Spotlight: Tim Teske, Green Bank, N.A., Dallas

Tim is a member of the Leadership Division and is a Senior Vice President of Green Bank N.A., Dallas… read more [6].

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Thoughts on Books

Book List Added – For our Leadership Division members, we are adding a list of recommended books. Please sign-in [7] and check the “Resource” tab for “Thoughts on Books.” Send us your recommendations [8] on leadership or management style related books that you would recommend to your colleagues.

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