Main Street Banking: A Podcast for Community Bankers

It's easy to get ahead of ourselves some times....but that can kill strategy. This is particularly true when all the pieces of the puzzle are not together. We in banking are notorious for building up "silos" in the bank and that can be dangerous. It's why culture is so. very. important. to talk about and fix in our banks before we even try and execute a strategy.

Today we go deeper into the idea of "controlled chaos" to understand how and, more importantly, why we need to engage with our competition in this manner.

But, it is also important to remember the great amount of emotional intelligence this whole superhero community banking thing requires. It's the difference and "good" and "great". It's the difference in "doing things the same old way" and really engaging your competition in a way that nearly guarantees victory and leaves them on their heels.

Why is culture so important to the Superhero Community Bank? It's like the energy stored in a bow and arrow when you pull back on the string. Knowing when to release is important...but it's the work beforehand that makes the impact.

And how is victory won before the battle is even fought? That's what we'll discuss today.

Once again taking a break from the Superhero Community Banking series, we're talking with Darrin Williams, CEO of Southern Bancorp out of Little Rock, AR. Southern Bancorp has an amazing story in serving the underbanked, unbanked, and low-income communities in its footprint. They are also a leading CDFI (Community Development Financial Institution)of which there are over 1100 in the US to date.

That alone is worth hearing about, but recently Darrin was invited to serve on the White House Task Force for Economic Revival alongside some of the CEO's of America's largest banks...and he did not shy away in speaking up for the community banking industry! Many of our listeners know how well our industry did during the PPP launch and it was community banks that really led the way in getting those funds out there to our small businesses.

To read the referenced Bloomberg article on Darrin, click here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-09-21/southern-bancorp-is-bringing-equality-to-banking-with-loans-for-the-underserved

To read more about Southern Bancorp, click here: https://banksouthern.com/

Returning to our Outside the Vault series, we welcome Coach Orlando McKay. Orlando is a football and track coach, economics, psychology, and public speaking teacher at the Memphis University School. He is also a passionate advocate for sound financial literacy in the schools. If we want to change the conversation in our communities around money, it is up to those who understand money (bankers fit this bill!!) to lead the way. It's about more than just completing CRA requirements. It's about serving our communities and teaching kids how to be successful participants in our local economies.

To read more about Orlando, check out this link. https://dailymemphian.com/article/16828/mus-grad-helping-high-school-students-learn-about

It's easy to get caught up in the offense part of strategy...how to go after the competition, how to win those big victories, etc.

But what do we do in the meantime? Play defense...and what does that look like? That's what we'll talk about today.

As always, feel free to email me at [email protected] at any time to let me know how you're enjoying the series or if you have any suggestions for future episodes.

Ag Lending is a HUGE part of many community banks credit services. It requires, however, a different set of credit skills and know-how and we are seeing an experience gap in ag lending that needs to be addressed. It's a specialized type of credit, to be sure, but it is one that has the potential to lead to generational and profitable relationships for you and the bank. The demand is high...the supply of ag lenders is getting low.

We have today two of the leading voices in ag lending and ag economics, Dr. David Kohl and Tim Ohlde. Tim will be facilitating our Ag Lending 101 course coming up on October 6-9 (Register here: https://barretbanking.org/landings/ag-lending-101/) and Dr. Kohl is a nationally renowned speaker and Professor Emeritus of Ag Economics at Virginia Tech. They have some excellent advice today for both experienced and new ag lenders that is well worth your time today.

Let me know what you think about this topic and where you would like to see us go further with Ag. Email me at [email protected]

The difficult thing about this series is that I can't say "x + y = z" for you in your markets. I can't give you a formula for guaranteed success no matter the market. But...what I can do is help to create the framework and help you see what victory would look like so that when you identify where you want to go, you'll know you're on the right track. Today, we'll talk about victory looks like...no matter the battlefield.

Again, thanks for tuning in! Feel free to email me just to say hi or swap ideas! [email protected]

Earlier this year, the #TaxTwitter community discussed some of the craziest things bankers have asked CPAs. It got me to thinking that there is probably room for both parties to sit down and talk about our similarities and differences and see how we can work together. In many communities, we serve the same people and even have similar approaches to our roles...but do we really know how to work with each other?

Fortunately, my best friend, Nick Meals, is an active poster on #TaxTwitter and I asked him to come on the podcast for us to have that very conversation. Of the 50+ episodes we've done, this has been one of my favorite ones...and I hope you enjoy it too.

Be sure to check out Whitlock and Comany at https://www.whitlockcpa.com/ and email Nick at [email protected]

The hardest part of any project is getting started. We've spent the last few weeks learning how to think about strategy as superheroes but what do we do first? What's the first step?

The shortest answer is...get the easiest win! No doubt you've seen a long "to-do" list start to develop. What's the easiest win? That's where you need to start!

Don't forget you can reach out to me on social media or by email at [email protected]