Leadership, Continued from page 25
One of the greatest benefits of membership in the program is the peer-to-peer relationships that form, Mason said. “I met Cayle Paulson, a business banker at American State Bank & Trust Company of Williston,” he said. “This year, Cayle and I started a participation bank relationship. I was able to close the largest deal we’ve done all year because of that partnership. If we had not met at Emerging Leaders that deal would not have worked.” Developing community leaders In small communities, if local development happens, the banker either led it or helped accomplish it. That is the reason Ray Smith, president of First National Bank in Philip, S.D., and 2013-2014 chairman of the Independent Community Bankers of South Dakota, has invested in training an up-and-coming employee in his bank in ICBSD’s Emerging Leaders Development Program. ICBSD’s program is designed after the North Dakota program. The South Dakota program will have its first meeting this month. As a community banker, Smith is spread thin with many responsibilities. “And, in addition, the community depends on me for guidance,” he said. “I have very little time to mentor someone in community development. There really isn’t any training out there for industry advocacy and economic development in South Dakota other than ICBSD’s program.” Smith said that in small communities, the moment a banker registers as a member of a church, they will likely be asked to sit on the finance committee. “The banking industry is aging but our communities will continue to need this 26
NW Financial Review
JANUARY 2014
guidance; young bankers need to be prepared to go to a meeting and come home the chairman.” Bankers trained in community development also are more of a value to First National Bank in Philip, Smith said. “Community banks find loans through their involvement in the community; it is the best way to find leads and network,” he said. Smith said he chose the staff member that will go to ICBSD’s Emerging Leaders program because of his interest in getting involved in community organizations. The bank invests to educate its officers even though the next leader of First National Bank in Philip is not likely to be selected for some time, said Smith, who is 50 years old. “We are not worried about other banks scalping our employees. It will be my loss if an officer leaves for another bank, but it is still important to educate people. The president of our bank is likely among our officers. You really can’t have a president who is not educated,” he said. The $213 million bank sends all its officers to the graduate schools of banking in Boulder, Colo., and Madison, Wis. The bank also divides mentoring responsibility between upper management. Preparing for change In May, Daniel Peterson became president of The Stephenson National Bank & Trust, Marinette, Wis. Peterson took over the position from his mentor, John Reinke, who is now the bank’s chairman. In 2007, Peterson finished the Wisconsin Bankers Association’s two-year leadership training program. Even though he had a mentor in the bank who trained him to lead the organization, Peterson said outside leadership www.NorthWesternFinancialReview.com
development has prepared him to cope with change. Reinke grew The Stephenson National Bank from a one-office bank with $80 million in assets to a $315 million Daniel Peterson bank with three branches and a trust services office. “John has a wide range of banking experience. Now we are developing mobile banking and an e-branch. Both are areas of banking he didn’t experience during his career. The leadership coursework prepared me to chart into this new territory for the bank,” Peterson said. Peterson said the most useful skill he learned in WBA’s program is listening. “I’ve learned to spend much more time listening than talking; I use that one every day now,” he said. The Stephenson National Bank sends every member of senior management to WBA’s two-year program. “As long as WBA has the program, our bank will have staff signed up,” Peterson said. “The class teaches banking leaders skills like business etiquette, networking skills and public speaking. But the course also develops nuts-andbolts banking skills. In my class, we took a struggling bank and we had to develop a plan based on interest rate, compliance and public relations conditions to manage the bank through its issues.” Leadership at The Stephenson National Bank is not worried that people will leave the bank after a significant investment has been Leadership, Continued on page 39