The Changing Face of Leadership

By NED PAULEY Simply stated, a leader is someone others follow. Leadership is not a title. It’s not a reward for length of employment. It’s an act of service that inspires people toward a shared vision. If you’ve been in bank leadership for a while, you know the role is changing. Perhaps more accurately, followership … Read more

Challenging Some Traditional Myths in Community Bank Operations

By Achim Griesel and Dr. Sean Payant, Haberfeld Banking, and specifically community banking, is essential to the overall health of our country. By design, it serves as the backbone for our financial system and communities, while playing a crucial role in helping individuals, businesses and governments thrive. In this highly competitive environment, community banks must … Read more

The Loyalty Factor: Translating Relationships into Non-Interest Income

The past year and a half has challenged our industry in ways previously unknown. We began the year expecting our biggest challenge would be the continued growth of deposits at reasonable rates. Today, we are faced with three challenges: a prolonged low-rate environment with continued margin compression; keeping branches open/serving our communities; and an increasing … Read more

Growth Strategies for Any Economic Environment

In times of uncertainty, organizations have a tendency to put the brakes on, losing sight of long-term strategic initiatives and established growth goals. However, history has taught us that the decisions your bank makes today will have lasting implications tomorrow. Business as usual will return and our strategic initiatives and growth goals will still be … Read more