My Interview with Ray Davis

As emcee of the Community Bankers Association of Georgia annual conference, I interviewed Ray Davis, former CEO of Umpqua Bank. Ray is iconic for taking Umpqua, a small $140 million institution located in rural Oregon, and transforming it into a $20 billion juggernaut. As I frequently talk about the success of Umpqua when I speak […]

Want to get out of a ticket … follow Traci’s advice!

As a professional speaker and strategic planning facilitator, I have a lot of balls to juggle on a week-by-week basis. So, I use a third-party source for administrative support. Sheila Moland of Pressing Engagements is that source, and she helps me in more ways that I can count. As a part of her services, she […]

Reverse Brainstorm To Great Insight

In July, I teach two weeks at the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Colorado (GSBC). One of my students once showed me a great video called “7 Ways to Maximize Misery.” The idea is to get people to focus on happiness by showing how absurd it is to embrace being miserable. I […]

An Example of a Thoughtful Response

I am in Seattle, Washington and have just finished a keynote address based on my book, Grounded (Little River Publishing). This is the first annual Emerging Leaders conference conducted by Western Independent Bankers and I am honored to have had the leadoff spot. These are not just the future leaders of their respective financial institutions; […]

Using a Storm to Improve Success

When the family needs beach time and an infusion of saltwater living, we head to Alligator Point in Northwest Florida. It’s just over a two hour drive away and has miles of beach access on the Gulf of Mexico. On one particular trip, we rented a house that was just 20 paces from the water. […]

Grounded Again … But Delta Comes Through In the End

On Wednesday April 5th, I delivered a presentation on Retail Branch Transformation at a New York Bankers conference in Syracuse, NY. Everything went great, there was a big crowd and the presentation was well received. Then it’s back to the airport to fly back to Tallahassee and a drive back to Valdosta, where I was […]

Strategic Planning and Cutting up the Last Donut

I walked into church yesterday and immediately went to get a cup of Beanery coffee. As I was pouring my cup, I noticed a box of donuts on the counter with a partial donut and a knife inside it. My assumption is that this box was full at the time it was placed on the […]

Shrinking a Giant

I was quite interested in a recent article by Dan Gallagher in the Wall Street Journal. The article outlines how companies that had acquired business in an effort to achieve scale are now shedding those businesses to focus on core competencies. In the story, Gallagher talks about software giants divesting of businesses that they had spent […]