I was in the Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City on a beautiful summer Sunday. The mall was reasonably busy, probably just right for a Sunday afternoon during a non-holiday shopping season. I was headed to the Apple Store, but on the way there, I passed by the Microsoft Store. Microsoft has attempted to duplicate […]
Tag Archives: leadership
The Consequences of Not Planning Ahead
My wife Samantha and I love the sea. We try to boat, sail, or generally get into the salt water as much as we can. We recently had an opportunity to spend a week on the island of Antigua (we were scouting for a 2020 sailing trip) and we did a lot of snorkeling. We […]
Don’t Inadvertently Limit Innovation
I asked 16 payments executives to draw a vase. Let me explain… I have been facilitating strategic planning for 20 years for one organization, PaymentsFirst. P1st is a nonprofit payments association headquartered in Atlanta, and serves financial institutions and corporations in South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee. Their executives are some of the most well-respected […]
“What are you doing” – A Continued View on Perspective
It may be a coincidence, but I seem to be on a bit of a perspective kick. While in church on Mother’s Day Sunday, our associate pastor told a story about Christopher Wren, the architect of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. One day, as Christopher was making his rounds examining the work he had laid […]
Plan Ahead to Avoid Bone-Head Moments
As part of attending the FinTechSouth conference at the Mercedes Stadium in Atlanta, GA, I was asked to participate in a short video interview with Titania Jordan. Titania has a popular online channel called CONNECT, and along with her associates from 3Ci, she was interviewing numerous payment professionals in town for this show. FinTechSouth is […]
Why Banking is Failing at Cross-Selling Fee Services
I recently read an article from The Financial Brand outlining the problems financial institutions have in cross-selling services with associated fees. The article compares data from Amazon Prime sales to the lack of success FIs have had in selling fee-based services. They found, even when Amazon raised the price for the Prime service, subscribership increased. […]
Best Bank in Valdosta … and Not Just Cause I’m Sayin’ It
I referenced my bank, Citizens Community Bank (CCB) in a recent blog post discussing how difficult it is to be a bank. Many non-banks wanting to offer financial services find that existing rules and regulations make it difficult to do so. However, CCB performs a wide variety of banking services with a perfect blend of […]
The Innovation Challenge – Are You Up For It?
Most companies are well-run and operate with a reasonable level of efficiency. The very best companies, though, are not satisfied with being “just ok” and work to constantly improve, innovate, and evolve to enable creativity that leads to innovation-driven growth. I have written extensively on the need for Innovation-Driven Growth (you can check out these […]
Think It’s Easy to be an FI? Think Again …
During my daily review and read routine, I always check out PYMNTS.com, as I find their articles relevant and well written. Here is a story from their December 21st feed. This article highlights the plight of an internet-only entity posing as a financial institution called Robinhood, and the issue of deposit insurance. As I have […]
Making Business Meetings Unique and Fun
If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know I periodically talk about having fun at work. I truly believe when we make our workplace fun, our team members enjoy their work and their environment more. This translates into more productivity and also transfers to our clients. Trust me, even if it is just […]