I recently spoke at the South Georgia Community Bank Symposium, held at a conference room on the campus of Valdosta State University (VSU). The program was put on by the Georgia Bankers Association and attracted bankers from across the state and North Florida.
Prior to my keynote on Innovation in Banking, I was chatting with some of attendees, many of them local bankers whom I knew. I noticed a young man without a nametag standing near the growing crowd of people. I went up and introduced myself and asked him what financial institution he represented. “Oh, my name is Josh, and I am not a banker, I am a VSU student!”
Turns out, Josh is in a class on banking and finance this semester and his professor invited the class to attend the banking symposium. It turned out, Josh was the only student out of the 35 or so students in his class that took up the professor’s offer. Since the session started at 8:30 am, perhaps Josh’s classmates preferred sleeping instead of listening about the future of banking. Nevertheless, I was very impressed with Josh taking the initiative to be at the session and told him so. He said that he was not necessarily looking for a job in banking but figured it would be a great opportunity to learn. Very grounded thinking!
I asked Josh about his banking preferences, using the opportunity to continue my non-scientific survey of how millennials perceive banks and banking services. I also asked him about his activities related to going into a bank branch, which was part of the specific talk I was giving. After a few minutes, I decided that I could assist Josh in his experience that day. First, I took him to the registration desk and got him a nametag. Once that was done, I asked him to come up with a question that he could ask the bankers after he introduced himself. He thought for a minute and said, “I guess I’d ask what bank they were with.” I responded that he needed to engage bankers in a conversation. I suggested that he ask them this question – “What is the greatest challenge you face as a banker in the coming years?” Armed with this question, I challenged Josh to professionally insert himself into conversations and see if he couldn’t get some meaningful exchanges started.
I quickly lost track of Josh in the crowd and then it was time to do my talk. After an hour keynote, where I both challenged and encouraged the bankers about the future of innovation in their industry, I was in a group of several bankers chatting about the content. Glancing to my right, I noticed Josh was in deep conversation with two bankers. Good! I was so glad to see him so involved and engaged.
I am a professional speaker and get to speak to thousands of people each year. And yet, this exchange with Josh gave me more satisfaction than rocking the world of the assembled bankers. It also illustrates a point that I feel is the greatest miss between millennials and baby boomers: millennials need mentors, someone that can guide them on the path to business success without in any way belittling them. Millennials represent the future and we can learn about their preferences, doing so will help us adjust our services to meet them where they are. When a millennial shows the type of initiative that Josh did on this day, that should be noticed, appreciated and rewarded. Truly a win, win all around.