Independent Banker - May 2023 - 7

FROM THE TOP
" The core success of community banks
stems from how well we meet the needs
of the people we serve: our customers,
employees, stockholders and communities. "
Derek Williams
Chairman, ICBA
Derek Williams is president and
CEO of Century Bank & Trust in
Milledgeville, Ga.
here's no doubt about it: Today's
economic environment is
tumultuous. All around us, we're
fending off new storms, from big
bank failures to compliance hurdles
and beyond. But we weather these
tempests through our relationshipfirst
focus.
And we demonstrate this
commitment to community every day
in what we do. For example, over the
course of my career, I have worked at
several community banks, and when
one of them was acquired by a superregional
bank, the whole environment
shifted. I had a customer of more than
20 years who owned a commercial
excavation group. He had signed a
new contract and leased equipment
to support it, and then the contract
fell through. He continued to pay
the lease payments, but that expense
without the corresponding revenue
made times difficult. He fell behind in
loan payments.
The super-regional that had
acquired my community bank had an
T
" up or out " policy, and the business
had two quarters to fix its standing or
they could no longer be a customer. I
was forced to cut a relationship with
a customer who didn't fit into a box,
and I vowed never to do it again. I left
the bank not long after, returning to
my community banking roots, where
the people, not the policies, matter.
Big banks will outspend us on
advertising and locations every
day, and focus on flashy products,
but they are constantly buying to
Quote of the month
build a new ship. Community banks,
instead, look at their communities and
what they need, and then say to their
teams, " Here's what we're trying to
accomplish-get us there. Help us build
what we need. "
" If you want to build
a ship, don't drum
up the men to gather
wood, divide the
work and give orders.
Instead, teach them to
yearn for the vast and
endless sea. "
-ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY,
FRENCH WRITER, POET AND
ARISTOCRAT
And therein lies the difference. The
core success of community banks
stems from how well we meet the
needs of the people we serve: our
customers, employees, stockholders
and communities. Exceptional financial
performance is the result of customers
whose financial needs are being met
and exceeded, employees who are
engaged in a positive and inclusive
culture, stockholders who support the
bank's mission and communities that
recognize and appreciate the value of a
local community bank.
So, as you read about our topperforming
banks in this month's issue,
I invite you to focus not on the financial
results but on the paths they took to
achieve them. Find some inspiration
from them to enhance what you provide
to the communities you serve. Because
in a sea of industry change, community
banks always can find their due north in
community service, and that's a course
we can bank on into the future.
Connect with Derek @DerekBWilliams
independentbanker.org // 7
Photo by Chris Williams
http://www.independentbanker.org
Independent Banker - May 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Independent Banker - May 2023
