Main Street Banking: A Podcast for Community Bankers

Why fix it if it ain't broken? Well, the answer is simple...you're looking at two different problems. No two situations are ever identical and while there may be many similarities, it still requires us to approach each situation differently. Hope you're enjoying the series and if you're interested in our Ag Lending Summit, here's the website.: https://barretbanking.org/landings/ag-lending-summit/

It's easy to get ahead of ourselves some times....but that can kill strategy. This is particularly true when all the pieces of the puzzle are not together. We in banking are notorious for building up "silos" in the bank and that can be dangerous. It's why culture is so. very. important. to talk about and fix in our banks before we even try and execute a strategy.

Today we go deeper into the idea of "controlled chaos" to understand how and, more importantly, why we need to engage with our competition in this manner. But, it is also important to remember the great amount of emotional intelligence this whole superhero community banking thing requires. It's the difference and "good" and "great". It's the difference in "doing things the same old way" and really...

Why is culture so important to the Superhero Community Bank? It's like the energy stored in a bow and arrow when you pull back on the string. Knowing when to release is important...but it's the work beforehand that makes the impact. And how is victory won before the battle is even fought? That's what we'll discuss today.

Once again taking a break from the Superhero Community Banking series, we're talking with Darrin Williams, CEO of Southern Bancorp out of Little Rock, AR. Southern Bancorp has an amazing story in serving the underbanked, unbanked, and low-income communities in its footprint. They are also a leading CDFI (Community Development Financial Institution)of which there are over 1100 in the US to date. Th...

Returning to our Outside the Vault series, we welcome Coach Orlando McKay. Orlando is a football and track coach, economics, psychology, and public speaking teacher at the Memphis University School. He is also a passionate advocate for sound financial literacy in the schools. If we want to change the conversation in our communities around money, it is up to those who understand money (bankers fit...

It's easy to get caught up in the offense part of strategy...how to go after the competition, how to win those big victories, etc. But what do we do in the meantime? Play defense...and what does that look like? That's what we'll talk about today. As always, feel free to email me at byron@barretbanking.org at any time to let me know how you're enjoying the series or if you have any suggestions for...

Ag Lending is a HUGE part of many community banks credit services. It requires, however, a different set of credit skills and know-how and we are seeing an experience gap in ag lending that needs to be addressed. It's a specialized type of credit, to be sure, but it is one that has the potential to lead to generational and profitable relationships for you and the bank. The demand is high...the sup...

The difficult thing about this series is that I can't say "x + y = z" for you in your markets. I can't give you a formula for guaranteed success no matter the market. But...what I can do is help to create the framework and help you see what victory would look like so that when you identify where you want to go, you'll know you're on the right track. Today, we'll talk about victory looks like...no...

Earlier this year, the #TaxTwitter community discussed some of the craziest things bankers have asked CPAs. It got me to thinking that there is probably room for both parties to sit down and talk about our similarities and differences and see how we can work together. In many communities, we serve the same people and even have similar approaches to our roles...but do we really know how to work wit...

The hardest part of any project is getting started. We've spent the last few weeks learning how to think about strategy as superheroes but what do we do first? What's the first step? The shortest answer is...get the easiest win! No doubt you've seen a long "to-do" list start to develop. What's the easiest win? That's where you need to start! Don't forget you can reach out to me on social media or...

It's easy to get caught up in the "fun" stuff of strategy...but we have to remember that effective strategy embraces a mathematical approach as well. Sun Tzu uses the word "calculations" when discussing what we need to do before we strike. Also, we have to realize where we can be most effective and that...put simply...is being where they ain't. (Pardon the English here!) It's ok to come up with "c...

Today, we'll talk about how to use those 5 Constant Factors (Culture, the Economy, the Market, Leadership, and Operations) to find our starting place...find where we need to start off the adventure in becoming a superhero banker! 1) Between you and your competitors (whomever they might be), who has the stronger culture? 2) Which has the strongest executive leadership? 3) Who has the advantages wit...

In order to be a superhero, we need to learn how superheroes think and see the world. We need to start building our utility belts...sharpening our swords...getting our lightsabers together. We'll dive into what Sun Tzu calls the 5 Constant Factors and discuss what that means for community banks. Also, I'd love for you to email me at byron@barretbanking.org with your thoughts as well as any of Barr...

What does it take to be a Superhero Community Banker? It takes a new way of thinking and perceiving our environment. Today, we're going to start a series on learning how to think like a superhero and save the world!!

Our longtime listeners will remember Brian Bauer and he is back with his new venture, Abaca. They have put together a comprehensive cannabis banking and financial platform that is quite impressive and directly addresses the concerns many community banks have in this area. For more information: contact Brian at goabaca.com

Douglas Scarboro with the Memphis branch of the St. Louis Federal Reserve stops by to talk about the regional economic situation, actions the Fed has taken, and some of the great financial literacy content they put out.

Joe Ehrhardt, CEO of Teslar Software, came back on Main Street Banking to talk about Teslar the current community banking environment.

With the April payroll numbers just hitting the markets and Fed Funds Futures doing historic things...Jim Reber comes back to give us his community banking industry update. Whenever anything hits the markets during these times, we'll have Jim on to give us his insights.

Jim Reber, CEO of ICBA Securities, returns for his frequent Main Street Business Industry Update. As you know, we've gotten some economic numbers that hit the industry this week. Jim does his usual excellent job in showing our listeners how this impacts our industry. To learn more about Jim and ICBA Securites, check out their website: https://www.icbasecurities.com/

For some of us, we have been experiencing remote working, trying to maintain regular productivity, stay sane...all of it...for over a month now. Justin Muscolino with GRC Solutions, a good friend of Barret, is on today with some really good advice for those remote working blues in addition to some thoughts on compliance needs we need to discuss as an industry. Feel free to reach out to Justin on L...

We have been waiting for several weeks to talk about this...but now we can. While we did have to cancel the graduate school this May, we're going to be launching a new program called "Crisis Leadership". In addition, Chris and I discuss the different things Barret has coming out in the next few months.

As we stated a few weeks ago, as news comes out we'll have Jim Reber with ICBA Securities on to give us his insight into the news and its impact on community banks. With PPP having been exhausted, a possible second round coming soon, interest rates/markets reacting the way they are...it's important for community banks to stay abreast of the situation.

At the risk of dissecting a new index and boring our audience, let's talk about the workforce today...what they're feeling and who's feeling what. It's important to consider if we are going to serve our customers as well as our employees. Check out the report LinkedIn put out: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/workforce-confidence-index-introducing-biweekly-pulse-george-anders/?trackingId=

As many of our listeners know...PPP was not a smooth process for community banks despite what the news told us. Many of you worked tirelessly through the weekend and long into the night to help your customers during this time. Pres Kennedy, the former chairman of the ICBA, is one of the strongest proponents of community banks and expressed deep concerns about the implications of this botched rollo...