The Strategic Planning Lie That’s Keeping Banks Mediocre [VIDEO]
Roxanne Emmerich exposes the toxic lie behind most strategic plans—and the second-order thinking top banks use to pull away from the pack.
I am a nerd. I’ve always been a nerd.
When I was a little kid, I used to go to the library every other day and I would drag books all the way up to my chin back onto the bus and back off of the bus, then back to the library. I’d fill up with books about twice a week.
I’ve always had a passion for learning and discovering and finding out what other people know—rather than having to discover everything myself. I have some favorite books. One of them, I think, is really important during strategic planning season for your executive team to get their brain unlocked from where it has been, and it’s one of my favorites: The Magic of Thinking Big.
Video: The Three Books That Can Move Mountains
And one of the things I love about this book is in the very first chapter he talks about, “Believe you can succeed and you will.”
He says, “Every human wants success. Everybody wants the best that life can deliver. Nobody enjoys crawling and living in mediocrity. No one likes feeling like a second-class citizen and feeling forced to go that way.” And he says, “You can move a mountain if you believe that you can, and not many people believe that they can move mountains.”
Why is this important right now? Because as we embark on the challenging times that are ahead of us, we’re going to have to move some mountains.
So, how do you deal with the fact that there are some challenging loan-quality issues that are going to be facing us, while our sales systems have to be completely reinvented and be made better than ever, and while we are going to have all kinds of other challenges coming at us?
The reality is that during times like this, a lot of banks will fall away. They just will not survive because they’re thinking the way they used to.
If, instead, your team sees this as, “Oh, this is an opportunity. This is a time we’ve been waiting for. These are challenging times, but this is when fortunes are made. This is where we get to show that our life has a legacy. We did something great with what we do.” And that’s what’s inherent in all of us, the need to have our life matter and not to shoot wildly for mediocrity.
So, consider having your team gather around, read this book and my other two favorite books, Thank God it’s Monday, and my newest one, The Breakthrough Banking Blueprint. That combination should get your team going in the right direction because they’ll be thinking big.
They’ll know what to think big about and what systems to apply. Culture is the leading predictor of future growth and profitability. So understand how that works, and the world will be your oyster.
To your success,
Roxanne Emmerich
P.S. Already thinking big? Glad to hear it. Get the blueprint for how to get to (and stay in) top of peers in my upcoming Top-of-Peers Performance Masterclass, July 21, 2022, at 11:00am CDT. Register today and move the needle within weeks.
Roxanne Emmerich exposes the toxic lie behind most strategic plans—and the second-order thinking top banks use to pull away from the pack.
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