The #1 Reason Bank Acquisitions Fail



Think you’re ready for an acquisition? Think you’ve got a bullet-proof plan?

Imagine if you take a “bring-it-on-and-make-it-happen-no-matter-what” bank culture where people are passionate about what they do, and combine it with a group with a “sit-behind-our-desks-until-we-need-Preparation-H, whine-and-complain-about-the-economy-and-being-too-busy” group. How’s that going to work? Without a “come to Jesus, we see the light” intervention, the likelihood of being able to save many of those people is slim.

And what a costly loss that is.

Nothing trumps culture. Culture means you don’t have middle management breakdown, because they know how to lead.

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Study Shows 70% of Your Employees Are “Checked-Out” At Work (and it’s costing you!)

 

Studies show that 70% of your employees are checked out at work… and it’s costing you!

Have you seen the 2013 Gallup State of the American Workplace Report? It’s one of the clearest reports yet on the vital importance of having an engaged workplace culture. Among the findings were these shocking numbers:

  • Employees who are disengaged: 70%
  • Employees who are engaged: 30%

Of the 70 percent of American employees who are disengaged, 20 percent are described as “actively disengaged”—they essentially hate their jobs. This leaves fewer than one in three employees to push the rope uphill with very little help from the rest.

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So What’s Your Story?

“Homework? Ah, yes, I did my homework, but it didn’t quite make it here. Why? Well, my dog ate the homework. We took him to the vet to get the homework back, but the surgery took so long I was late to school, and I think I’ll have to leave school early because my dog died and I imagine it will take weeks before I can get over the sadness enough to concentrate in school.”

Kids come up with the wildest stories to explain why they are late, why they didn’t finish homework and why they can’t come to school.

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Best Practices for Leadership: Part One

Before we get to the five best practices for leaders, there is a fundamental difference you must understand.

Leaders and managers serve different functions within a healthy organization.

Both roles must inspire and instill accountability but there is a profound difference between management and leadership.

Managers use command and control techniques. They measure. They plan. They set goals. They do.

Leaders, on the other hand, are more about being than doing. It’s more WHO they are than what they do that inspires the “better angels of our nature,” as Abraham Lincoln said.

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Win the Greatest Game Ever Played

One of my favorite movie lines of all time is from The Greatest Game Ever Played, a golf drama based on the true story of the 1913 US Open.

Twenty-year-old Francis Ouimet was challenging his idol, Englishman Harry Vardon, who had won the Open in 1900. When Harry’s wealthy sponsor said Francis could not possibly win because he was not from the upper class and therefore would fold under pressure, Harry responded, “If Mr. Ouimet wins tomorrow, it’s because he’s the best, because of who he is. Not who his father was, not how much money he’s got—because of WHO HE IS!”

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