Banker remembers moment he decided to pursue presidency

I always heard that lending was the main path to bank presidency, but if it were the only path I wouldn't have made it. I started as a bank examiner and spent several years as a cashier and a trust officer. But the ambition to become president didn't click for me until my third year at what today is the Graduate School of Banking in Colorado. .First, my confidence in being able to understand what the numbers would do shot up considerably during our bank simulation project at the school. I was the controller and took all the input from the loan side, deposit side, dividends and investments, and predicted what would happen with those numbers. Then, during one of my last courses, our instructor Don Runger said, don't do whatsomeone else wants you to do for the rest of your life; figure out what you want and find the place to do it. I sat down after class and wrote my future on a piece of paper. .I went back to my boss at York State Bank and Trust Company in York, Neb., and told him that I intended to become a president, if not at his bank then somewhere else. That was 1979 and by the end of the year we parted company – on good terms – when I pursued another opportunity. .In hindsight, 1980 wasn't a great time to do that, but I fortunately found the First State Bank in Fremont. I was up front in my interview, saying I wanted to be president by the time I turned 40. I didn't quite make it, but by 42 it worked out. The old theory of setting goals and writing them down worked for me. I still have that piece of paper. .One week after I started in Fremont, the president, James H. Moore, Jr., left for two weeks, for a conference and vacation. There I was; it was time to start making decisions right then. Gradually, as Jim neared retirement, he gave me many chances to learn the business. I learned some lessons the hard way – like how to trust the team. At first I and one other person made way too many decisions, and that hurt some feelings, because experienced people felt they didn't have any responsibilities. Once I figured that out, my philosophy changed. I decided five people can get a heck of a lot more done than one person making all the calls..Together we grew the bank from about $30 million to $185 million. We've been profitable. We've added investment and trust powers, a Wal-Mart branch and a branch downtown; we've also added on to our headquarters building twice. As we went along, my interest in giving back to the industry intensified. I started by serving on the education committee at the Nebraska Bankers Association and worked my way onto the board. Twenty years after I graduated from the Graduate School of Banking I joined its board and later served as chairman. I served for five years on the ABA's community bankers' council and most recently was the chairman of the NBA. I'm kind of cutting back but still manage to be pretty busy..We've had a good run, and I love what we do. The biggest tragedy of all is when people get through with a career and really didn't like what they did. I don't understand that, and I know exactly the moment in Colorado when I resolved not to let it happen to me.