’Tis the season to inspire future bankers

Editor’s Note: This column was included in the May 22 Pulse sent to subscribers by BankBeat.It’s graduation season, when young people are steeped in enthusiasm for what comes next. As Dr. Suess writes in his commencement classic, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”, surely the brightest graduates in your community will steer themselves in any direction they choose. Given that, why not do something to get these young people looking in your direction — not only as customers but as future bankers?.Recently, a bank executive with 20-plus years in the industry shared with me how he got into banking. As his senior year of high school wound down, the young man fully intended to leave his hometown for college, and likely for good. But an unexpected conversation with the local bank president offered him an alternative. “He invited me down to the bank to talk about my future,” the now bank CFO recounted. “He said if I were to stick with it, I could advance. He gave me a career track.”That teen changed his plans as a result of his local banker showing an interest in him. Instead of leaving town, he attended college in his hometown and worked at the bank throughout his undergraduate career. Today, he’s an ardent believer in recruiting people to banking while they’re young. And why not? As banks have grown in size and complexity, opportunities abound — for the analytical, for the creative, for the tech savvy, for the introverts and for extroverts. Many banks already offer scholarships to the college-bound; college internship programs are designed to introduce varying departments to banking and finance students. But even before graduates leave for college or undergraduates select their majors, young people can learn a lot from you about potential career paths — through honest conversations about their future.I heard someone say even 8-year-olds know their money belongs in a bank. I wonder how many 18-year-olds know their futures could unfold successfully inside a bank? It’s time to start that conversation. We never know how our words can change people’s lives. Maybe it’s the words — or maybe it’s the effort we take to demonstrate we’re sincerely interested in the success of another? I think this world could use a lot more of that brand of sincerity.