Small and Family Owned banks are a unique entity in the banking system. First of all, there is a huge amount of intrinsic community value to them. Board members are usually local owners or community leaders that place a special value and commitment not found in publicly held companies. Secondly, there is pressure from the regulatory system to make sure Directors and Managers are active, and engaged. Thirdly, they are usually small banks with ever increasing pressure relating to net interest margins. Our approach is to help directors get on the same page with management. A two day retreat allows for the two groups to equally understand the challenges and opportunities so that action plans can be developed. We work with "progressive" bank boards, those directors who desire to improve value through improved management performance and problem-solving abilities, thus reducing conflicts, and responding faster to problems.  Our approach is to benchmark the issues the board and management must work on while developing future leaders and managers using team building processes and action planning activities.  Our goal is to improve the bank’s ability to respond to issues and correct problems faster and more effectively, as well as demonstrate to the regulatory system that the board is functioning and effective.

We believe the best ideas and lasting change are developed by the people who work in the system. That means both the board member and management are involved in our work. We want everyone to agree with a direction or action. We also coach board members to improve their skills and abilities.

Here's how we work:   We assess the organization on either 119 or 270 issues, using our assessment approach.  With that assessment comes a series of recommendations for the board and management to decide on.  Every bank is different, therefore we customize our approach towards each bank's needs.  We then recommend a two day retreat, to identify the top problems, and to develop action plans to solve them. This allows managers to develop skills and competencies to become the future leaders of the company. If the board or management has conflicts or issues, we will address them separately from the company's issues using governance initiatives.  Our approach usually require efforts with team building, succession planning, change management, and improving problem-solving abilities. In some cases, all we do is help improve communication and management harmony.
Our ability to serve multiple industries allows us to provide "out of the box" ideas to foster effective change and faster response to issues.