Reengaging
Taking a multi-month hiatus from writing this newsletter has allowed me to think about the purpose of writing about the financial services industry. Columns often served as a brief therapeutic session…
Run! Hide! The Strategic Planning Cycle Begins Again Soon
Even though we are not at the halfway point of 2024, at many banks, staffers have begun to prepare for yet another round of strategic planning. But my…
Another One Bites the Dust
A few weeks ago, I wrote about a once prestigious bank that, tied at least in part to its acquisition by a much larger bank, suffered loan losses, organizational changes, and regulatory issues. This time…
Note to Bankers: “You Can’t Handle the Truth!”
Last week I wrote a column about how a once prominent bank in effect self-destructed. That column will be the first of several concerning how banks and finance…
Who Regulates the Regulators?
I’ve seldom seen bankers more concerned and, yes, nervous, than when the regulators come to visit. Oftentimes it seems that banks are managing more to the regulator’s requirements with the customer taking…
The Best Consulting Experience I’ve Had in Years
I was just reading about Citicorp’s latest cost reduction effort. CNBC reports that this initiative, named “Project Bora Bora…has employees on edge.” That’s not a surprise. Based upon management and consultant…
The Rationale for Using Consultants
Post a career in commercial banking and workouts (not for loans I made), the decades I’ve spent as a consultant point to the value consultants can provide…sometimes. The successful use of consultants requires…
“How to Manage the Snake-Oil Salesman”
The above title serves as the sub-heading of a recent Economist article titled, “A retiring consultant’s advice on consultants.” The concept of the column is simple: a soon-to-retire consultant offers advice to…
The Current Customer Comes First
We all tend to focus on the “shiny new thing.” In banking that could be a new product, an emerging technology (e.g, AI), or a new market segment / geography. But the first priority of every bank…
The Daily Racing Form: Better Data Than Your Bank?
This past weekend I made a pilgrimage to Gulf Stream park, the local thoroughbred horse track in Miami. As you enter the track, a vendor of The Daily Racing Form (DRF) offers that day’s paper for $5. In effect, it is the Bible of the sport.
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