Tag: Covington

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Look At Who Is Attending Acquire or Be Acquired

In just 20 days, we raise the lights on our 23rd annual Acquire or Be Acquired Conference.  This is Bank Director’s biggest event of the year, one primarily focused on banking’s “great game” — mergers and acquisitions.  My team has spent considerable time and energy developing a spectacular event focused on growth-related topics that range from exploring a merger to preparing for an acquisition; growing loans to capturing efficiencies; managing capital to partnering with fintech companies.  To see the full agenda, click here.

Widely regarded as one of the banking industry’s premier events, we have more than 1,000 people registered to attend AOBA later this month — an all-time high.  We couldn’t do this alone, and over the course of these 2 ½ days, executives from many of our industry’s leading professional services firms and product companies share their perspectives on “what’s now” and “what’s next.”  I invite you to take a look at all of the corporate sponsors joining us:

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As I shared in a recent post, bank executives and their boards face some major issues without clear answers.  Before heading out west, I’ll share more about the banks (and 660+ bankers) joining us at the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa.  Until then, I invite you to learn more about the companies supporting this conference by hopping over to bankdirector.com. To follow the conversations happening around this conference on Twitter, I’m @aldominick and we are using #AOBA17.

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Giving Thanks

Winston Churchill once said, “a pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”  I believe we all aspire to see the proverbial glass as half full — so this quote is one I thought to share as we wrap up this Thanksgiving week.  As I do each Friday, what follows are three things I’m thinking about; in this case, what I’m grateful for — in a professional sense — that reflects Churchill’s sentiment.

(1) The Harvard Business Review ran a piece this April entitled Three Rules for Making a Company Truly Great.  It began “much of the strategy and management advice that business leaders turn to is unreliable or impractical. That’s because those who would guide us underestimate the power of chance.”  Here, I want to pause and give thanks to my tremendous colleagues at Bank Director — dreamers and implementors alike — who prove that fortune really does favor the prepared mind (and team).

Al, Mika, Joan + Bill in Jackson, WY
Team pix at the Ritz-Carlton New Orleans
Makin’ it rain with our editor, Jack Milligan
The Arizona Biltmore, home of 2014’s Acquire or Be Acquired conference
Surprised (pleasantly) by our team with this video in Times Square
Signing off!
Michelle, me, Naomi and Laura at the Ritz-Carlton
Bailing out the car in South Central LA
Take a stance fellas
The JackAl in action
Some of our team celebrating 3 years
Closing bell at the NASDAQ MarketSite

(2) I believe that leadership is a choice and not a position.  As a small company with big ambitions, I find that setting specific directions — but not methods — motivates our team to perform at a high level and provide outstanding support and service to our clients.  This parallels the principle value of McKinsey & Co., one eloquent in its simplicity: “we believe we will be successful if our clients are successful.”  I read this statement a number of years ago, and its stuck with me ever since.  As proud as I am for our company’s growth, we owe so much to the trust placed in us by nearly 100 companies and countless banks.  Personally, I am in debt to many executives for accelerating my understanding of issues and ideas that would take years to accumulate in isolation.  Since returning to Bank Director three years ago, I have been privileged to share time with executives from standout professional services firms like KBW, Sandler O’Neill, Raymond James, PwC, KPMG, Crowe, Grant Thornton, Davis Polk, Covington, Fiserv… and the list goes on and on.  These are all great companies that support financial institutions in significant ways.  Spending time with executives within these firms affords me a great chance to hear what’s trending, where challenges may arise and opportunities they anticipate for their clients.  As such, I am thankful to be in a position where no two days are the same — and my chance to learn never expires.

(3) Finally, I so appreciate the support that I receive from my constituents throughout our industry.  It might be an unexpected compliment from a conference attendee, a handwritten thank you note from a speaker or the invitation to share my perspectives with another media outlet.  Regardless of how it takes shape, let me pay forward this feeling by thanking our newest hires, Emily Korab, Taylor Spruell and Dawn Walker, for expressing an interest in the team we’ve assembled and goals we’ve set.  Taking the leap to join a company of 17 strong might scare some towards larger organizations, but I’m really excited to work with all three and expect great things from each.

A late Happy Thanksgiving and of course, Aloha Friday!