Pub. 5 2016 Issue 1

l e a d i n g a d v o c a t e f o r t h e b a n k i n g i n d u s t r y i n k a n s a s 12 A PASSION FOR YOUR PROFESSION By Becky McCrary, CSP D O YOU WANT A CAREER IN BANKING? I thought I did. Then I thought, again. Webster defines a career as a job or profession that someone does for a long time. Is that appealing? Does that make you eager to get up in the morning? Like you make a difference? Now compare that to a passion. Webster defines passion as an intense emotion. Society defines it as an all-consuming channel of activity. Not just going through the motions, but eagerly embracing it. If you are going to spend time in the banking industry and you want to be excited about that time, which would you rather have? My banking career began as a part-time teller, where I first met Margaret, the Vice President of Human Resources. She had a powerful presence. She had expectations of me long before I had any of myself. She challenged me and followed up. Margaret held me accountable for my cash drawer, but also for my hours spent. She didn’t believe in just putting in your time. It was Margaret who introduced me to the concept of renting my time. I was renting hours to the bank; hours I could never use for anything else. I could let those hours drain me or empower me. I could go through the motions or embrace the experiences. I could surround myself with negative people or with encouragers. It was all the same amount of time. It can be easy to fall into the rut. Go through the motions. Follow the trend. Taking responsibility for your hours worked requires you to notice what you are exchanging for them. Time with your family, reading a real book, walking with your hand wrapped around a leash, travel, health, attitude, even sleep. As a mortgage loan officer, title insurance policies helped protect my customers and provided a monetary incentive for me. Other loan officers told me it could not be done. The attorneys would refuse to close my mortgage loans, because I was taking those insurance premiums right out of their pockets. It wouldn’t work in my market. Then in walks Alice, Vice President of the Insurance Group. She gave me some talking points and I sold a policy. She noticed immediately and called to congratulate me. The third month, I sold more title insurance policies than any other loan officer in the statewide orgnization. I stopped listening to those who weren’t doing it, cashed the checks and never looked back. Have you? Today we hold influence in every aspect of banking. Tellers have more interaction and opportunity to make a difference in the financial lives of your customers than any other position. Accountants are more aware of requirements to keep you safe and sound. Human Resource professionals are acutely focused on getting the right people in the right seats. Senior executives are dedicated to bringing up the next generation. And much more. These and so many other people laid the foundation of my twenty plus year banking profession. This foundation is built on bricks named partnership, self-assurance, appreciation, acceptance and perseverance. It is laid with laughter, energy, forgiveness, thoughtfulness and dedication. And it is held together by mortar that looks just like the interlocked arms of generations of bankers who didn’t settle for a career. They developed a passion. I’m so excited about joining you in Kansas City on Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Yes, there will be content. But it is so much more than that. You are bombarded with content. The Tri-State Leadership and Human Resources Conference will help you learn to make sense of the content. Meet bankers with similar challenges and those who have found the secret passageway. Meet those looking for their places and those who make it a practice to be a Sherpa. And who knows, along the way you may even discover your passion. ©2015 Becky McCrary, CSP is an internationally recog- nized expert in sales and service. She spent 20 years in the trenches of financial services and now shares those successes through keynote presentations and All Staff Training. You can reach her at www.BeckyMcCrary.com , 864-399-9685, on Facebook or LinkedIn. You can even Google her; she won’t feel a thing.