General Management

I’ve written in these pages before about my admiration of Jamie Dimon, his wisdom and his management style. Ever since our first meeting many moons ago I’ve been a follower and a fan. His Annual Letter to the Shareholders is a “must read”, and Chase’s strategic plan which they share from time to time has both data and insights that should guide us all. Tom Brown’s recent interview with Jamie had, as always, numerous perspectives…

Our industry has always suffered from too many meetings. Plus, the meetings weren’t always an effective use of time. COVID meaningfully aggravated this problem because in-person exchanges, planned, impromptu or ad-hoc, were not possible. In fact, now that many of us are back in the office, we still spend much of our time interacting through screens in more meetings. Park National Bank is an unusual bank headquartered in Ohio, just shy of $10B in assets.…

The community banking sector, long defined by its deep-rooted customer relationships and localized decision-making, is at a transformational crossroads. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer a distant concept or the exclusive domain of large financial institutions. It is here, rapidly reshaping how banks—big and small—operate, compete, and serve their customers. For sub-$10 billion regional and community banks, AI represents both an existential challenge and an unprecedented opportunity. And let’s be honest—nothing says ‘existential crisis’ quite…