Pub. 3 2013 Issue 2

ARIZONA BANKER  Spring 2013 15 the door was always open for employees, customers, and com- munity members. Is that still doable? Roundtable bankers differed significantly in their policies and preferences. “I don’t have a door,” says Founders Bank’s Beard, “so the commitment is pretty sincere on my part.” But this isn’t just an accident of architecture. Beard explains that when the bank began 21 years ago, this attitude was part of the culture the founders intended would set it apart from competitors. “That’s part of being a community banker,” agrees Bentley. “It does throw a wrench in things at times, but I feel that it’s part of my job. I want to be accessible to customers.” “There are times when I have to shut my door to focus on something or to take a conference call, but other than that I’ll usually be fairly open and accessible,” says United Bank’s Edwards. “Now, internally, most of the time you learn pretty quickly who is going to come to you with real issues, and who may be worrying you to death and complaining. You need to deal with that, and not let that happen.” But Edwards wants to be in touch with what’s going on, and “you need to have that kind of accessibility, and you can’t do that on a tight schedule—at least I haven’t figured out how.” “This isn’t Wall Street—this is community banking,” says Funk. Farmers and Merchant State Bank’s Siebenmorgen believes in accessibility, but finds the best way to grant it, and yet con- trol his time, involves a two-part approach. First, he says, remember that “it’s hard to hit a moving target. So I try to walk around the bank and get through every department, every day I’m in the bank.” He starts his day on foot, coffee in hand, unless he has a morning meeting. This is more efficient than having “someone coming into your office, sitting down, and wasting 20 minutes of your time [on prelimi- naries]. If you walk around, you can answer many questions quickly.” Others also are big believers in what consultant Tom Peters calls “management by walking around,” but Siebenmorgen goes a step further back at his desk. He insists that those who want to see him personally make an appointment. “People don’t go for a haircut without an ap- pointment,” says Siebenmorgen, “so why do barbers’ schedules command more respect than ours do as bankers?” Z Reprinted by permission from the February 2013 issue of ABA Banking Journal , copyright 2013 by the American Bankers Associa Ɵ on