WHO AM I TO JUDGE?

If there is one question that has been consistent for me throughout my lifetime it is likely showcased by this headline. But, this year around the time of my 51st Birthday in September, I realized I have need to reframe the question to showcase it as part of a greater big-picture solution. In retrospect, I believe this headline became a rhetorical question for me in my mid 30's.

I'll do my best trying to explain the simple complexity of how my INTJ mind operates, for those who may have become interested at a high-level, in my backstory.

I found that once the progression of one's commercial banking career involves "discussion of BOLI" and various forms of Executive Level Compensation; it becomes easier to see the two distinct sides of every coin. This sentiment became a theory that I’d end up proving [to myself] over the last 15 years looking back at the second leg of my own banking career.

This being the case, I see no reason to be shy sharing fragments of the incredible story of my own progressive career journey, selectively, on LinkedIn this past year. I know that my perspective has potential to become meaningful to an up-and coming finance major. Or maybe even more importantly, it might offer encouragement to a younger student who is struggling to pick a post-secondary career major as they enter their sophomore year of High School. This is a very complicated world!

[Parents: Please take my word or do your own research to see how much, our up-and-coming generation(s) have real pressures placed on them; given the fact that ALL traditional career fields are being disrupted daily by new technologies in every industrial sector of our small global economy.]

This past decade, “Being a commercial banker and a mom” became an easy go to phrase for me, when I’d interject my opinion anytime I could sense that I had solid foresight required to help get a client, colleague, or one of my direct reports back on track, as it would relate to a business issue that they would need to either help solve or positively influence to ensure repayment of financing.

Noteworthy is, one of the skills that I learned to master early in my banking career was the art of leading others to ask the right questions which would enable them to reframe the issue they were stuck on. Notably, many times this redirection would occur before anyone realized that they [or their client] was on the path to creating an issue now that I can apply retrospect to how my “coaching” would help ensure many positive outcomes as these matters tied directly into the repayment ability for many multi-million-dollar senior debt obligations in corporate finance.

In essence, regardless of a situation requiring me to lead from “top down or bottom up” throughout my 30-year career, I would find a good opportunity to state the answer in the form of a question so that whomever I was trying to "help" would build their confidence after they came up with a new idea, or could more clearly see the potential issue being created through a review of historical data and trends with the help of my limited intervention. When this is done for good reason, I don’t’ view this practice of stepping in as “manipulation”, since it simply offers solid guidance in a teaching moment on very subjective matters which are designed to test the theory of others in a corporate setting. But to the contrary, as history will reflect, not everyone will choose to use this sort of “psychology in sales” to benefit the greater good – hence the reason shows like “American Greed” are currently in their 15th season in 2023.

As a matter of fact, CNBC s website reflects this particular show has taped it’s 200th episode while making a poignant statement: “…the truth remains: some people will do anything for money.” I find Stacy Keach 's narration of this series to be icing on the cake as well. The art of storytelling makes this show quite compelling, and it’s worth a watch ON DEMAND if you’ve not seen it. And, for those keeping tabs on my seemingly random career advice, you may also pick up on the beauty I see as it relates to the art of storytelling. This becomes scattered within a few of my other self-authored posts and comments this past year on LI as well.

Getting back on topic, these past few weeks I have been asked somewhat frequently what will come next in the progression of my career.

Without needing to get into much detail, I’ve been working on some collaboration among a small group of Executive Sponsors while taking a deliberate “research and writing sabbatical” this year to allow mainstream headlines to catch up with elements of the economic forecast I could see brewing in corporate finance over the past several years. My long-term goal remains to become part of the private sector solution, but exactly how and where my skills will become best utilized in their “highest and best use” is yet to be determined. At the moment I continue to offer independent consulting on a limited basis.

It is safe for me to say that as a commercial banking leader, having led others successfully out of the last economic downturn 15 years ago, there is not much that I have not experienced first-hand which provides me with a solid basis for many of my opinions today and career objectives today. I’m also extremely passionate about the good work I’ve been able to accomplish throughout my career, in what remains the most male-dominated segments of corporate finance, despite my differences in perspective. I believe that having held my Series 6, as well as Insurance Licenses at earlier points in my career, I am likely to have a better than average understanding of FOMC, and the relevance of Puts and Calls, Bonds, and Covenants in today’s global economy - this type of awareness and experience will become increasingly important at we "unwind and rewind" the layering on of corporate debt and equity in the quarters to come, within the private sector.

As a reader, I’ll also ask that you please make note of a few key points:

• I hold no resentment toward any of my male counterparts who now recognize the many reasons why I would not become the “Chair” of any programs which placed emphasis strictly on women’s empowerment these last 15 years. ?
• While my stance on the topic of woman’s equality may sound counterintuitive on the surface, consider my common reply: “If I’m hanging out with all of the women [in banking], how are the two of us going to get deals done together?” [Keep in mind: I am Middle-Market Senior Debt Provider focused on Working Capital, Capex, M&A and Vertical Integration Financing. My credit facilities can pair well with VC, PE and Subordinated Debt/Equity; and I have held the roles of SBA Authorized Official & led TM/FX expansion through leverage of correspondent banking to provide my clients access to global markets. I understand elements of Investment Banking, IPOs, and SPAC – in essence, I need to work with “the guys” to get deals done, it’s more helpful for me to be in the same room they are in to do business, but I digress...]
• In retrospect, my former colleagues and I now laugh at the irony of how many of the programs that were meant to “help women” also created an unintended divide most specifically in my primary sector of corporate C&I finance!

Noteworthy too, is that throughout my career, I have always strived to maintain the utmost respect from the amazing men and women that I’d encounter in business regardless of gender or their opinions on “sensitive matters.” I appreciate my former colleagues, superiors, and members of various BOD’s that have become some of my greatest friends and allies; despite my counterintuitive sounding approach to supporting “Women in Business.”

This sentiment includes opinions of many of my female counterparts that may have found it odd over the years, that I had such a strong desire to help everyone. Many of these amazing women were CFO’s, Directors of Private Client Groups/Wealth Management, or CXO’s in Retail Banking/Human Resources or COO’s leading various segments of Bank Administration. Not always did they understand my POV in the moment, which was especially true for the amazing women who were about 10 years older than me at any prior pivotal moment in our time working together.

Important to note, I always knew that many of these women fought incredibly hard for several facets of equality for women earlier in their own careers. This gave them a slightly different perspective than mine, which requires an equally important understanding that none of my former colleagues were ever a "commercial banker focused on providing senior debt instruments in corporate finance." I appreciate the fact that many of my former colleagues can now understand the rationale behind my "counterintuitive sounding" opinions on how I'd show up to meet the needs of the private sector by helping everyone, beginning in 2008.

Perhaps another noteworthy mention is that over the past 10 years, my clients have been comprised mainly of engineers, founders, and value-add producers/wholesalers/distributors within the global industrial supply chain.

My clients also became a huge inspiration to me, since during our meetings we’d often speak about the “Why” behind many of the world’s problems outside of the scope of their day-to-day operations. Afterall, if they had become my client, we had already established good common ground related to their business years ago in for them to garner my ongoing financial support of their business operations.

During our annual review meetings, my CXO's and I would quickly review their annual performance to plan and discuss how to mitigate any shortfall if needed in the year ahead. We would then spend the majority of our time together talking about future headwinds that might impact their industry. Our conversations usually encompassed industrial automation, AI, and how education of our future generations would need some reform for a variety of reasons. We would also touch on the changing landscape of tax and audit in more recent years, along with the noise on corporate balance sheets due to various forms of stimulus, but I digress. It's really discussing practices such as “5 Why’s," and how the art of thinking like an engineer becomes incredibly helpful in so many facets of our lives - including the world of corporate finance.

If I take my thoughts today full circle, how amazing is it to embrace the power of an open mind while thinking like an engineer.

Through the process of critical thought, we can better appreciate how perception becomes reality and how individual opinions are formed over time. For me the thought, “Who am I to Judge,” has been replaced by the self-confidence to understand that the basis behind my consultative opinions have proven to produce positive results for my commercial clients over many years on a consistent basis. I've built a body of proof which demonstrates the variety of ways that my experience in corporate finance can be leveraged to inspire others to achieve their own next-level potential. I honestly don’t think I’ve hit my full stride yet, but that is because I believe in continuous improvement, which is the basis behind Kaizen.

I've always enjoyed, applying the framework of multiple engineering-based principles to my sector of commercial banking.

The diversity and beauty of each new day comes in the form of knowing that my clients, colleagues, and direct reports may face a dilemma where my intervention skill can help make a positive difference in reframing a current outlook. Frequently my consultations would occur at a seemingly random moment, perhaps at the copy machine or while refilling coffee. It was often during these informal meetings, where I could “sneak in” my opinion or guidance on a matter. This also speaks to the importance of human connection as industry today works to "train" our up-and-coming workforce on how important critical thinking remains, especially where there is so much subjectivity involved in dealing with specialized industries which are also going through a period of exponential change.

In business today, we must recognize the importance of critical thinking that is required to interpret the output of vast amounts of historical data that can now be supplied by several new emerging technologies in real time.

As I see it, we are at a critical moment in corporate banking and finance. The go forward strategy for our industry will require experienced commercial bankers [such as myself] to play a vital role in building the bridges between applied human rational and critical thought; combined with leveraging use of efficient data output, which is available to us in real time.

The data and trendlines alone are not the singular major importance today. It is the ability to apply enough context to multiple variables within a given situation to anticipate if the theory outlined in a forward-looking plan incorporates enough of the proper subjective assessments required to demonstrate how the corporate [client] team plans to implement multiple disciplines necessary to fulfill the important elements of their plan which will likely require simultaneous execution. These keys are often portrayed as footnotes in a forward-looking budget and proforma, with assumptions that correlate to the overall corporate strategic plan.

Bankers need to remember that it’s okay to ask questions to clarify the client’s analysis addresses the key objectives of their forecast. It seems this practice has fallen by the wayside in recent years from my vantage point.

Confirming what I have always found most rewarding over my banking career, I’d have to say it has been the moments where I could see two dots connect for someone before my eyes, knowing that a better outcome will become the byproduct of the good conversation we had surrounding some of the most subjective elements of a plan; in settings where the interconnected nature of many silos need to converge “just right” in order to produce the desired outcome of a third party.

One of my favorite quotes from a former boss which summarizes my sentiment most effortlessly is, “In corporate finance there are thousands of ways things can go wrong, and seemingly only one way for them to go just right.” This is music to my ears, seeing that I literally love making order out of chaos when there are almost countless moving parts involved. I think it's the inner engineer in me that naturally simplifies the order of a process by working backwards from the stated goal, which seems to be something baked into my DNA, best I can describe.

Perhaps it is due to having spent enough time in the field to accumulate true wisdom over my career to date that allows me to openly express my opinion as I strive to help “the greater good.” I also think that it's the layered learning method that I’ve taken naturally as I climbed the corporate ladder in commercial finance, that plays such an important role in defining my success; and who I’ve become as a person.

Context and Perspective have been vital to supporting my own will to succeed for reasons beyond “just” my own benefit and financial gains. But as I’ve stated many times before, I’m not looking to play the role of a martyr or become a victim of circumstance beyond my control.

I think that I have simply discovered the key to being patient, and giving others grace, knowing that there is a right place and time to bring forth ideas that may “seem new to the public” – but in actual reality, we are finding that we have had many solutions hiding in plain sight. It seems to me that while many folks think that we have eliminated bias that is based on historical traditions, evidence shows that unintended consequence still remains, generally speaking.

Above said, I also wonder, as it relates to building models for new facets of ML and LLM, how can we remove elements that point back to the inherent bias that many individuals still cannot see with their naked eye today? On this note, I’m incredibly thankful to the Data Scientists that are actively working to solve for X in this regard. Clearly, developing AGI is a topic well beyond my pay grade as a banker, although I still find it fascinating to follow new developments in my free time!

Just as I see many situations in the world today, it is not likely that we can fix every problem overnight since forcing corrective actions only tends to lead society down a path of many other unintended consequences. Those consequences are often worse than the original issue, as history will reflect.

In this way, life becomes more of a dance where we need to strive to hear the beauty of the music as it harmonizes the art and science behind our actions, interactions, and the decisions we all make daily. In today’s world I find it important to highlight that the tune being played is only familiar, especially as industry incorporates new many new layers of augmented reality into our daily lives as consumers.

I often wonder if we will be dealing with cause or consequence as we strive to dig out of various byproducts of today’s global economic cycle. I find that 2023 seems like déjà vu for me having worked for a global bank during the 2007 cycle. I think it’s my ability to ask good questions in the realm of corporate finance that continues to compel me to use my skills to their highest and best use in the year(s) ahead. Regardless of my next destination, I’ll say with conviction that the art of turn around will take a team effort and I’m thankful to have made many new friends while I continue to figure out which side of the desk I should sit on next.

In wrapping up my thoughts for today, I’ll also share a link to a compilation of LinkedIn for Learning sessions that I suspect could become helpful to Middle-Market Corporations as they assess where to invest time, talent, and dollars in their operations to achieve desired strategic goals in the year(s) ahead.

I found that by taking the assessments myself on these familiar subject matters earlier this year, I was able to confirm my knowledge and understanding of key terms used within many industrial verticals where I’ve supplied Senior Debt and FX as a consultative commercial banking executive/leader. For some corporate operations where they are unsure on which areas to make a strategic operational investment, perhaps these easily accessible sessions can help generate new ideas among CXO’s looking to firm up a roadmap for the year ahead. Having a good plan helps a company know when it's traveling off course and can lead to better planning on how to maximize their strategic investments toward creating a better tomorrow.

#KPI #CommericalBanking #MiddleMarket #SolutionsArchitect #MeasureWhatMatters #BeTheChange #LightTheWay #BetterTogether