(upbeat music) - Hi everyone.

Steve Adubato.

We kick off the program with a long time friend that's been wit of us many times, Keith banks former Vice Chair of a little bank called Bank of America, and also the chair of the board of the Hackensack Meridian Health Network Board.

Hey Keith, good to see you my friend.

- Always good to be here, Steve.

Thank you.

- Do you think I have to and should disclose that we are golf partners when we play?

Should I disclose that?

Or do you try to deny that?

- I think you just did, so I think we can move beyond that.

- Okay, hold on.

You ready?

This is about leadership, and you've had credible leadership roles, both in the bank, at Bank of America, and also the new bank, Liberty Bank of New Jersey, we'll talk about in a second.

But also at HMH, Hackensack Meridian Health.

You didn't expect this question.

The connection between leadership and golf?

- There is none.

Nah, look, I think the biggest difference is when you're on a golf course, you're depending on one person, and one person only.

That's you.

And which is good and bad.

One of the biggest transitions you have to make when you move into a leadership position.

And I went from being an individual contributor, I was a portfolio manager, I was an equity research analyst, so it was kind of like golf.

If I got it done, I got it done.

If I didn't, I didn't.

And it was on me.

The biggest transition when you go into leadership is you are now as good as the people around you, and you are now leading other leaders, and leading other teammates.

So it's a very different dynamic and it takes a while to get used to if, when you're in your first role in that regard.

- I like to ask that question of people who play golf a lot.

We don't, Keith, let's just say this.

Keith and I enjoy golf.

We don't have the level of confidence playing golf that we have in our business life.

Is that a fair assessment, Mr. Banks?

- I'd say a very fair assessment.

And actually a kind assessment.

- Yeah, okay.

So how about this?

More than a few years at Bank of America, also on a whole variety of boards, difference between being in an executive position at a corporation organization, or a nonprofit, and being in board leadership.

What's the biggest difference, Keith Banks?

- There is a big difference, Steve.

So when you're actually on the leadership team, you're on the field, you're playing the game, you're putting the points on the board, and you're accountable for the day in and day out operations of that business.

When you're on a board, you are on the sidelines, right?

You are there to help the coach, the coach being the CEO, help the coaches, assistant coaches, his or her leadership team.

And you gotta really look to bring your expertise to bear to help them in that regard in your experiences.

But you also have to be willing to challenge and push back when you think there are issues that need further drilling down on.

One of the biggest risks to a CEO, and I've talked to people about this, is people stop asking you the questions you should be asked and stop telling you the things you need to hear.

And one of the roles I think, that the chair of the board plays, is that person has to be willing and able to tell the CEO and other members of leadership those things, in their best interest, and in the best interest of the institution.

- Let me also share that at Hackensack Meridian Health, the CEO, Bob Garrett, been with us many times.

Check out our website.

You'll see past interviews with Bob.

And Bob and I talk leadership all the time as well, as he does with Keith, and Keith's role as chairman of the board.

Hey Keith, you told me, I don't know, a year ago or so, you were gonna slow down.

You used the word retirement.

You said, you did.

Yeah, you're laughing because beyond your golf game, you're not only chairman of the board at Hackensack Meridian Health, but Liberty Bank of New Jersey, you and a group of folks are engaged in a startup of a new bank.

That doesn't sound like retirement to me.

What the heck is Liberty Bank of New Jersey?

And how challenging to lead a startup?

- Yeah, talk about the antithesis of where I came from, right?

I came from working for, well, I worked, I actually worked for JP Morgan for 16 years as well.

- Oh, a little small company?

- Yeah, so I went from being the second largest bank in the country to a de novo or startup bank.

But no, it's a lot of fun.

I had done this a number of years ago with a different group of friends, but a great group of people approached me, people I consider friends, people I like and trust.

And what they recognized is the number of true community banks in New Jersey has shrunk dramatically.

In fact, an interesting statistic over the last 20 years, the number of banks based in New Jersey has dropped by 60%.

And especially in that lower, what I call the community bank tier.

And so there's a real need at that level, and think, when I say that, think businesses with revenues below $100 million.

So they're kind of under the radar screen, typically of the bigger banks and even the larger regionals.

So we're gonna go in, we're gonna, we're working hard to get this bank open.

Our goal is to have it open by the fourth quarter of this year.

We're working with the FDIC now on the application process.

- The FDIC or the Fed, those are the Feds who regulate banks, right, Keith?

- That's correct.

And they've gotta ultimately approve, if they don't approve you, you do not become a bank.

So it's quite a, as it should be, quite a rigorous process.

And we're well in the midst of that as we speak.

- And one of Keith's colleagues in starting up this bank is Tom Scrivo, our good friend who leads a law firm with Kevin O'Toole, who's been on with us many times as well.

We'll be talking to Tom Scrivo as well.

Hey Keith, let me switch gears for a second.

I’m curious about this.

You've led again, in so many different positions.

But if you were to say, as a leader, could do it over again, one aspect of your leadership.

I'm doing this all the time.

I'm like, "Why did I do that 10 years ago?

Why did I have that approach?

I turned this person off, we lost this person, because I didn't handle it well.

I didn't manage this crisis with the level of even temper that I should have had."

What about you?

- Well, it's interesting Steve, and it's not, I'm not gonna say it in a way that I would do it again, but what I really appreciate, - Or differently.

- Yeah.

I mean, what I really came to appreciate when I was retiring, 'cause we announced it, and I had about two months, so I got a chance to really say goodbye to all the, a lot of the people I'd worked with and people who came to me.

And what was interesting is, I expected them to talk about things we had done, from a business results standpoint or whatever it was.

And these are the people at all different levels.

Almost everyone, what they talked about, was the impact that I had on their lives or they had on my life as people.

And I think when you get caught up, and especially if you're in a for-profit business, and you're running hard and you've got results, you can sometimes as a leader, forget you're working with people who have families who are, and I think my advice to leaders is never underestimate the impact you have on people.

And people would bring up stories, quite frankly, I even forgot 'cause it was many years ago, and you're managing thousands of people.

But it just reinforced to me, and I wish, I think I always try to conduct myself in an appropriate way and always recognize, be empathetic, and recognize on the other side, you had to push people, but they're people, and you gotta recognize, they got a whole thing going on too.

But that's something that I wish I'd had that even burned even better into my brain, you know?

So everything you do, you do through the lens of people first, results second.

And you can have both and not mutually exclusive, which is the good part.

- AI is never gonna, artificial intelligence, social media will never replace that, will it, Keith?

- Now that's one thing that you, only we can bring to that party.

And it's an important aspect.

And it's what keeps people, I mean it's, they always say, people leave because of their, not the company, their boss, the immediate person who has the impact on their lives.

And so, and I've seen it myself.

I've had a chance to work in some organizations with great cultures.

I share an organization that has a great culture, Hackensack Meridian Health.

- Hackensack has a great culture.

- And it makes a difference.

And you see it in retention, you see it, and then people are happy and they feel good, and they're energized.

You unleash them, Steve, they do, it's amazing what people will do for you at that point.

So it's incredibly important.

- Finally, to Keith's point, I read a, with all the leadership books I read, write, try to think about, there was a great leadership quote that sticks with me, that people don't leave organizations, they leave people.

And I was like, "Wait a minute.

So that means when so-and-so left, they left me?"

Meaning, again, it's more complex than that, I know.

- Right.

- But I won't get on my soapbox.

But to all those who left our organization because of something I did or didn't do, I acknowledge that.

And the bottom line is this.

You gotta keep working at it.

And you don't always get it right.

And there is no perfect leadership.

It's just constant improvement.

In that spirit, Keith Banks in retirement is doing more things than most people do in a lifetime.

And he's also a great friend and a partner.

Keith, I wish you and your team all the best, not just at HMH, but also with the new bank.

All the best.

- I appreciate it, Steve.

Thank you.

- Thanks my friend.

That's Keith Banks.

We'll be right back after this.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

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And by The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Promotional support provided by CIANJ, and Commerce Magazine.

And by ROI-NJ.

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