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Leading for Growth
How Umpqua Bank Got Cool and Created a Culture of Greatness
Ray Davis addresses many of the key issues we face in continuing to drive growth at Nike—staying connected with the consumer, leading change, building the brand, and cultivating a strong corporate culture. He offers clear solutions and creative leadership approaches for all business leaders, regardless of industry." "Leading for Growth presents an inspiring and powerful set of lessons about growing a company from a leader who has 'been there and done that.' The book is relevant to anyone in a leadership position faced with the need to change a culture and/or grow successfully—essentially, all of us."
—Charlie Denson, president, Nike Brand
—Eric Flamholtz, president, Management Systems Consulting Corporation, and professor of management, Anderson School, UCLA
Raymond P. Davis (Author), Alan R. Shrader (Author)
9780787986070, Wiley
Hardback, published 5 April 2007
240 pages, Charts: 2 B&W, 0 Color; Photos: 4 B&W, 0 Color; Drawings: 2 B&W, 0 Color; Tables: 1 B&W, 0 Color; Exhibits: 0 B&W, 0 Color
22.6 x 15.5 x 2.3 cm, 0.431 kg
How any business leader can create an atmosphere of competitiveness for exceptional growth When Ray Davis took over the local 40-person South Umpqua Bank in 1994, many people in the industry poked fun at his insistence that employees answer the phone with a cheery "World's Greatest Bank." Eleven years, $7 billion in assets, and 128 branches (or " bank stores" in Umpqua lingo) later, the moniker seems quite apt. Other banks scratched their heads when Davis sent his tellers to Ritz-Carlton to learn customer service and were intrigued when he hired a cutting-edge design firm to completely re-think retail layout. Now, with a top design award under their belt, a name change (there never was a North Umpqua bank), and a completely new definition of the banking business, Umpqua has become the darling of the entrepreneurial press and a growth powerhouse. The New York Times calls Umpqua "Starbucks with tellers." Ray Davis (Portland, OR), named by U.S. Banker as one of the 25 most influential people in the financial industry in 2005, is President and CEO of Umpqua Holdings Corporation. Alan Shrader (Moraga, CA) is an experienced writer and editor of business books.
Introduction: There is No Door Number Three 1 Part One: Prerequisites for Relentless Growth 7 1. What Business Are You Really In? 9 2. Never-Ending Discipline 23 3. Have Positive Passion 30 4. Snap the Rubber Band Syndrome 40 5. What’s Going On Behind Your Back? 49 Part Two: Roles of a Leader 57 6. Support Your People—and Hold ’Em Accountable 59 7. Give Them the Power 69 8. Rise Above the Battlefield 79 9. Explain Your Movie 87 10. Be Real 94 Part Three: Master the Basics 101 11. Sweat the Small Stuff 103 12. Who Do You Want on Your Bus? 109 13. Keep Your Board Strong—and Informed 118 14. Intangibles Matter Most 128 Part Four: Marketing, Marketing, Marketing 139 15. Find the Revolution Before It Finds You 141 16. Your Brand is You 150 17. Serve the Customer 158 18. Put Design into Everything You Do 165 Part Five: Leading Your Culture 173 19. Be There 175 20. Keep Your Balance 184 21. Remember Who You Are 193 22. Mergers and Acquisitions Done Right 201 Conclusion: Making Relentless Progress 211 Acknowledgments 215 The Authors 217 Index 219
The pursuit of relentless growth has one underlying premise: You get better or you get worse. You can’t stay the same. This book is for all companies that are tired of treading water.
Umpqua started to take off when we decided we were really in the retail business, not just the banking business, and started learning from successful retailers like Nordstrom. This chapter offers advice to help you discover what business you are really in.
Leaders need to realize that growth is not a project, not a quick fix. You must have the discipline to realize you never have it made.
Be relentless about your vision. Know what you stand for. We call ourselves The World’s Greatest Bank. It helps us stand out with our customers, but more than that, it creates positive passion within the company.
Each of us has a rubber band attached to our backside, connected to tradition. This chapter offers strategies to help people overcome the pull of comfortable routines.
Having the right strategy is meaningless unless you can execute it flawlessly on the ground. This chapter explains how to put systems in place to inspect the execution of strategy at the lowest level.
Leaders have many roles, but support and accountability are critical—and they go hand in hand.
In the past, the leader was the guy with the answers. Today, you have to empower the people closest to the action to come up with their own answers.
Leaders need to rise above the battlefield to achieve a strategic perspective on the company. I explain the tactics I use to get above the fray and—just as important—how I help the people on my executive team do this as well.
Leaders cannot delegate the job of explaining their vision for the company—what I call “this movie that’s playing in my head.”
If you can’t be yourself, you can’t lead. It’s as simple as that.
Every great company sweats the details. In this chapter, I talk about how great companies such as Disney sweat the small stuff.
In Good to Great, Jim Collins says that you’ve got to get the right people on the bus. I think that is exactly right. But who are the right people?
Companies can’t move fast if the executive team has to drag the board of directors along with it. This chapter describes how I work with my board to keep us all aligned and on track.
In a service business like ours, the most important metrics measure things that are intangible.
Revolutions are going on all the time in consumer preferences, in technology, in marketing, and in other areas. We do a number of things at Umpqua to find these revolutions before they overwhelm us.
People don’t like faceless bureaucracies. They like real people, real personalities. We’ve achieved remarkable success by staying true to ourselves. Some people say we’re corny, but it’s who we are—and people respond.
This chapter details our Universal Associates program: every associate in our stores is trained to be able to handle any task a customer requires. This sharply sets us apart from our competition. What are you doing to set yourself apart?
Design encompasses much more than just the physical layout of stores or products. When design is used effectively, it brings every aspect of your business into alignment so that everything reinforces and supports everything else.
Maintaining a culture is like raising a teenager. You’re constantly checking in. “What are you doing? Where are you going? Who are you hanging out with?”
Leading for growth is a high-wire act—and there are many dimensions to keeping your balance.
The biggest danger of relentless growth is that your very growth will undermine the qualities that produced that growth in the first place. You’ve also got to know what not to change—what to maintain if you want to stay on track.
A lot of Umpqua’s growth has come from acquisitions, which have the potential to disrupt or dilute the acquiring company’s culture. We have not allowed that to happen.
The key to growth is making progress every single day.
Subject Areas: Business & management [KJ]
