Pub. 4 2015 Issue 3

13 F A L L | 2015 way, fully equip your institution with the appropriately skilled crew, and you’ll have gone a long way towards mitigating a crisis. 3 As a financial institution, you are required to create a busi- ness continuity plan and a disaster recovery plan. And you are required to periodically test that plan. But most institu- tions don’t fully test either of those plans! Oh, you probably pretend to test your disaster recovery plan, but you don’t effectively test. Your people are not really prepared for a true disaster. Ask the good people who worked at financial institutions in Joplin, Missouri if they were prepared for the tornado that tore through their region. We can prepare for events that would rattle our organizations to their very foundation, but we have to have the will to prepare in a meaningful way. You don’t have to be CEO or a senior manager to make a difference for your institution. There is opportunity for what I call individual leadership, the recognition that even as a non-manager employee your actions are oriented to making decisions that reduce the negative impact of Black Swans. Captain Dalgarno of the Invercauld survived because a sailor by the name of Robert Holding exercised individual leader- ship and led the captain and the first mate to a place of shelter, found food and water and placed them in a position to get rescued. Following their rescue, Dalgarno ordered Holding to say nothing, allowing the captain to tell the tale of their time on Auckland Island in a way that made Captain Dalgarno the hero. Ultimately, Holding did tell the true story and Dalgarno was disgraced and never got another commission. Had Hold- ing been the captain instead of Dalgarno, I am convinced that all 19 survivors of the Invercauld wreck would have survived. How will your individual leadership make a difference for your institution? As a shipwreck survivor myself, I know all too well the negative impacts that poor decisions can have on myself and others. I have a harrowing story to tell, but it does have a happy ending. We CAN better prepare for the Black Swans that would crash down on us, and I will be sharing how on October 19th at the VACB Annual Conference in Williams- burg, Virginia. Whether you are CEO, a senior manager or a bank employee, I will share insights that can provide you with a fresh look at mitigating disasters. I look forward to seeing you there! About the Author: David Peterson is a well-recognized eBanking pioneer, with a national reputa- tion as a subject matter expert in financial technologies and electronic payments. Peterson serves as Chief Strategic Officer of i7strategies, an independent strategic planning and consulting firm for financial services and electronic payment initia- tives. He was also the original founder of Goldleaf Technolo- gies, a leading provider of electronic payments software and online banking services to independent financial institutions in the U.S., where he was instrumental in establishing electronic banking and payment systems for commercial banks. A dy- namic and engaging presenter, Peterson has performed thou- sands of presentations and led dozens of strategic planning sessions and workshops for both financial institutions and FI service providers. He has been a featured keynote speaker for numerous associations, banking schools, and industry trade groups, as well as numerous state and regional associations across the country. Chairman’s Message ...Continued from page 6 President’s Message ...Continued from page 6 tomorrow. As a Bank CEO, it is good to know that the VACB is here to partner with each of our Virginia banks in addressing the growing laundry list we have in the training arena. The VACB’s vast offering of training opportunities are evolving continually in an effort to adjust to the needs of our bankers. Education is offered through Compliance Forums, seminars, conventions and webinars. There is even an effort to build each Bank’s online learning library with bundled webinars. This option allows each institution to put together affordable, user-friendly training options that are customized to their individual bank’s requirements or needs. In today’s environ- ment, it is good to know that we have such great support from VACB’s training offerings. My challenge to you, if you have not examined what is available through VACB to help you, is to take a look. You may be very happily surprised. still available. You will also experience something new this year at the convention – more emphasis on telling your story – the VACB story. Virginia’s many miles, and the energy required for each of us to do our jobs, are often barriers to knowing the many ways that VACB positively impacts our banks and our membership. So we’ll be debuting some tools that can help us all get the word out, about what you do and about what the VACB organization does to positively impact the health and well being of the communities and customers you all serve so well. The seasons change, and so do we . . . let’s compare notes in Williamsburg!