Interview with Bob Demeulenaere

Excerpts from an interview on 12-29-11 with

Bob Demeulenaere

Past President and CEO of Brenton Banks, Inc.,1994 to 2001.

Bob worked 37 years for Brenton Banks in a number of capacities including seven as the first non-family member CEO. Before being sold to Wells Fargo in 2001, Brenton Banks was the largest Iowa based banking company with $2 billion in assets, 43 locations and 679 employees.

Previous experience: Bob was a dish washer before becoming an MP in the military. 

Currently Reading:  That Used To Be Us . . ., Thomas Friedman & Michael Mandelbaum.

One of the best thinkers he has known:  
Buzz Brenton - He could get to the heart of the matter and recognize how to make it change.

Leaders on Thinking: Do you have a process for thinking and decision making?

Bob: I would go to trusted leaders and get them to tell you what they think. In addition, I ask others at random to get their opinions. Having feedback from a broad representation of people will lead to better decision making. Take the time to think it through. In the long term, a couple of days to make a decision will not matter. A process that worked for me was I would have a new idea. I would discuss it with my inner circle management team. Then I would reflect on the idea some more. After some time I would seek out other people in the bank (not just senior management people) and see what they thought. I would again reflect on what I had learned and if I still thought it was a good idea and of benefit to the company we would go with it.

L on T: How do you balance short term and long term goals?

Bob: Make sure short term decisions have long term impact before you respond. When I started as CEO, I consolidated the entire operation into one bank and added 100 sales people on the street. These decisions were meant to change how the industry operated, not just to meet a short term goal.

L on T: How do you improve?

Bob: I constantly learned about what other businesses were doing by reading about them and visiting them. I also listened to books on tape while I ran daily. You need to use the expertise of others as well. You don’t have to have all of the ideas.

I was given two months before I took the CEO job to do whatever I wanted. I used that time to learn where the business should go by talking with countless individuals to find out what they were doing that worked. This gave me the confidence to recommend significant changes. I would recommend this to any organization who is hiring a new leader.

L on T: When is it okay to compromise?

Bob: Quite often the compromise is better than your original idea. The key thing is that a compromise cannot destroy the essence of what you are doing.

L on T: How do you know when you have reached the tipping point for action?

Bob: Gather all the information you can from as many people as you can and think through the impact of the decision. Garner support but remember that everyone does not have to buy into the decision. Once you are convinced, make the call and go.

L on T: What advice would you give someone taking on a new leadership role?

Bob: Go out and spend two months to learn everything you can about your organization and industry. You need to know your business and how it is changing. 

Once the organization’s mission is clear, you become the “Keeper of the Flame.” 

Be certain what you think is happening, is really happening. If you talk to enough people they will tell you what they see and their ideas to make it better. Listen to everyone, as many of them will give you great ideas.Your job is not to manage--if you hired the right people to do that. The Keeper of the Flame focuses the organization on the core.