Wendy Stewart, president of global commercial banking for
“It’s a relationship-based business. You don’t come in and provide one solution and then you’re out the door,” said Stewart, who leads 1,500 employees in the commercial banking division. “Those deep relationships are crucial for us to continue to
Stewart said that
“What we heard from our clients is: I don’t have the time to do a lot of diligence around the strength and stability of all these different banks;
This year, Stewart said, her commercial banking customers are focused mainly on challenges from the economy, expected interest rate cuts and geopolitical issues, which include the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, tensions in Asia, and the 77 or so elections globally this year, as well as the U.S. presidential race.
“Our clients, they do business globally, so elections that are happening in other parts of the world are equally as important for them to focus on as they think about how they’re going to drive their business forward. If they’re thinking about growing, expanding, what does the implication of a political election, say in France or Mexico, have on their ability to continue to invest and grow?” Stewart explained. “It’s something that we need to be aware of and be up to speed and understand the impact that it could have.”
Stewart took over as head of commercial banking three years ago as the country was coming out of the pandemic and several of the people on the commercial bank’s leadership team were getting ready to retire. She saw the pending leadership turnover as an opportunity: her chance to build her own team, taking the long view into consideration.
Stewart thought about how the commercial banking business could grow — where the business would be in 20 or 30 years and the type of leadership the bank would need at that point, she said.
She was looking for potential leaders who were ambitious — not for themselves but for a larger cause — and who wanted to be part of a growing business, who liked to work with teams and who wanted to impact the communities where they live and work, she said. She also wanted to bring in “great leaders” from a variety of professional backgrounds — from commercial banking and other lines of banking, and from within and outside
“There’s a lot of value in having different perspectives and different experiences,” Stewart said. “That has definitely made for a richer leadership team that is bringing those different perspectives so that we can make better decisions.”
Building the right culture at the bank is crucial, she said. “For me, culture starts with having a very strong team that is really focused on being a great place to work for colleagues and winning for clients.”
“I’m competitive and I want to win,” said Stewart, though she said she has toned down the ultra-competitive streak of her younger self in recent years outside of work — even on pickleball courts. “But I know who the competition is; our competition is external. We don’t compete with each other internally; we collaborate.”
After stepping away from banking in the early 2000s, when she started a nonprofit organization for reading readiness, she rejoined
“Banking is a great industry, and especially if you want to make a difference. You can impact your clients, whether they’re individuals or companies or institutional investors. You definitely can impact your team in the communities where you live and work,” she said. “Over time, I realized that companies can make as much of an impact to address societal issues as not-for-profits can. We just do it in different ways.”
Source: americanbanker.com