In his first speech as ABA chairman today, Jeff Syperski emphasized the importance of engaging the industry’s 2 million employees in advocacy. Szyperski particularly urged bankers to develop their emerging leaders to be passionate and vocal advocates.
“We need those individuals to be the building blocks of our industry going forward,” he said. “We need to develop our emerging leaders, we need to show them the way. Advocacy needs to be part of every banker’s job description.” Szyperski, who is chairman, president and CEO of Chesapeake Bank in Kilmarnock, Va., highlighted three easy thing CEOs can do to engage their employees, including signing up for the ABA Daily Newsbytes email, forwarding grassroots emails to all bank employees and making BankPac an “all-hands-on-deck appeal.”
He added that as banks seek to attract new talent into the industry, banks are uniquely positioned to offer young employees the chance to give back. “If you look at any survey now of younger employees, what they’re looking to do is make a difference in their world and their communities. What industry is there that is not in the exact right position to scratch that itch for a generation of emerging leaders?”
