Tina Giorgio: Vince Lombardi had it right when he stated that, “Leaders aren’t born, they are made.” Leadership is a process. And, like any process it begins by envisioning a desired outcome and creating a framework of the steps to achieve that outcome. Sometimes there are real obstacles that prevent us from achieving our goals. By conducting a personal evaluation, we can often identify and address things that are standing in our way.

Although August is typically a sleepy month in D.C., policymakers were still hard at work last month—which meant that the ICBA’s regulatory affairs team was also hard at work keeping up with the latest developments.

The community banking industry is accustomed to required annual training mandates but the recent evolution in employment benefits makes learning a compelling non-salary reward. There is no one-size-fits-all program for community banks, so your bank has the creative flexibility to enhance and enrich its own training program in countless ways.

Most community bank training programs follow the calendar year, so if you have not completed your annual regulatory training requirements, there are only four months left to do so.

HUD should amend its fair lending disparate-impact rule to meet the limitations imposed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

As a well-known speaker and educator in the community banking industry, Barret Graduate School of Banking President and Director Chris Kelley knows all too well the importance of continuous learning. As we prepare for an energetic LEAD FWD Summit, filled with education and workshops that will challenge our industry’s next generation of leaders, I talked with Chris about the necessity of growing and thinking outside of the traditional boundaries of community banking.

The push for regulatory relief continues. We have a host of issues ahead of us, and community banker participation is essential in bringing them to the forefront of Congress members’ and regulators’ attention.

ICBA’s Community Banker University is pleased to release nine updated bank security courses. The course titles are the same, but the content has been updated and the courses have been converted into the new look and functionality as the BSA courses were last month.

Tina Giorgio: Contactless transactions include everything from flashing your watch at the point-of-sale to paying for your groceries, via your refrigerator. As “smart” devices get even smarter and more prevalent, payment has become part of their foundational fabric.

Investing in education and leadership training is vital to preparing the next generation of community bankers and key to any community bank’s succession planning strategy. I recently spoke with Bank of Missouri Community Bank President Aaron M. Panton to find out why he thinks ICBA’s LEAD FWD Summit is a must-attend annual event.