Program Topics

This is a preliminary list of sessions with others added as they are identified. 

Your Time to Rise
Lindsay Boccardo, Lindsay Boccardo Training & Coaching 

As leaders, it’s time to take this moment to regroup. In the midst of uncertainty everywhere—the economy, a global health crisis, climate change, diversity and inclusion conversations – you might feel like most parts of your life have experienced radical change in the last year. Whether you’ve been juggling at home, at work or everywhere in between, now is the time to remind yourself of what’s true and why you’re really here.

Join me as we remind ourselves of the great human capacity to handle stress, face our fears, overcome and ultimately transform who we are. We’ll talk about how great leaders like you can keep an open heart and mind as you wrestle every day with the unknown. Now is your time to rise to the occasion. Rise above. Rise for your team, for your family and for yourself. Let’s do it together.

Building a Culture of Civic Engagement
Dora Lutz, GivingSpring

Civic engagement efforts connect values, purpose, and mission to your stakeholders and supports business strategy. They impact the bottom line by: supporting employees, increasing brand loyalty and strengthening communities.  Join us to understand what a culture of corporate civic engagement includes, and how you can bring these principles to your organization. 

Taming the Turnover
CJ McClanahan, Axis Business Solutions

Hiring and retaining employees are two of the most challenging frustrations leaders face. And with the constant shifts in culture we’ve seen the last two years, the workforce shortage is forcing us to consider new ways of working and relating to others that we hadn’t considered before. This session will offer a proven strategy that will help you build a roadmap to recruit – and keep – the best talent. Key Takeaways:
    ~ Why do most “cultural improvement” initiatives fail?
    ~ How do you keep your people from taking the LinkedIn message from a recruiter?
    ~ What are the fundamentals for helping individuals achieve their full potential?
    ~ How can you inspire your top talent to recruit their peers?

Building a Positive and Productive Culture through Strategic Leadership
Shari Storms, Category 6 Consulting

An important part of motivating others is to recognize where you are on the communication continuum and to use that understanding to appropriately and effectively get your message across. Often small changes in the way we interact with our teams can have a lasting impact on their job satisfaction. This session will help you personalize your communications so that people will be more responsive to your message. Incorporating small changes can have a big impact on your culture and will create a team of problem solvers who will go the extra mile for your bank. Attendees will come away with techniques for building an environment that is drama free, where employees feel valued and empowered.

Characteristics of an Effective Community Bank Leader
Matthew R. Fix, Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis

The landscape and competitive environment for community banks is always changing, meaning effective leadership throughout the organization is a must have. What are the characteristics of effective community bank leaders today, and what characteristics will future leaders need to possess?  

Speed Roundtables

Back by popular demand, Thursday afternoon will feature a fast-paced networking session to help you get to know other conference attendees and discuss current issues and trends in banking. This discussion will continue on Friday morning during breakfast where we will do deeper into the top discussions from the afternoon before.

Have topic ideas or questions that you would like to discuss? Send them to IBA’s Chris Bennett prior to the conference.

Evening Activity

Following the Thursday sessions, join other conference attendees for a scavenger hunt followed by dinner and drinks. Using a mobile app, teams will walk from landmark to landmark to discover art, culture and history while searching for plaques, statues and design works to solve riddles that can only be found on location. Following the hunt, everyone will gather for dinner and fun, when the winning team will be crowned.