ABA Banking Journal - November 2008 - (Page 37)

Linda Ellis, Connelly’s administrative assistant. “Schmoozing” and thinking It’s difficult to overestimate the value of a leader who is good at getting people to work together—especially in an association. Connelly’s definition of leadership is to surround yourself with people smarter than you, then to help them bring out the best in themselves. That’s his particular gift, he says, and he likes nothing better than encouraging people to step up to a bigger position, and watching them exceed their own expectations. He points to John Boucher as a prime example of this. There is more to Connelly than being a self-described “people person.” Those who know him marvel at the stamina the 64-year old has. “He’s got more energy than a 25-year-old,” says Boucher. “Any time you see him—it can be 6 in the morning—he’s ready to go, fired up.” As a result he can be very quick on his feet. Several years ago, South Weymouth’s historic Old South Union Congregational Church caught fire. Connelly, who could see the smoke from his office, immediately called the minister and offered the use of the bank’s ad agency (at the bank’s expense) to help facilitate news coverage that could help in the eventual rebuilding. This resulted not only in television coverage, but a front-page color photo in USA Today, prompting offers of support from around the country. One other thing: Boucher notes that for all his people skills (“schmoozing,” Connelly calls it) the chairman is a forward thinker. “He’s often a year ahead of everyone else,” says Boucher. “He’s already on the end game while I’m trying to put all the pieces together to get there.” From pure thrift to full-service The bank Connelly ran for nearly a quarter century, while it has stuck to traditional underwriting standards, is hardly the sleepy thrift he joined in 1966. Back then, the $27 million-assets bank waited for people to come in and inquire about getting mortgages. It was a simpler time. Later came the realization that the traditional savings bank model with its focus on savings and residential mortgage lending wasn’t going to allow the bank to generate sufficient profits to grow. Mutuals Subscribe at www.ababj.com Plymouth, Mass., is home for Connelly. Behind him is the Mayflower II, a replica of the original. Those of a certain age will recall that the ship sailed from Brixham, England to Plymouth, without motor or chase boats in 1957. It and the Plymouth Rock are big tourist attractions. rely primarily on retained earnings for their capital. In the last nine years the bank has become a full-service commercial bank. Right from the start, management set up a commercial lending division with staff, hired a senior commercial loan officer from their market area, and gave him a year to build a team. He hired a half dozen experienced lenders and built the book of business after the fact. Being a mutual, as explained in the accompanying story, “A matter of mutual interest” (next page), allowed Connelly and Boucher the time to build the infrastructure before bringing in the assets, something a public company wouldn’t be able to do. Prior to this, South Shore’s lending was ABA BANKING JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2008 37 http://www.ababj.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of ABA Banking Journal - November 2008

ABA Banking Journal - November 2008 Contents Editor's Column Banking 2.0: Credit, Banking's Essence, Set for Rethinking Snapshot: The Few, the Proud, the Banks that Can Raise Capital Will Strong and Simple Banks Inherit the Business? Back to the Future ABA Resources ABA Chairman's Position Farm Lenders Must Take Care When Lending in Indian Country Pass the Aspirin Into the Breach Adventures Across A Century What the Future Holds, Post Crisis Paul Volcker: A Financial Legend Still Speaks Strong Ed Yingling: Weathering the Storm Dick Kovacevich: "Boring" Banking to Dynamic Financial Services Jim Culberson: Community Banking: What has Changed and What Shouldn't Walter Shipley: How a Chemical Reaction Helped to Mold Today's JPMorgan Chase William Isaac: Challenges and Opportunities Ahead for Banks A Hundred Years from Our Pages Eight Tech Innovations that Brought Banks into 21st Century Bank Cherokee: Third Generaton Marks 100th Year The First National Bank of Altavista: Railroad Gave Birth to a Town, a Hope Chest, and a Bank Rosedales Federal Savings and Loan Association: How a Friendly Game of Cards Turned into a 100-Year Mutual New Washington State Bank: Cooking Up the Next 100 Years Mailbox Banker's Mart To Advertise/Index of Advertisers The Economy

ABA Banking Journal - November 2008

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