Independent Banker - August 2018 - 71

CAREER DETOX
Ron Geib, Harleysville Bank
lying, she admits, if she said it was
easy to leave. " You just breathe deep
and you go, 'We need to change, and
that's what we're doing.'
" I have a good relationship with
Matthew. He needs the opportunity
to fall off his bike and skin his knees
a few times, and he'll do that. We've
all had the opportunity to do that. "
Eno is serving out her term as a
director of the bank until next May,
when she will decide if she wants to
continue to be on the bank board.
Other than that, she's spending
time in her garden. After years
engaged with community boards and
organizations like the Chamber of
Commerce and Relay for Life, she is
deliberately not doing anything in
particular for a year.
" I've been outside every day
since I retired, " she says. " I like to
do some gardening, and I'm trying
to get my garden back in shape!
My husband and I will do some
traveling and fishing. We live in
northern Michigan, so you can
snowmobile and fish and swim and
take advantage of all the water and
the outdoors that we have here. It's
a beautiful state, and there's a ton
of stuff to do. "
Eno urges others considering
retirement to make sure they're on
the same page with their partners,
citing the joke about " twice the time,
half the money. "
" It's something you and your
significant other or spouse have to
figure out before you retire, " she
says. " My husband has been retired
for a bit, so we're not both adjusting.
But he's adjusting to having me
home more!
" I think it's really important to try
and get on the same page about how
you're going to work through the
final stage of your life. "
fter graduating from college in 1976, Ron Geib joined
$774 million-asset Harleysville Bank in Pennsylvania. He
stayed there for 42 years, serving as its CEO from 2007 to the
end of March this year, when COO Brendan McGill succeeded him.
Geib still considers the bank a big part of his life. " I'm still in the
community, I'm still chair of the board, so I'm still connected, " he says.
" People say, 'Why are you retiring?' And I say it was just time. I had a
great team, I had a great career, and
I want to do different things now
but still be involved with the bank. "
Geib likens the transition process
to a relay race. " The runner with the
baton jumps in, and the runner who
gets the baton has to start running
before he receives it, " he says. " We
did a succession that was seamless,
and I think the bank benefited from
the way it was mapped out.
" You start letting go of
responsibilities before you retire. My
retirement was all about teeing up
my successor for success. Just like
the relay race, I don't win unless the
person following me does well. "
McGill was placed on the board
in 2014, and a year ago, he and
Geib switched offices. It was a
process intended to help McGill
" I want to do different
things now but still be
involved with the bank. "
think differently and to help others look at him differently. " The key to
this whole thing, " explains Geib, " is that the directors understand that
you can lose an institution during a transition if you don't do it right. It's
not like a light switch on and off. "
These days, Geib doesn't have an office. Instead, he's learning the role
of an outside director, providing oversight while not being involved in
day-to-day operations. He plays a lot of softball and is spending time
with his three grandkids, as well as his and his wife's parents, all of whom
are in their late 80s and still independent. " That's the reason I retired, so
I could be available for them-for the parents and for the grandkids, " he
says. " It's a treasure to have that opportunity. "
Geib and his wife, Merle Lee Geib, also plan to travel and volunteer
with local children's charities. For now, they're taking a year to " detox. "
" I still spend an hour a day on emails and reading and industry things,
keeping my head in that world, " he smiles. " But I'm getting used to this
new way of life. When you first retire, you say, 'Is this vacation, is this
a sick day, is this a holiday?' I tell people I have six Saturdays and one
Sunday. That's what it feels like sometimes! "
Roshan McArthur is a freelance writer in California.
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Independent Banker - August 2018

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