By Barnett Wright | The Birmingham Times
JPMorganChase President and CEO Jamie Dimon is in control — not just as head of America’s most powerful bank but as a visitor to one of his firm’s branches on Birmingham’s Southside, near the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) campus.
Clad in a blue short-sleeved shirt and jeans, the CEO arrives at the branch with members of his team on a scorching, late July afternoon as part of the company’s Southern Swing Bus Tour to field questions from employees, and then members of the media.
Earlier this year, JPMorgan Chase pledged to triple the number of its bank branches in Alabama by 2030, opening 24 across the state. But it’s clear that Dimon’s formula for branches in Alabama is not that different for the banking giant’s other locations, as he calmly and coolly explains at the branch and later during a gathering of city leaders at the Birmingham Country Club.
“I’m relentless,” he said in response to a question from The Birmingham Times at the branch. “I do this around the world, town halls around the world. I write my own chairman’s letters. I expect these guys [pointing to his team members] to all do the same thing and, you know, to take phone calls and to treat our guards the same way they treat CEOs … and I get a little pissed off when people don’t.”
Dimon said he wants to grow branches not just locally but nationally: “We were in 27 states, something like that, and I had a vision: I wanted to be in all 48 [contiguous states].”
He added, “We have a good product. … It’s not just a branch, we hire people, we do affordable housing, we do some kind of philanthropy.”
“You Have to Get Out”
Dimon, 69, has been the head of JPMorgan Chase & Company since 2006, steering a bank that handles $10 trillion in transactions globally every day. His stop in Birmingham was one on the company’s five-state sweep that began in Mississippi and will include visits to Georgia and the Carolinas, as well. Visiting bank locations across the nation gives Dimon a chance to hear from managers and workers.
“I believe if you’re going to be a good CEO, a good leader, you have to get out,” he said. “You go to a lot of corporations, and they’re too busy to do that. ‘I don’t have time for that,’ [they say]. … I think they make a huge mistake because you learn through every single trip. Hanging out with branch managers, you hear one or two really good questions, and [we’ll] follow up on them. We take notes. … You get customers, you get governments, and you get local press, which tells the story, whether or not we like it exactly.”
During visits, Dimon said he expects feedback — and pushback — from employees.
“We want them to speak up,” he said during his 30-minutes with the Birmingham media. “Literally, you could not offend me by asking, ‘Why did you do this?’ Sometimes when I’m with senior management, they’re offended. Like they’re twisting in their chairs. I watch them. But I’m saying, ‘Your people are telling you what we can do better. That’s a gift.’ I have a chance to be better. When people complain, I also ask, different from other people, not whether they were right or they were wrong [but] ‘Are they partially right?’”
After visiting Birmingham, Dimon and team members headed to Georgia and the Carolinas, where he would travel to Charlotte, North Carolina, to celebrate building 1,000 new branches in seven years — more locations than most of the financial institution’s competitors operate in total.
There’s still value in local branches, even with more people banking online, said the CEO.
“A million people visit our branches every day,” he said. “A million. So, you have to ask, ‘What do they want?’ … The branches have effectively gotten smaller [and] less operational but [they provide] more advice. There are more people in the branch, there’s a business banker, mortgage loan officer, wealth advisor. People [still] come in for advice. They like to visit their money, and half of the accounts are opened in branches, [as well as] a lot of credit cards, a lot of mortgages. Even digital-only people really like having a place to go if they need to. … It enhances a little bit of everything.”
Dimon pointed out another reason branches provide a valuable service.
“The president of this branch, he or she knows local people. … He knows when you walk in the door, he knows your business, he knows your kids, knows your friends, he knows when you go on vacation, he gives the kid a credit card when he’s going to college, he’ll fill out the paperwork, except the signature. They’ve got a special thing.”
Likes and Dislikes
Dimon also spoke about running one of the world’s largest banks and said he dislikes bureaucracy. “I have almost no meetings after meetings. If employees have something to say, say it in the goddamn room in front of your partner — or don’t say it all. If you don’t have the guts to do it, you probably shouldn’t have your job.
Complacency is something else that bothers Dimon. “[Some companies], instead of functioning to serve a client, function to serve a CEO. … You will die, and that’s why it’s so damn serious. To get around complacency, you’ve gotta work your ass off, look for where you’re wrong … and don’t assume you’re right about everything.”
Dimon is constantly on the move. Before the Magic City visit, the CEO visited media and a branch in Mississippi. And after the Southside meet-and-greet, he met leaders of the Birmingham community — and never missed a step.
“Remember, I do [town halls] in 30, 40, 50 countries a year,” he said. “It’s not just this bus trip, we’re always out.”
There’s a reason Dimon stays fit.
“I love what I do, and I try to take care of myself as best as I can,” he told the Birmingham media. “On these trips, we leave a little bit of room for exercise in the morning, but it’s basic stuff. Take care of yourself. It’s your job to take care of yourself — your mind, your body, your spirit, your friends, your soul, your family. If you don’t, you won’t have longevity.”
Asked by The Birmingham Times the one thing his successor needs to keep JPMorgan Chase one of the world’s top banks, Dimon said, “I’m not going to name one thing, but I’d say, heart, curiosity, grit, and give a shit. … People make a list of these management skills, which I believe in, but I am more on the heart side.”
