Dear Friends,
It has been said, "We only know the world as we have seen the world".
My views and beliefs about the "banking world" that I entered 58 years ago, were shaped by the wisdom, guidance, character, humility and leadership style of my mentor, coach and father figure, Francis Harper Joyner, the Chairman of Citizens Trust Company,
He believed that character was the most essential ingredient in banking for both the banker and the people with whom you were seeking to do business.
His consensus leadership style was rooted in helping you reach the right decision by educating and coaching you while never telling you what you have to do. He was the antithesis of the command-and-control leadership style of most corporate leaders in that day and time.
After once telling me that I had the potential to become the President of the bank one day, he explained that while the bank Board has the legal responsibility to select the President and Chief Executive Officer only the people who worked at the bank could "make me the President".
In essence, he was saying that my ability to develop "followership" would determine my future. A few years later at age 36, I became his successor as CEO of the company.
Over the past several years here at Towne, management succession has been a frequent topic of discussion among our board members and leadership team. Succession planning accelerated a year ago when Morgan Davis announced his desire to retire from his CEO role during 2022.
In a strange twist of fate, I found myself in the same seat my mentor occupied some 41 years ago.
While the ultimate selection of our new Chief Executive Officer would rest with the full Board of Directors, the Board appointed a six-person Succession Committee that I was appointed to lead.
In our first meeting, we decided to select a consulting firm to work with the committee to objectively assess the leadership traits of our senior leadership team with the overall goal to develop a bank-wide succession plan including all functional areas of the company. The intent was centered on building the strongest overall team in addition to a new CEO or in football parlance, a new quarterback.
Our consulting firm spent several months in individual personal meetings with our entire executive leadership team. As expected, we heard our consultants tell us how extraordinarily blessed we were to have such an amazing group of people leading our company. With the diversified talents on our team, the Succession Committee had only to decide who would "play what position" and name the quarterback, i.e. — the CEO.
With the recommendation of the Succession Committee, the Board of Directors unanimously selected William I. (Billy) Foster III as our new CEO effective December 31, 2022.
From my personal perspective, Billy embodies the qualities of great character, wisdom, leadership style, humility, and heart that I know will be embraced by our Towne family.
I eagerly look forward to continuing my "head coaching duties" and working with Billy and our exceptional Towne team to take us to a bright and promising future.
To paraphrase Dr. Seuss, "Oh, the places we will go!"
Sincerely,
G. Robert Aston, Jr.
Executive Chairman