Colleagues, fellow professionals and friends,
 
The "Dunkirk Spirit" is a term coined to acknowledge the solidarity and determination of the English people who braved crossing the English Channel in the spring of 1940 to rescue more than 300,000 soldiers from enemy capture. The term is now used as an attitude exemplifying "strength in a difficult situation and refusing to accept defeat."  This spirit is simply the courage to ask oneself this question: "What am I willing to do to help?"
 
In the business world - and the banking industry, in particular, with all the pressures of a vacillating economy and mounting regulations - this spirit is essential for personal success as well as the success of the enterprise.  How can you recognize when this spirit is present?  One marker is how we talk. Does our talk deflate or inspire? Does it focus on problems or solutions? Does it say, "We can't" or "We can?"
 
The authors of the book Tribal Leadership identify five "Tribal" or "Team" stages within an organization. Each successive stage is an upward shift in mood and outlook.  At stage four, there is a mood of Tribal pride and an outlook willing to take on the competition, and "the bigger the foe, the more powerful the tribe." At the highest stage, the language around the office "revolves around infinite potential and how the group is going to make history" and expresses a mood of "people in competition [not with other companies, but] with what's possible." This is the "talk" of those who have the indefatigable spirit of Dunkirk. 
 
 
Every business experiences successes and setbacks, but how fortunate is the company that has such talk and such people at every level, in every team, inspiring others to achieve more than they thought possible. Also, what happens when we seem to fail? The Spirit of Dunkirk says, "Inside this defeat, there's victory."
 
At ABS, I see the spirit of Dunkirk in our Associates as they focus on what they can do for each other and our customers, and I am thankful for that.
 
I hope this edition of BankLine has many items of interest for you.
 
Sincerely,




James W. Bruce, III
CEO and General Counsel, American Bank Systems

 
Carol Ledbetter is a Territory Manager for ABS. Her duties include prospecting, sales and marketing within her territory.
 
Ledbetter says she loves the people who work at ABS and the virtues they exhibit. Honesty, loyalty and kindness run deep among her coworkers, Ledbetter said.
 
"This is my third stint with ABS," she said. "That tells you the company and people are top notch!"
 
She enjoys helping bankers upgrade software to increase productivity. Having worked at banks, Ledbetter says she understands the need for improving technology. 
 
Ledbetter and her four siblings moved around a lot growing up because her father was in the United States Air Force. She lived overseas in Morocco and England, as well as stateside in Georgia, Ohio and Michigan. She studied Business Management at Sinclair College in Dayton, Ohio. Ledbetter's family includes her husband, Eric, two grown children, two grandchildren and an adopted black lab.
 
In her free time, Ledbetter loves to cook, try new recipes and collect cookbooks. She also enjoys antique shopping and exercising. Ledbetter is also a member of the National Notary Association and National Mortgage Licensing System.
 
Fun fact: Ledbetter  just upgraded from a 14-year-old Toyota Highlander with 309,784 miles to a brand new 2016 with only one mile off the lot. 

Check out these recent posts to our Compliance Blog by our very own team of compliance specialists.

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CoPilot Tips & Tricks
Training Mode
CoPilot is a loan and deposit account origination system with a user-friendly interface putting you in control. CoPilot Loans helps banks save money and time. Not every loan needs an expensive legal review. Copilot Loans™ does it for you, providing you with documents and processes that are designed to ensure compliance. CoPilot Deposits is a sophisticated deposit origination system which improves efficiency, accuracy and compliance.
 
When completing any type of loan or deposit product in CoPilot, once an address is entered in the address field, all address fields in the product will populate a dropdown menu with entered addresses available as an option.

To find out more about CoPilot, please contact our ABS Customer Care Team at (405) 607-7000 or visit our website at   americanbanksystems.com .
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