BRAD MCEWEN: Flatt a worthy choice for chamber leadership award

I know it’s hard to believe, but once upon a time, I kept my shirt tucked in and wore a coat and tie to work just about every day.

In the four years since leaving a once promising banking career behind in the midst of terrible personal turmoil, I rarely look back fondly on those years. And that’s been wrong.

Dealing with money — other people’s money especially — can bring out some of the worst in humanity, but the truth is there were lots of good things about the job.

There was the thrill of making a sale (the ones where the person buying really needed the product), financing a young woman’s first grown-up automobile purchase, helping an elderly client protect a nest-egg, and making sure those on a fixed income managed their meager finances well enough to have something left over at the end of the month.

But for all of that, the best things about my former career were the people — the coworkers and, most importantly, the leaders who shaped who I am today.

I was reminded of all those people Thursday night at the annual Albany chamber dinner when one of those leaders who had a profound impact on me was honored.

I had a lot of success during my decadelong banking career — earning recognition for keeping my teller drawer balanced, meeting and exceeding sales goals, earning promotions, being asked to address leadership candidates.

But the greatest honors I received were those feelings of pride, where I’d nearly burst at the seams, when our leader, the man we all admired, and in truth sometimes feared, would end a quarterly meeting reading a letter he’d received from a satisfied customer, who felt I’d given my all.

Those occasions during our all too brief time working together (seven years really isn’t long) when Luke Flatt read one of those letters, I had the distinct feeling they meant more to him than my meeting some sales goal or securing a big loan.

I knew this because Luke is one of those leaders that understands that if you put people first — your teammates, your customers — real success will follow.

It wasn’t always easy working in and then being the manager of the branch that housed the regional executive of a super regional bank. No matter how early I arrived at the office, he’d beat me there. No matter how late I stayed, trying to get a head start of the next day (and those days were numerous), I couldn’t outlast him.

The man just has a work ethic that’s unmatched.

We still see each other often, and I know that he even though he shudders a bit when he sees my tangle of shoulder-length hair, he’s glad to see me and proud that I’m doing something that I love.

I also hope he knows that he gets a bit of the credit for me wearing a sport coat (sorry, Luke, I can’t give up the jeans) to events when I really don’t have to, or I wear my nametag on the proper side of my jacket so people can read my name when I shake their hand.

I would like to think that Luke had a soft spot for me, even when I’d have my dress shirt sleeves rolled up and my top button open and my tie loosed, because even though I probably had no business working in the financial industry with my English and religion degrees, I worked hard, I was eager to learn, I was respectful and I tried to do right by other people.

If I exhibit any of those important leadership traits, like integrity, dedication and courage, I owe a lot of that to working with Luke.

Thursday night when Jeff “Bodine” Sinyard honored his longtime friend, who in turn took the stage to grace us with his always deliberate and appropriate thoughts on service, it was the first time in four years that I missed that career I left behind in 2012.

As the man who would’ve earned a lifetime service award even if he hadn’t dedicated so much of himself to public service addressed the crowd, something struck me.

For the first time since saying farewell to my dark business suits and shiny dress shoes, I missed being a banker. Not because I was particularly good at it, or because I miss fussing with a customer over half a basis point on a CD, but because I missed being part of a team led by Luke Flatt.

In my estimation, and I’ve born witness to the presentation of many such awards, the chamber could not have picked a finer recipient for a lifetime service award.

Congratulations, Mr. Flatt (even though you don’t love getting all this attention). And thank you.

Email Brad McEwen at [email protected]. Follow @ABH_BradMcEwen on Twitter.