| This study was designed to explore the traits, skills, and characteristics of community bank presidents essential to achieving superior performance in their profession. Qualitative research was conducted through a phenomenological case study and examined the lived experiences of 20 community bank presidents; data included corporate documents and researcher observations. The individual thoughts, perspectives, feelings, and beliefs of the community bank presidents elicited candid insight into development, training, interaction, and practices that were utilized for career advancement and attaining superior performance for the community bank. Emergent themes were revealed during the data coding and analysis. Decisiveness, community involvement, team building, family, values, listening, relationship management, and work ethic surfaced throughout the analysis. When the themes were synthesized and weighed against extant theory, the case study confirmed the effectiveness of defined leadership qualities. Utilizing relationships established through effective interaction with customers, employees, board members, and regulators, combined with core values, provided the foundation for success. The study exposed the need to remain cognizant of changes in market and economical environments that affect community banks, to remain competitive and excel. |
