Career Cheat Code
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Career Cheat Code
075 | Head of Branch Banking with Jeffrey Martinez
In this episode, Jeffrey Martinez, head of branch banking at PNC Bank, shares his remarkable journey from a bank teller to an executive leader within one of America's largest retail banks. Jeff highlights the vital role his immigrant upbringing and family values have played in shaping his aspirations and decisions throughout his career. He candidly discusses the challenges he faced in making the leap from JPMorgan Chase to PNC, emphasizing the courage it takes to embrace change and pursue growth.
• The importance of stability in career decisions
• Embracing risks and the power of curiosity
• Fostering a culture of trust and empathy in leadership
• The role of financial wellness in community upliftment
• Personal stories of growth accelerating career progression
• Navigating the complexities of corporate transitions
• Empowering employees to uplift clients and communities
• The focus on continual learning and development
• The importance of mentorship and giving back
• Reflection on the American Dream and its broader implications
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Host - Radhy Miranda
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Producer - Gary Batista
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I think when I had told my dad I was leaving Chase, I think he almost had a heart attack. I mean, just again back to the stability. And you know, as a first generation, like first time college graduate in the family, all the things that come from an immigrant Cuban dad and an immigrant Colombian mom, the stability that I had 11 years ago was like for them. The destination, it was like check, I did all I did to get my son to where he needed to. Then you come home and you say you know I'm thinking of taking a risk here. That isn't welcome, that isn't welcomed in an immigrant Like you know. It's like hey, I took all the risks for you, you got a good job, good company, and so it's hard, but yet for sure. The best decision I've made in my life was to shift over to PNC, but it came with a lot of headwinds.
Speaker 2:Welcome to Career Cheat Code. In this podcast, you'll hear how everyday people impact the world through their careers. Learn about their journey, career hacks and obstacles along the way. Whether you're already having the impact you want or are searching for it, this is the podcast for you.
Speaker 3:All right, jeffrey, welcome to the show. Thank you, I appreciate taking the time and I'm excited to just dive right in and tell the world all of the things about your career path. So let's dive right in, man. Let's tell the world what it is you do for a living. Yeah, man, Excited.
Speaker 1:So yeah, jeff Martinez, proud to be the head of branch banking for PNC Bank which, for those out there, it's the fourth largest retail bank in the country. So it comprises of almost 2,300 branches, 15,000 employees in 30 states. So your day-to-day banking, walking in for a checking account, savings, mortgage, investments business all falls in my world.
Speaker 3:Wow. So what does that mean? So when you walk in on Monday, what does your job look like? What are you responsible for? Speak a little bit more about kind of what the impact of your role is.
Speaker 1:Yeah, good question.
Speaker 1:God.
Speaker 1:Sports is like any given Sunday I guess in my world could be in any given Monday which means you know there's a lot of variables.
Speaker 1:You know, like I mentioned, when you are responsible for almost 2,300 physical locations in which 15,000 employees lead that on a daily basis, all in service of almost 12 million clients, so people at the core of it a lot of things could happen, a lot of great things happen, and so what we are basically focused on is bringing financial wellness to every corner of the geographies that we lead in and so often depends down to the client.
Speaker 1:So it's hard to say it's a one size fits all, as your financial journey could be completely different than mine, and so, whether it's career, profession, age, wealth, affluence, upbringing, all of that comes into the form of a conversation which our bankers and managers are there to help and service, and so it's all about making everyone a little bit better on their financial work journey, regardless of the way they interact with us in a physical branch, digitally, over the phone so, again, that has a lot of potential changes on a Monday, tuesday, friday, but again, I know and believe we have the best financial professionals in the industry ready to have a conversation with everyone.
Speaker 3:That's great. So for you, what is that like geographical kind of jurisdiction look like how far does your portfolio kind of reach?
Speaker 1:coast to coast. So we go as northeast as Boston, down to Miami, across Texas, into California, up into Wisconsin, chicago, michigan, and so, again, most of we operate today in 26 of the 30 largest MSAs in this country. So, yes, that's a battle against time zones, obviously, again, geographical differences, and so all that is done. I'm one person, so I'm fortunate to have a tremendous senior leadership group, both at the territory executive and market manager level, that, again, live in, know their geographies really well, so things that yet often I'm involved with, but they are the subject matter experts, and so, just like in any large organization I'm involved with, but they are the subject matter experts, and so, just like in any large organization, I'm only as good as my next level leadership.
Speaker 1:And so for me it's really been concentrated on leading my next six direct reports in a way that allows them to funnel the strategy, clarity of message impact out into our communities in a tangible and accountable way. And then you see that flow, and so you know again, probably one of my biggest things is how do I ensure that the message is going from me down to a bank or a teller in the same way it would to my next line of direct reports, and so it's like a grown up phone tag. But the consequences are a lot, and also the reward. So just making sure that again your clarity of message can be the make or break in a week, a month or in really your organization strategy.
Speaker 3:That makes a lot of sense. It sounds like a lot of responsibility and it sounds like it definitely requires a good team of dedicated individuals to pull it all off. Yeah, what would you say is your favorite part of your role?
Speaker 1:Oh, the people I mean. Ultimately, I'm fortunate and humbled to have started as one of those part-time tellers. So it's a little bit of a Cinderella story of being able to grow through the ranks and so teller, banker manager, regional manager, market manager, territory exec, and so knowing what that feels like in the journey. So I am my own benefactor of what a strong career can mean for someone in the right organization and institution and so being able to pass that along. So first, on the employee side, developing, nurturing, recruiting, retaining the best talent is how you get to be able to tell these generational stories of humble beginnings to lasting impact and legacy, and so trying to deliver that. Uh. And again, look, there's only one role, there's only one of me at pnc bank, and so you know it'd be hard to create 20. Uh, that that's just not the way. But to be able to see careers start from Teller and today be branch managers, be regional managers, providing for their families, so it's truly a belief when you work in the financial services industry. It has to start from within. Our people. My people have to believe financial wellness is achievable in their own life before they can preach it to any client. So you have to be able to. You can't create a disconnect there, and so it really has to start from within, as you realize, and try to make my story come true in different ways for others, again, through development, hard work, grit, resilience, development.
Speaker 1:Then how does that transfer to your client? And so being able to be in a place where seeing people purchase their home for the first time, get a vehicle for the first time these are quintessential to social mobility, and so you'll find often landing someone, whether in a low to moderate income community, suburbia, rural America, the inner city everyone has their own journey. But you understand that a yes from a financial institution usually is the runway or the rails for other great things to happen. So you get a car, maybe you land a better job, you get a home, you start building a family, you start, there's other things that start maturing, and so if you invest in that, in your employees, create belief that it can happen to anyone, you transfer that motivation to your clients and then you're able to start seeing great stories happen.
Speaker 1:So I think I'm in the business of making great things happen for families in terms of social mobility, economic mobility, and again, that happens, one conversation at a time, and I think in 2024, we had a little over three and a half million pre-scheduled appointments. So think about that, what I just labeled happening over almost 4 million times in a year as we try to set to break a record and do that 5 million times in 2025. It's just great things that are happening. So a lot of clarity for our communities on how to move forward financially.
Speaker 3:That's remarkable and I appreciate what you shared, which, partly as someone in leadership now. One, you get more, I think, buy-in from your team when they know you've literally been in their seats and have done their role. And then, two, as you said, motivates of, motivates them to like recognize that, like economic mobility is possible, right, like you roll through the ranks in this company and are able to like continue to advance your own career and your own personal success in a way that I'm sure is inspiring to the folks that are working there. It's like all right, this is, this is possible. So can you, can you speak a little bit more about that journey? How long have you been with this particular company, with PNC?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so, on the heels of 11 years, spent the prior 11 years at JPMorgan Chase in a similar capacity. So I moved over laterally 11 years ago. So I used to run the branches out in Northwest Queens and then had a again a similar lateral role to do that in Northern New Jersey. Tough decision to make. It was outside of my time in the Army, really was the first leap into what I would call my professional career. And then again just found myself. I don't know. I don't know if it was necessarily aspiring to do more. I was trying to really start adding definitive mark to my own leadership stand and I just felt just like, with curiosity, which often is something that motivates me I'm just curious by nature and so I kind of follow these curious paths. But I wanted to go to a place where maybe I can showcase my skill sets a little different. I didn't take that decision lightly. It took about 14 months for me to finally make that move. Again, if you look at my resume, you won't find someone who leaps from one journey to another.
Speaker 1:I think there is value and loyalty in having a maturing career, in your ability to not only beat the goals that are set in front of you, but to beat yourself one year over the other year, and so often we claim victory after one year of success but then are nervous to try to do it again next year. Those are the things I love. I hold myself to a very high standard and so in 25, I'm going to compete against 2024 Chase, 2024 Jeff, and so that's always a big part Now in terms of my time at Chase and again appreciated the path because that got me from teller to regional manager and then found myself here again leading in a similar capacity. But my leadership skills I probably had more confident in how I showcase them, where I think there's any time where you're trying to look up and trying to emulate others versus trying to, like, dig in deeper to who you are and what you bring to the table. And I think that's what.
Speaker 1:When I made the leap to PNC, yes, I was nervous because it's a time like should I be like that other person I think is successful, or do I become myself in what I deem the path towards successes? So, again, some of that comes with age, professional maturity, but then, yeah, for the last 11 years I've seen again some very humbling success, but I think what's all centered is just hard work, some very humbling success, but I think what's all centered is just hard work. I think today, you know, we often dilute what hard work is, and I think there's a differentiation between doing your job, doing your job well and doing your job better than it's ever been done. Like the latter gets attention, and so you know.
Speaker 1:I think it's really how you personally, or everyone, sets their own bar. I try to figure out, like I love when someone says, but that's never been done before. That's like you want to motivate me. Tell me something that's never been done, as long as the laws of physics allow it to happen, and then you just create a scalable path towards success, not just one individual, you know, that wants to break records.
Speaker 3:No, that's great, and I also you know, I think it. I appreciate you sharing kind of making that leap right, because it can be a scary moment. Right, If you've been somewhere for 11 years, that means that's what you and your family are accustomed to. That means you have already progressed in your career and are at a comfortable level where you're like I can continue to do this and just keep growing here forever. Right, that's right. But you saw a gap in your own professional development and you said you know what? I think I can take what I've learned here and go implement that somewhere else in a way that can change things up. And now, 11 years later, you basically have a whole nother career in another place.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's funny. You mentioned about the stability. I think when I had told my dad I was leaving Chase, I think he almost had a heart attack. I mean just again back to the stability. And you know, as a first generation, like first time college graduate in the family, all the things that come from an immigrant Cuban dad and an immigrant Colombian mom, the stability that I had 11 years ago was like for them. The destination, it was like check, I did all I did to get my son to where he needed to. Then you come home and you say, you know I'm thinking of taking a risk here. That isn't welcome, that isn't welcomed in an immigrant Like you know. It's like, hey, I took all the risks for you. You got a good job.
Speaker 1:Your family, both loved ones, your parents, that this is the right decision, you know, definitely cements you in your decision, cause if you can't talk them into why you're doing it, you'll either talk yourself out, but but again, you know, I know they're, they're both proud. Obviously, since then my, my dad has passed, but my mom, you know, continues to ask me every day if you know if my teller box has been proven out. I'm like, sure, yeah, I guess you know, even though you know they can't naturally grasp what, what I do every day, they understand. You know hey do some big banking pieces. But yeah, for us in our community it's definitely a big family decision when it comes to making that big leap, when you felt like you may have, you know, hit a spot that generationally your family has never achieved.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, that's a lot of weight to carry, but that is also the reality for a lot of black and brown communities, especially those that are like first generation or first to go to college or any of those is like in the eyes of others. We've made the destination, as you said, but the practicality is, if we decide to own our careers, that can be the floor in some ways right. So we can go well beyond that and we have a vision of what that could look like. But the folks around us that have sacrificed so much to get us to that point may not be able to see to that level yet or to that destination that we have in mind yet, and sometimes it's not even clear to us. But we say let's leap forward and try to make it work though.
Speaker 1:Yeah, look, it's back to the curiosity. Like I think many of us, our careers are a reflection of how far we can see or believe, and so, like for my family, my parents, maybe they never even saw as far as that last position at Chase, and so sometimes you can get grounded, maybe that I never even saw as far as that last position at Chase, and so sometimes you can get grounded like that can be your destination and so, but if you're constantly curious like well, what would next be like, what would that be? And again kind of a core principle of mine, you know you're like all right, let's take this leap. And again I think, as the shift in career company, you know, I've become so much more ingrained in what I bring to the table, which again is earned over time and worked at and validated both externally and internally. I said, why not?
Speaker 1:What makes someone else different, the person who has that job? What do they bring to the table that I don't? And in some cases they do bring different things. So you either choose to learn it, rise up to those expectations, walk away I just I'm not a walk away kind of guy. You know, like let's figure this out, let me go and again lessons learned, you pivot, you shift, you learn, you humble yourself, but you're still always in forward progression versus trying to feel stagnant at any point. Just don't do well with stagnation.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, I love, I love that. So let's go back, let's talk about your upbringing. Were you born, raised, and what was that like? And around age 16, what did you think you were going to do with your life? Oh God, Crazy.
Speaker 1:So I was born and raised in Hudson County, new Jersey, so Union City, right across the river, which today it's even a primarily Latino Hispanic community, probably 98% Hispanic. It's why my mom still doesn't know English because she walks up and down the streets of Bergen Line Avenue and you don't need any English to be up and down Bergen Line, and so it resembles again a lot of the communities out in New York City, washington Heights, the Bronx, and so at one point it was predominantly a very Cuban-centric community, as you'll find throughout the country, and what I've seen is it could be diverse, but it could be heavy Mexican or heavy Dominican. I like the diversity of this part of New Jersey because it's very, you know, very diverse in a diverse community. You know grew up in a lower income household, lived in a four story walk up, so I think that's why I remained fit. Lower income household, lived in a four-story walk-up, so I think that's why I remained fit. I remember when my dad would do groceries, having to walk up and down four flights of stairs about five, six times before he got the groceries in, kept me fit. Also kept me loving constant mobility and sports and my parents never owned a home as a child. So we rented forever. My parents really focused on education and so where they might have used that money for vacations which we had very few or home ownership, they put into both of their kids' education. So my sister and I went to a Catholic school nearby that I think also grounded us, not only in at the time, maybe a little bit of a better education, but just being good people. And then went to an all-boys Catholic high school in Jersey City, hudson Capital, that I think again smaller school, just trying to, you know, again, coming from religious parents, found that you know the consequences that religion brings to an upbringing was going to be beneficial and it helped. And then ultimately went to Rutgers University again here in New Jersey, which again appreciate every aspect of my education. And at 16, you know I'd probably say there was an. You know computers. I was intrigued by computers at the time is that you know they were starting to really become mainstream.
Speaker 1:I always say I always had this salesman environment or embodiment of a good talker. So being young, encouraged to be an attorney, a lawyer, go into business, I remember for all the fundraisers selling chocolates I'd have to go sell mine and sell my sister's, because she was very introverted and timid, and so I had two classes worth of chocolates to sell and we'd knock it out in two hours. And so there was always this entrepreneurial spirit. I joke, even though it's true. I remember I was a business owner at nine years old. And it's true.
Speaker 1:I remember going up and down Bergen Line Avenue back to the theme of not staying still two of my neighbor neighborhood friends we wanted to wash windows. You know, in an urban environment I always saw like car washes on TV, like Saved by the Bell, would do a car wash to raise money or whatever. Now I can't do no car wash in the middle of an inner city, but there's definitely plenty of storefronts. And so I remember I'd go up and down Bergen Line Avenue with two of my friends with my parents' Windex bounty. So of course it was an easy way to make money because I was paying for nothing, just using all their stuff and probably walking into stores undercutting the real person who was washing their windows.
Speaker 1:Again, you got a cute nine-year-old saying, hey, I'll wash your windows for $2 or $3 to get comic book cards. And so I remember, from 9 to 12, 13, every Saturday, sunday probably, go out and wash 20, 30 storefront windows, made my own money, bought the you know things that I wanted. So I think early on there was always a spark of entrepreneurialism. You know, being a very social kid, that ultimately helped throughout, whether academically or ultimately professionally. You know, maybe the only thing in that upbringing that I didn't have charted out was my time in the army. That was a little bit of a left field way to pay for college, but but love again the leadership principles that I was able to get from from those nine years.
Speaker 3:Wow, okay, so a few things there. One at nine years old you were thinking about how to make some income by going out to Washington and that's like that is very unique and very much not like the norm for a lot of our bringings right. Like at nine, I was probably just home watching, you know, teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles while you were out right, and figuring that part out, and you know I always it's interesting. I don't know, maybe there's something to the just Latino seeing your parents here. But like, for me, part of it was like I got a job when I was like 12. Right, and I was like, yeah, it just made sense and that was normal. But like at nine, like what, what in you do you remember kind of what you were thinking at the time around, why that was an important thing to do?
Speaker 1:Yeah, in its simplest form. I wanted comic books and playing cards. You know I wanted. I wanted to get the next pack of baseball cards so I can get a God at that time. You know, probably not as early as like the time of Nolan Ryan or Ken Griffey Jr, but I just knew I wanted something and financially it just wasn't a place where my parents can provide, not because they wouldn't have wanted to.
Speaker 1:So you find yourself probably like most people, not only just as kids but as adults. What happens when you want something and hopefully the want has changed from a kid to an adult, but I just it's either you succumb to this, no, I'll never have it, or you have the mindset that says I'm going to get it. And I think the mindset that was being built at the time, 33 years ago, because I'm 42 today was a mindset that I've carried on. And so it's a good question to ask, because I think it was probably the first time consciously you decide without a catalyst of something to change I'm not going to get it.
Speaker 1:Now that catalyst could also be something negative. I think for many people that's the time where they choose a different path to get something. Mine was work, mine was trying to figure out a solution and again I remember being I know it was warmer out and kind of joking with these two friends around like do we wash cars? What do we get? And you came to this thing. Well, it's easy Windex, you, spray down, I can do that, I don't need a lot of technical things, water and a hose, and then that carried on and ultimately, like I said, probably till 12 at 12.
Speaker 1:So I started working for my father's business on the embroidery so we're probably most summers for kids and I had a ton of fun, but a lot of that was going to my dad's embroidery and helping him out for you know, for pennies to the dollar, but that's what you did in a family business. So I think I've never been scared to work. I've never been scared of hard work. I've never been scared of getting my hands dirty, and that's still so true today. Differently, like for me, maybe, going right to a branch and understanding what's happening, not trying to take a spreadsheet or words, but seeing it, hearing it and feeling it.
Speaker 1:That I love and that often in anyone who'll tell you I believe at PNC if I walk in and the lobby's dirty, I'm not telling someone to clean that up. I'm cleaning it up Now. If they're busy, right. If they're busy, I'm there telling them to clean up. If they're doing nothing, there's some lessons learned at that moment. But I have no problem in assisting and doing. I like it, I appreciate it. I want to be the catalyst for change through my actions, not my words.
Speaker 3:That's great. So many gems there, and I appreciate you sharing that because I think that's something that says a lot about your leadership and your leadership style, right, and just something that as we progress in our careers, like literally rolling up your sleeves and say, hey, let's go do this thing, is important, and I just think it's received differently from leadership. Folks are able to do that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's a strength, it's a power and, as others think about the benefit of having done all these jobs, it gets empowering. There's a sense of accountability when you do it. And so back to this example of, like a dirty entrance, the accountability to that team to see me go find something to clean that up, and the team around saying, hey, this is a leader layers and layers above what they may be used to interacting with on a daily basis and they did it To the right person. You get a sense of self-reflection that says why didn't I do it? Why did it take Jeff to come in before that was fixed?
Speaker 1:And so I've found that leading by example showcases again your ability to roll up your sleeves and be part of the team. But the accountability that that drives again to the right audience, it's tenfold in saying hey, your lobby's dirty audience, it's tenfold in saying hey, your lobby's dirty. So I use it in a place that it empowers and accelerates my leadership, not just because we shouldn't have a dirty lobby I mean we shouldn't Clients, I want it to be like someone's home but just it helps really push people forward. When you see their leader go up and take it, you know they reflect on their own leadership.
Speaker 3:Can you speak a little bit about your transition into the army, how you got there, kind of your time there and then the transition and that moment where you decided to also get out? Yeah, so hopefully the audience is like man.
Speaker 1:He talked nine years in the army, 11 years at Chase, 11 years at PNC. He either really exfoliates or there's something that overlaps. And so the Army's kind of overlaps with both my time at college at Rutgers as well as a good chunk of my time at Chase, and so I was a sophomore at Rutgers, was dating a girl whose brother was in the Army National Guard and kind of now wrapping up my third semester. This is pre-Iraq War, post 9-11, but pre-Iraq War. So still some action happening in Afghanistan, not a ton, not big deployments. And so in meeting I said look, rutgers, it's a state school, you get to go for free. I was a little bit worried about some of the scholarships and grants that I had been given, just trying to maintain all that. And he's like man, don't worry, school's free, you get a small stipend every month and you drink beer and shoot guns. And I'm like sign me up, man, that seems pretty good. As I went, took a semester off, tried to curate it, so it was just one semester off so I can just come right back to college. Well, during my time of basic training the war in Iraq started. I had come back for a semester and then got the orders to be deployed.
Speaker 1:So in 2004 through 2005, I spent just shy of two years almost two years deployed in Operation Iraqi Freedom. A year, a full year of that, was in country in Iraq and learned a lot. We had been reclassed as military police so we were the ones clearing the roads, based out of Tikrit, so Saddam's hometown, and it was tough. I mean, it was for sure tough we were not. It was not actually that the years in which I served earlier on were the deadliest years of the Iraqi freedom campaign, and so it was a tough environment. So what do you do in a tough environment? You either succumb to some of that, which, again, it's hard, and you can't blame someone who has it.
Speaker 1:It takes a lot of mental fortitude and resilience, but I found myself again leaning into this leadership that I've always been curious around and trying to refine, and I found myself doing some real critical jobs, that first tour, primarily in some of the intelligence briefings, some of the things that we led with some of the convoy movements at a much more junior rank. And that's probably where the biggest lesson that I've learned throughout my career, which is how to speak through value, not speak to just be heard. Because in some of these meetings I was overranked by two to three grades. And so in the military you can just be, you know. Like that's it. You can be, you know, stop talking in your tracks based on the hierarchical system. And so I found that I really had to be thoughtful in the words I was choosing, in the clarity and conciseness of my message. And when I built that, not because of my rank but because of the value of the message, I probably became one of the most referred to leaders in my company, again, much more junior than some during that first tour, but because I was seen as valuable, as thought-provoking, as one that kept soldiers safe, missions complete.
Speaker 1:And then, just as that mission was done and came back home and started wrapping up my educational career, my career started moving. I got deployed again, and so Uncle Sam got a second deployment out of me down in Southern Iraq, in Basra, where at the time we ran the largest detainee facility in the world. So a lot to manage back to the 15,000 employees. Almost 15, 16 years ago we had 30, 32,000 detainees at a Camp Bucca.
Speaker 1:And so just the movement, the choreography, the logistics allowed me to start again refining how do you control a lot when you're in control of very little? And back to this, like I'm only as good as my next line of leadership. I started to harness that in my second tour, like I can't all this movement. If I was the only one trying to own it all, failure was inevitable. But if I empowered, developed, coached, trained, held accountable that next level of leadership things move better. Everyone had their purpose, everyone had their mission, and then so that ended. That was 08, 09. I got out in December of 2011 after, again, nine years of service, not one because I, you know, obviously I'm very patriotic, but I didn't join for patriotic reasons.
Speaker 1:Back to the humility that comes from I needed money to get to college I wanted to graduate, I wanted to be a professional and that was the easiest way that I thought I can get it done. You'd ask me now, over two years in another country, but ultimately I would not trade that for the world. I mean those lessons learned that I used every day, and then even my conversion back to corporate America. To me, leading people is leading people. Motivating people is motivating people.
Speaker 1:A mission is a mission, and so there's things core that, as always, I get the common question of this military to civilian life transition. I think it's just the way you define what you were doing. Again, caring for people is caring for people, in a war-like environment or at home. It still takes the right string cords to do that. Your critical thinking through a life and death mission versus critical thinking through 2025's strategic planning. It's still important Now. It may not be the life of someone, but it may be the livelihood of someone that's at risk, and all those drive a tremendous sense of responsibility and urgency. And so, again, I've maybe never turned it off, turned it on. It's always been the same way of thinking. You just have to kind of reframe what's in front of you Absolutely.
Speaker 3:I'm sure it brings a lot of different perspective and understanding of what is urgent versus what is not. I think this is the part where I have to say absolutely Thank you for your service. Would be interesting to know if a lot of this self-reflection and awareness of the leadership skills that you obtained, did you recognize that in the moment, or is that more in hindsight, right Like, were you there realizing I have these missions, I have these tasks, I have these things I have to do? This is ultimately shaping me for a better future, or is it more like get the job done, get back home safe and we'll figure the rest out later?
Speaker 1:A hundred percent the latter, even though I'd be lying, and you know what they say. Hindsight is, you know, is always 20-20. And I think where that same thing you called out about at that moment was very much about the mission, very much about completing it, getting people safe. But what I learned, not only from that, even my earlier parts of career in banking and in finance, was, anytime I ever looked back, there were always lessons to be learned. Do now is shorten that learning curve. And so there's probably a lot more reflections in the moment today than there were back then.
Speaker 1:Because, again, often I tell people you don't know the story you're writing until you're able to read back the chapters you wrote. Like God, you started with some questions of early upbringing, washing windows, immigrant family, an LMI, community college, army God, it's a beautiful kind of tapestry of a story. Today, if you found me in any one of those chapters, I wouldn't even know how to connect the dots between all of them. As you've now come in and again back to always being true to myself, leading the way I want to lead, you will always find I'd rather fail being myself than succeed trying to be someone else. And so, like the things that I pinpoint and the lessons learned are real, true to me. I never have to be like, well, man, you were trying to be like rad, like, of course you failed in that, you were trying to succeed as someone else. And so today I'll talk to my team.
Speaker 1:I say one of the songs I play often is Michael Jackson's man in the Mirror.
Speaker 1:And I always say it starts with me and anything, as I start, as I debrief, as I reflect, what could I have done better, what could I have done differently?
Speaker 1:And so I always assume my own kind of guilt in something before I prove myself innocent, so kind of, you know, innocent until proven guilty. I treat myself as guilty until proven innocent. But through that kind of internal reflection has allowed me then again back to like empowering the urgency around leadership, once I know it's not me and I know it's you, the path to again your focus, your development, your accountability, whatever I have to do to move the needle, it's so fast versus like wait, maybe it was me, maybe it's this, maybe it's that, like getting to that root cause once beyond what you bring to the table is such an important, such an important part, yeah, so to your question, yes, at the moment and there's still some things that you need to get through first. But if you can shorten your learning curve and that like self-reflection, to be as in the moment as you, as best as you can like, I just think you just make off for a better leader, better human, better manager when you're constantly looking within versus looking out.
Speaker 3:That's great and you know you dropped a ton of gems there. I would ask if there are additional kind of career cheat codes that you've learned along the way that you know may be helpful for someone starting on the careers that sees you right now that wants to be at that kind of EVP level, right Like when you look at your path, right Like maybe one of those cheat codes is going to the army and getting your college paid for, right? Maybe some of it is additional things, so we'd love to hear some of them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'd say, you know, probably back to like. Even why I said yes to the army was back to curiosity, like I think it's a mindset. So there's things that are very tactical and tangible that people can start doing, but if the mindset doesn't change it'll be all for naught. And maybe that's a little too rough, because any lesson learned is important. So I don't want to say again any step forward is an important pace to take, but it's what is the mindset that you're bringing into it. And so what was my mindset going into the Army? What was my mindset going into corporate America, going into college?
Speaker 1:So that curiosity of wanting to learn more, know more, be informed, constantly learning is just so critical if you're going to do the most or best out of whatever journey you're in front of. The quote I probably use the most is no one cares what you know until they know that you care. Where that's been one of the most impactful ones is early on right. So you kind of start painting this picture of I've always wanted to exceed expectations, be the best, be number one, get there faster than anyone. But what I found earlier on is again, that's good if you want to go on your own. But if you want to bring others, you have to set the tone differently. It doesn't mean you change your bar, you change your expectations, but it's much different to have a goal set for yourself and a goal set for others, like with a group, the no one cares what you know until they know that you care.
Speaker 1:To me has come from. I've seen people with an awesome recipe and so probably often like what are your cheat codes that you bring to the table? I've learned the most Some of those cheat codes will lead others behind. Like that doesn't take away from the pedigree of the recommendation. It may be gold. It may be absolutely gold.
Speaker 1:But if someone doesn't know that you care, they're not often going to take all that advice. And so there is a form of like how do you build trust with an audience, especially as that audience gets bigger, where you don't have to repeat yourself, because what? Again? Back to the self reflection. The things I've had to repeat the most often is the ones I didn't stop to understand the audience, stop to build trust. And so when others may say, jeff, we don't have time to to make sure everyone knows that we care that this mission is critical, well, that is often the ones you reflect on, the ones saying, well, why wasn't that mission successful? Well, we lost the audience.
Speaker 1:The audience was never in there, and so it's this constant gut check. How are the things?
Speaker 1:I'm about to say, going to land on the people who are listening. And then often you pivot from saying things to doing things, because I think, and I've always thought, words are cheap. Actions is where value goes. Now I will similarly say that you have to declare. There is a sense of accountability in making that verbal declaration out in front of people. You got to say it to believe it. Making that verbal declaration out in front of people, you got to say it to believe it. But the turnaround time from your words to action have to be almost zero. I want to go to college. I'm going to go and start Googling best colleges to go in and my application is in process by end of day tonight. That is a declaration met with action.
Speaker 1:Often today, people, it's again the difference between like a dream versus anything else. Like dreaming is cheap. Actions is where the rubber hits the road, and so that kind of constant theme around no one cares what you know until they know that you care ensures that the world is more than just you. It's those around you and those you influence. And then how does that get married to a sense of action versus just a sense of you know words?
Speaker 3:That's great. I love that and you know it also ties back into what you mentioned earlier around trying to shorten the like, learnings from mistakes and, like it sounds like, generally part of the theme for you is being reflective and being intentional with everything you do. So you know, I appreciate you sharing that Very much From your story. You're very much, basically, the embodiment, the embodiment of the American dream, right, and I say that knowing wholeheartedly, like who I am and that I also embody that Right and like we are kind of the legacy that our like parents sought out to have and all that right. First, maybe it'd be helpful for you to share with the audience how you and I got connected.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, yeah, no, it's, it's great. Yeah, it's a good, good question. So I think about our awards. So, not having known each other before, and where are we, smith and Walensky's? What was the steakhouse? Smith and and Willis right.
Speaker 1:El Diario had selected the L Award. Right, it was the L Award, which was pretty awesome. Again, I did not expect it. Appreciate the community and everyone. That again as a community uplifting podcast, I love and appreciate the visibility.
Speaker 1:It was great seeing you at the Aspen Institute advancing economic pathways and focused on Latinos and Hispanics, and so we found ourselves giving some remarks in this Elle Award that I talked about, where Diario meant for not only our community but for my mom, my dad as well, and just hearing from them the energy again what would have been a litany of accomplishments, personally for me, for you, but then some of the things that start resonating with our community, especially our loved ones, and just telling my mom what it meant and that spark in her eye that again transcended a lot of other accomplishments I know for you, even with your graduate degree from Columbia University, and then ultimately it's not our degrees that are on our parents' refrigerator. It's a copy of El Diario and I just thought your words, how they resonated with me. So much similarity again. And I just thought your words how they resonated with me. So much similarity again, because a lot of similarities in our upbringing, our geography, but it was just good to see in that room, trailblazers, community activists, business leaders that I'm always grounded and humbled by and, frankly, motivated and inspired to say, like, what do I now do? Yes, as a milestone and being recognized for a moment in time.
Speaker 1:But I also say recognition is fleeting. What got me, what got us to that L award isn't necessarily going to be what gets us to the next form of recognition. And also it's not about the recognition. I appreciate those that recognize, but it's a reflection of, like, well, what work did I do that got me recognized? How do I continue to build on that scale, that and then, hopefully, similar to you, like, how do I get others recognized? Because I'd love to be able to be back in that L award for motivating someone else that then got into action, for motivating a group that got into action, and so that's probably my pivot in my career is the scalability of leadership that goes beyond what one person can do.
Speaker 1:But I want an army. I want an army out there that are focused on economic mobility, that are focused on driving diversity across our Fortune 500, 1,000 executive committee and board of directors that are out doing great things in our community, this constant pursuit of the American dream, but hopefully that evolves beyond just the fiscal side of it but to just being good people. You know, I think there's a lot in the American dream. You know, I think especially continues to be misconstrued with just money. But I'd say and look, money is important and there's plenty of podcasts, I've been on that if you can't take care of yourself, because of the economic and financial freedom that I've been able to build through hard work, philanthropically, I'm able to be generous, I'm able to put my dollars behind organizations and committees.
Speaker 1:So please don't take that. You need money, you need money. You need to be financially independent to be able to be a constant catalyst for change in this world. But that has to be grounded on just being a good person, which I think has to be quintessential with the American dream. If not, it's a very selfish one. And so hopefully again, that continues to be, you know, just blasted out for everyone to know and understand and everyone's own pursuit of their own American dream.
Speaker 3:Thank you, and thank you for sharing that Right. I think part of the reason why I like to share kind of how you and I connected is because of that. Right, like we, like you're really good at what you do and you're being recognized for the thing. Right, like the L Awards of all the Latino men in the country, you're like we're talking about 20, right, that's the first thing. Right, and you were part of that and also appreciate and wholeheartedly like embrace that notion of great. Now we need to make sure that others are also recognized and are there, and I was fortunate to actually attend again this year and support some of the other gentlemen that were being awarded this year. So you know I love that, and gentlemen that were that were being awarded this year. So you know I love that and I and I just appreciate being in community with folks, um, that are just like just crushing it in their own lane, yeah, so yeah, that part is great and every time I hope it's.
Speaker 1:I'm always humbled by whether the awards that I remember like and that's always a, you know, maybe a cheat code is to open your aperture on what's happening within your community. Because Because I think again when you and I were growing up, maybe again based on, we just didn't have the eyes on those disrupting the business community, the political community that look like us. There's a lot more of that today If you open your aperture for the mentorship or the intake, the books you read, the shows you watch. And I remember going back to something that really continued to resonate with what I can do was similar on the ward I had won the Young Hispanic Corporate Achiever Award through ACER, the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility, through Sid Wilson, which is a tremendous trailblazer and leader in our community. Dominicano, from Washington Heights, lives in Jersey and when I sat around that room for leaders all 40 and under, and it was a four-day kind of cultural immersion, cultural immersion and seeing leaders across the transportation industry, medicine, technology all that looked came from similar backgrounds. That was probably the first smack in the face that told me you're not doing enough and but in the right way, like it wasn't in the wrong way, just not even doing enough professionally, doing enough in your community.
Speaker 1:And you need these moments where you're reminded or grounded.
Speaker 1:I was grounded in that moment Again I was probably 31, 32, where I thought again I was walking on water doing things that my parents couldn't have dreamed. And then you just get grounded and said and I can accomplish more for good reasons, not only for myself and my family, but for the community. And so you have to seek those out, be in those rooms where you're awestruck by someone that looks just like you, achieving things that you never thought possible. I love being awestruck because it's such a motivator. I want to be the first one clapping, high-fiving but then taking that back and saying what does that mean? Because your bar just got reset, you thought you were here, you just got here, and again all in the right sense, and saying now let me work my way back up and let me pull everyone up there with me. So just again, find that open aperture to be in awe by the community, the community that we serve, the community that we belong, and it's just an accelerant in the mindset that you hold.
Speaker 3:That's great. You mentioned money is important. I like to be a good catalyst, for you can do good and do well. Can you share with folks, as an executive vice president at a large bank, what is the range of money you can make in those types of roles? Right, well?
Speaker 1:it ranges a lot, obviously, in the financial services industry, I would say the impact financially could for sure be one to sustain a family, grow a family, be into a philanthropic side In our world. A lot of it is performance-based and so, yes, a base salary that you know. I would say, again, blessed. I would have never thought I'd be sitting in the seat that I am, even though, again, I worked hard as hell to get here. But a lot of it is performance-based and that's you know. If you're in one that wants to be financially recognized for your hard work, I'd say a world of banking, of finance, of investment banking is your world and that means that, again, I see it as a lot of control. I control my destiny by my output, the hours I choose to work, how hard I want to go hard, the impact I want to make. Now, again, a lot of that today goes beyond just me as an individual and really the team that I manage and what they are able to do.
Speaker 1:I'm only as good as the 15,000 men and women that serve our clients day in and day out, and then the strategy and enablement that I'm able to drive, but it is. I mean, it is a financially lucrative career at truly all levels, based on experience, based on education, based on performance. But we're definitely a pay for performance, not only organization, but frankly, a career, and that's probably said across all other financial institutions.
Speaker 3:Yeah for sure. So to make sure, because I know I have some folks that are going to hit me up after it's like wait, well, can I make 70 grand to 200 grand, or is this more like 150? You know what I mean. I just think I recognize the value in people just understanding some level of like and again, we're talking about 22 years into your career, right, we're talking about someone that has, like started out as a teller and has risen through the ranks and now, when you're able to like oversee branches throughout a country, kind of generally, kind of, where does that set you with your peers around that area?
Speaker 3:Yeah, and again, this could be a range and I know it'll vary. Depends on where you live, what bank you're at, all the things a lot of variables.
Speaker 1:There's so much variables that that's what makes it hard to kind of quantify just because of the amount of jobs. Again, especially if you're a large financial institution that has layers, obviously as your responsibility grows, your compensation grows. There's things in terms of again, you want to make sure at any financial institution that you're being rewarded, not only short-term but long-term, and you see that show up again in the industry in terms of equity throughout the years, because you want to have the fiduciary responsibility that I'm making a decision today. That is not only good for today, it's good for three years from now, five years from now, and so rewards also vary as you get into senior leadership to make sure that your eyes on the ball for a legacy, not just a week, a quarter of results.
Speaker 1:So there is so much. I'd say. If you look at most of our branches, you know it is and can be a six-figure role to lead one of our branch networks. You know one of our branches, so you go in and you know, say, our branch in 11 Pet Ave, across from Madison Square Garden. You know it's a very large financial institution. Again, someone who's leading that location could do really well. Similar with 340 Madison, the 200 branches we have in New Jersey are again the 2,300 branches.
Speaker 1:So it is a wide range from individual contributors. So, teller banker, as you start leading people, that starts changing. Also, incentive takes a different toll where individual may be a little bit quicker versus as you lead bigger audiences could be semi-annual, annual. So a comp philosophy could be so complex and also evolve from institution to institution. So the way PNC pays versus Chase or Bank of America or Wells Fargo, again, we all want to remain competitive and we are, but even the timing can change and evolve.
Speaker 1:So it is a hard. I wish I could come in and say a hard number what I can absolutely do. It's definitely a worthwhile career that we build, like I, and maybe this will help. I had a meeting with my directs and some of their directs and there was maybe 20 people in the room, probably a little bit less, I'm thinking maybe it was around 18. And that group almost had 400 years of experience.
Speaker 1:And so if you think about from an industry and maybe one of the best ways I don't know an industry that keeps people and I think this is something also special to PNC, where you're not in your career for 20, 30, 35 years, if, one, you haven't loved it. Two, you haven't been rewarded and recognized. Three, you haven't seen your own career mobility. And four, you haven't made a good living throughout it. And so you will see, as people start performing well, we retain them, they grow and they stay and I think that helps kind of validate the right pay methodology we've taken internally. And again, that may vary across the industry, but feel real good about the way you know we work and compensate our people.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's helpful and I think you know I'm especially thinking for folks that are like tellers now, right, and I think you've given a lot of career cheat codes on like what is important to then be able to grow into how you show up personally as a leader and taking on the things that maybe are technically below your pay grade.
Speaker 3:But the way that you show up is the way that you inspire, is the way that others see you, is the way that others recognize the value that you're adding to this company, and I just appreciate being able to provide some folks with a glimpse into what life could look like 20 years down the line if you stick with it. Yeah, and if you're like intentional about the work that you're doing and, as you mentioned, not just within your role, but like how you show up as an individual outside, how you show up to board, how you do, how you show up at employee resource groups, how you show up to make sure that your community is thriving and evolving because you're part of it, right. So you know, just appreciate that, because I just think it's. I just think it's really important for people to see themselves as a holistic person, owning their career and what that means and how they show up, you know, as members of our community.
Speaker 1:So thank you for that, and that's a great call. Like you know, you want to be able to be in a company and in a career that you can grow. It's not where you start, as you alluded to it's the aspiration that you have, and that's probably the biggest thing.
Speaker 1:I joined PNC because it matched my aspiration. It wanted to grow as I wanted to grow, and so there's so much beyond just the dollars, because, trust me, I've seen dollars cause people to make the wrong career decision, but to see and be able to say I can join this financial institution as a teller and grow to be a manager, regional manager, like that's. The organization I work at is one that again wants people that have big aspirations but then is matched by the actions that they take. The advice I give, often like your day should mimic the job that you want, not the job that you have. And so often I'll ask the question in any interview and I either get an answer that is a hypothetical or is one ingrained in actual action. And so what I often get and these are the people that don't get the job is, when I get the job, here's what I will do, versus I've always wanted this job and so here's what I've been doing. That latter they're ready to jump in the job.
Speaker 4:They have found a way, not because their job today said they had to do it but because they said I know I want to be a manager, so let me start coaching my peers, let me start giving advice. Hey, I'm successful. Let me share that success with others and see if I can scale my success in them. Now I'm like hey, I'm in the interview saying, hey, rad, here's what like why do you think I'm a good manager?
Speaker 1:Let me show you these two bankers. They were not performing. I spent some time gave them my tips.
Speaker 4:I gave them my career. Cheat codes Now look at their performance.
Speaker 1:Now, You've already done the job, and so like yes, it's important to be part of an ambitious organization be able to see and ask hey, tell me the last time a banker became a regional manager. Tell me the last time a manager became a market, like when a company has those stories they've created the rails for career progression. Run towards that, don't always run to. Oh, that's $5,000 more Like that may be good for today, and I've seen people that have jumped for that money first and are in the same position 20 years later than they were when we shared the same position, 20 years later than they were when we shared that same role 20 years ago.
Speaker 1:Just because the focus was the dollar, not the career, not the impact, not the company.
Speaker 3:That's awesome. Are there any forms of media that could be books, podcasts, newsletters, things that you've consumed that have just helped you along your path personally or professionally?
Speaker 1:Yeah, a couple books, maybe some of the earlier ones. Maybe you've heard it kind of resonate throughout my commentaries everything around emotional intelligence. So, like Daniel, goleman was probably the first book I read around working with emotional intelligence. That's really what started my internal curiosity around the way I lead, the words I say, and so that was probably for me a bedrock that then built out into some other key themes. So I'd say anything around EQ, emotional intelligence, especially if you are leading people or want to lead.
Speaker 1:I'm a fan of shorter articles so I'm a big fan of anything that's a Harvard Business Review. Usually about every couple years they'll come out with the Harvard Business Review essentials. It'll range between 10 to 20 of the year's most profound kind of articles or reading. So I love spending some time on some Harvard business reviews, some key books. One from Bill Campbell called the Trillion Dollar Coach has been a recent read that I love. He was a Columbia University football coach for years, not with the best record, but then ultimately became a coach to God everyone in Silicon Valley from Bill Gates, god, I think, like Jeff Bezos I mean just a tremendous coach, and that's why they call him because those that he coached equated to over a trillion dollars in market cap, and then again I start my day with CNBC just because I want to hear what's happening thematically across the business world, not just in the financial sector. I'm always on Yahoo Finance Again, I'm probably reading anything from the Wall Street Journal, just again, constantly trying to understand what's happening broadly. Podcasts been a couple, not a ton, I'd say.
Speaker 1:I like to experience things. I'd probably say the thing that differentiates me the most. I love to travel, but not travel to just always be in an all inclusive. I like to just I gauge a lot by global experiences. I'm in the arts. I like to just enjoyipsed 75 countries, and so that's probably my biggest learning. I'm one country away from knocking all of Central America out, which is Honduras, and hopefully I'll be there soon.
Speaker 1:I'm a big diver and so, yes, I love to read, I love to take things in, but I apply them in my everyday life and that causes by seeing. Again, I like to be humbled in my travel and, with my kids, just letting them understand that what they experience every day is not what the world experiences, and so, whether it's in Africa or Asia, I'm probably very experiential and cool things. I'm a big diver. I loved when I got to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, and so it's just, you know, I want to see how far I can push myself mentally and physically. And then that allows me to kind of circle back. I think maybe one of my favorite posts I ever did on LinkedIn was my 10 takeaways from my climb to Kilimanjaro and like that, like that is often, I even reflect sometimes on my own words and so, yeah, that'd be my advice, like read it, see it, uh, but then you got to figure out a way to live it.
Speaker 3:I love that. Is there anything else we haven't discussed today that the world should know about? Jeff?
Speaker 1:God, I think we definitely covered a lot, so I appreciate your questions. No, I um, you know, maybe finally, just just again, I sit in the seat that I'm very humbled to hold and proud to hold and try to do good every day for all those around and you know, I know as you're doing and try to give a a speaker box for for those that you've encountered that have a story to tell. Again, I'm proud about what we continue to do at PNC as we continue to grow. What's allowed me to do, you know, even love interacting with our board of directors, who is probably one of the most diverse board of directors in the Fortune 500. Having and seeing a Latino board of director on our board is inspiring, and so, like we walk the walk, we talk the talk, and I think that makes us special and I think that's why we'll continue to win as an organization and I hope to continue to be part of that winning. You know, dna.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. And you know, I think that's one of the things that gravitated me towards you right, like we were again both award recipients, so like everyone in the room is like really impressive, right Then. But then it's the like, your perspective, your humility to do it all, and then I'm like wait, this guy has a lot of responsibility, like this guy has a like you like manage a lot and are responsible for a lot, and like you're still very down to earth, very much like just that humble kind of perspective, and I just like it just kind of gravitated me towards you for sure. So I just appreciate you definitely taking the time to do this, sharing a lot of these gems that I hope folks can learn from and take something away from it. So I appreciate that.
Speaker 1:I appreciate you, Appreciate your time, your leadership and your impact my man.
Speaker 2:I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did and believe on the mission we're on, please like, rate and subscribe to this podcast on whatever platform you're using, and share this podcast with your friends and your networks. Make sure you follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn at Career Cheat Code and tell us people or careers you would like to see highlighted. See you next week with some more cheat codes. Peace.
