As the CEO of Leaders Bank, Jim Lynch knows something about resilience and longevity in his career. With 31 years in the banking industry he's seen some very challenging times.

"My most challenging experience from a business perspective is the last 18 months. That's been the most difficult by far. What has happened with the meltdown of the financial markets and now the lingering aftereffects - our customers are still struggling."

Jim knows that his ability to stay cool, calm, and consistent makes all the difference to his customers, his organization and his board.

He believes in constant, consistent communication, and in demonstrating that he is listening. "I need to be open to ideas and input on how to manage through. Personally I constantly examine myself to say "are you doing things correctly?" I want to be consistent and reliable, so that people can expect how I (will) react. That consistency and reliability is so important. I have to state a vision - we will get through this."

As CEO, Jim Lynch knows everyone is watching him. He feels stress just like everyone else, "I have to make sure I manage my stress properly. People would react negatively if they saw me flying off the handle, I have to be particularly mindful.. (that) they are not afraid of me losing my mind, yelling and screaming. Consistency and reliability are very important traits regardless of the environment, but they are particularly important when the environment is particularly stressful and hard to manage."

"I want to make sure that I communicate to all of our people and our board as best I can - to set expectations properly and communicate properly around those expectations. Not to sugar coat things to people, but to be very honest with them about it. To be open to various ideas and input as to how best to manage through these difficult times. Personally, the way I cope with it is I just constantly examine myself. "

"I make sure I don't lose my temper, that I'm consistent and reliable. That people can reasonably expect how I'm going to react." People know what to expect when they come to him. "The vision that there is a way through this malaise. We will get through it, and we will not have to reinvent ourselves as a bank."

Lynch focuses on the culture of his organization, realizing that the culture of his workplace dictates the office atmosphere. He realizes everybody has to deal with stress and he works to maintain the positive organizational culture he has created. "I think the culture is a warm blanket you can use to insulate yourselves in very difficult times."

Lynch realizes his colleagues' days are often front-loaded with stress based on what they read in the newspaper. He understands his staff can pick up the paper on Friday and see that more banks have been closed. This is further evidence that Lynch has to manage his own reactions to the ongoing news as well as manage the culture of the organization.

One way of the keeping tabs on the pulse of his office is through workplace/outcome measurement surveys. These surveys have revealed his staff is stressed, yet they understand what is happening, are communicated with properly and, most importantly, they understand the bank's vision and plan. This leads to a realistically positive culture in which the employees believe they will work together to get through it.

Lynch tracks external events and analyzes what he sees as the salient reasons why banks close. He specifically targets bank failures. Addressing them like case studies, Lynch studies their failure as a means of distinguishing his bank from other banks. Lynch is extremely confident in his bank's ability to do things differently in order to avoid the pitfalls others have fallen into, and shares this with his employees.  There's a positive message here. "We're not an 80 pound weakling. We're not on life support."

This consistent, thoughtful expression permeates through his organization. Lynch's way of tracking and analyzing external events helps him to maintain a realistic optimism for his bank. Aware that most of his people have, at one point or another, thought about the possibility that the bank may not survive, Lynch openly talks about these feelings.