ICBC keynote · Leadership in the crisis era
Prepare your bank for its next hard decision.
Work with Chris Myers to align your leadership team on who decides, what to protect, and how to act when confidence is shaken.
Talk with Chris directly, or try four untimed steps. No app account required.
Christopher Myers · CEO, B:Side Capital
Author, The Fourth Turning Leader · Entrepreneurship instructor, Arizona State University Meet Chris
Put the keynote to work on a decision that matters.
Bring one consequential decision to a working session led by Chris. A diagnostic helps surface the team’s default responses under pressure; the session turns those insights into shared commitments and a written decision record.
- The room
- Your executive team, with selected directors when the decision calls for them.
- The format
- A half- or full-day workshop, with diagnostic preparation scoped to your team.
- The work
- One live decision. Clear authority, explicit tradeoffs, and a next action.
Prepare for a confidence crisis.
Examine how leaders will communicate and act while facts are still emerging.
Resolve a consequential disagreement.
Surface competing obligations when directors and executives see the same situation differently.
Protect continuity through a leadership transition.
Clarify which commitments must endure and where decision authority sits.
What your team leaves with.
Clear decision authority
Who decides, who contributes, and who must be informed.
Explicit commitments
What the bank must protect and the tradeoffs leaders are prepared to accept.
A written decision record
The reasoning, remaining uncertainty, first action, and conditions for reconsidering.
Illustrative decision record · fictional bank
09:15. A report is circulating. The figures are incomplete. The next public update is due in 45 minutes.
Completed fictional example. This demonstrates the format, not a client outcome or advice for a real bank.
- Decision
- Issue a brief update at 10:00 using verified facts. State what is still being checked and commit to another update at 11:00.
- Authority
- The CEO approves the message after Treasury verifies the figures and counsel reviews the wording. The board chair receives the same briefing.
- Commitments
- Give customers and branch staff the same verified account. Keep customer access, payroll, and continuity visible in every decision.
- Tradeoffs accepted
- Accept a limited first update and further questions rather than imply certainty we do not have.
- Remaining uncertainty
- The withdrawal total and the source of the circulating report remain unverified.
- First action
- By 09:30, Treasury sends verified figures to the CEO; operations prepares a matching branch briefing.
- Reconsider when
- Review at 10:30, or sooner if verified figures, customer access, or the source report materially change.
The agenda and retained documents are agreed when an engagement is scoped.
A bank confidence crisis.
Forty-five minutes to respond.
FICTIONAL EXERCISE · INTERNAL BULLETIN
An internal report is circulating publicly. Withdrawals are reportedly above normal. Treasury is still reconciling the figures, and the board wants a statement.
Depositors need access to savings. Local employers need to meet payroll. Branch staff need instructions they can trust.
Try the bank crisis rehearsal
Explore the work on your own first. Make your first call, respond to new information, and keep a brief of your reasoning.
Try the bank crisis rehearsalNo account required. Four untimed steps. The deadline is part of the fictional scenario.
Bring this work to your leadership teamLet’s talk about your bank’s next hard decision.
Tell Chris what your team is facing. Start with a general topic; you do not need a finished brief.
- Chris reviews your note. You’ll receive a reply within two business days.
- Discuss the decision and the people involved. Explore whether a diagnostic, workshop, or advisory engagement fits.
- Agree the scope before work begins. Participants, timing, fees, and retained documents are set together.
Diagnostic engagements: from $7,500. Workshops: from $18,000. Scope depends on the team and the decision.
Before we talk
Do we need to use the app first?
No. You can start with a conversation about your bank and the decision your team faces.
Who should participate?
Usually the executive team, with selected directors when the decision involves board responsibilities. Participants and scope are agreed before the engagement.
Is this banking, legal, or regulatory advice?
The work focuses on leadership judgment, decision authority, and team commitments. Your banking, legal, regulatory, and financial advisers remain responsible for their respective disciplines.