From marketer to top honcho: marketing experience is more valuable than ever as a ladder to upper management. Here's how five bank CEOs/presidents used marketing backgrounds to climb to higher leadership positions.

• Author: Bernstel, Janet Bigham
• Position: Cover Story

These days, corporations are hiring CEOs and presidents with more diversified career backgrounds. The shift is toward talent with "general managerial" experience in a range of disciplines versus a "single career" focus. The reason? Company life cycle or market conditions may require a different skill set at the helm--and a varied job history can be just what the board is looking for, according to "2002 Route to the Top," an annual study of Fortune 700 CEOs prepared by Chief Executive/Spencer Stuart.

Traditionally, four distinct work areas have been seen as fast-track ladders to the top: finance, operations, marketing and sales. Today, more corporations are looking for leaders who combine their experience in at least two of these areas.

A similar trend has also been observed in the banking industry. More and more CEOs/presidents are being selected because their background extends beyond finance--to include other areas such as marketing.

That fact should be good news to ambitious bank marketing professionals, who have a unique opportunity to combine the disciplines of finance and marketing.

In this article, we'll look at five presidents/GEOs in the banking industry who credit their hands-on knowledge of the marketing department as key in their career success. Each one's journey to the top slot was different, yet similarities abound, especially in the pursuit of knowledge and the desire to rise in the organization. When opportunity knocked, their marketing experience proved to be an asset.

L. GARY WRIGHT

President of Farmers & Merchants Bank, since 1977

President/CEO of FMB Banking Corp., since 1982

President/CEO of FMB Financial Services Inc. and FMB Insurance Services Inc., since 2000

Monticello, Fla.

Marketing Experience

Business Development & Marketing Officer for Peoples Bank, Tallahassee, Fla. 1969-1974

Education

ABA School of Bank Marketing & Management, University of Colorado

ABA Graduate School of Bank Marketing, University of Wisconsin

Graduate School of Banking of the South, Louisiana State University

IBAA School for Senior Bank Officers, Harvard University

Set Goals, Hone the Skills

Timing, luck and opportunity -- that's what it takes to get to the top, says L. Gary Wright, president of Farmers & Merchants Bank in Monticello, Fla. Of course, those are the three elements one can't really control. You can set goals for yourself, says Wright, then hone the skills to meet those goals, such as leadership and communications.

"Most marketing people have strong communications skills. If you can catch those people who are naturally extroverted and enhance those skills in the right environment, it's very important."

That's what happened to him in the Army, which he joined right after high school, like so many post-WWII teenagers following the footsteps of their military heroes. The discipline of infantry school and later, leadership training, provided him with fundamental skills he still uses today.

"Leadership skills teach you integrity, unselfishness and empathy of the people who are working for you," explains Wright. "Couple leadership and good communication skills along with attitude and aptitude, and you can go a long way."

After completing his military duty, Wright worked in his father's trucking company, eventually becoming a traveling account representative. That sales and marketing experience brought him in touch with another trucking company owner, who happened to be the director of Peoples Bank in Tallahassee.

"They were looking for a sales and marketing person," says Wright. "I felt unprepared and not educated enough, but I interviewed, passed and came to work."

From his...