R. Scott Anderson.

• Author: Parry, Amanda
• Position: Financial Services

CEO, BANK OF GRANITE GRANITE FALLS

Early lesson: Born in Louisville, Ky., and raised in Charlotte, he got a bachelor's in psychology at Carolina and took one of the first jobs he was offered: collecting past-due loans for Forsyth Bank and Trust in Winston-Salem. "That's where I first learned to sell. You have to sell the customer on paying you before he pays anybody else. It's all about building relationships."

Talk about a rock and a hard place. When Scott Anderson took over as CEO of Bank of Granite in January, what Warren Buffett once called "the best-run bank in the United States" was facing a crisis of its own making. A few months earlier, Nasdaq had threatened to delist it for failing to file third-quarter earnings. When it finally did in February, it reported a loss of $22 million--$1.40 a share--because it said it needed to set aside $42.7 million to cover bad loans. It ended up losing $15 million in 2007.

"We are embarrassed by the situation we find ourselves in," Anderson says, "but it is something that has happened and must be dealt with. It's not easy because you want to be out first with your numbers and have them reliable and accurate. This is not an enviable position, and we don't intend to be here again." Bank of Granite's reputation was what had drawn him when he was recruited as chief operating officer in 2004. "It has had an iconic place in North Carolina banking. It was a more than flattering opportunity."

In 30 years of banking, Anderson has witnessed the waves of consolidation that have transformed the industry. A branch manager with Forsyth Bank and Trust at 22, he became a commercial lender...