What type of leadership will best serve the mortgage industry in the future?
Jim Collins, the author of “Good to Great” highlights qualities in a sort of leader rarely found on Wall Street, corporate America, or politics. He’s discovered that many of the reliably successful leaders combine “extreme personal humility with intense professional will.”
Where were those leaders in 2008? It is now well established that the American economy suffered a near-fatal blow that year. The lack of leadership, from Congress to Wall Street to the financial industry, was almost systemic.
In a 2010 New York Times column, journalist David Brooks, refers to Collins’s leadership example of the “Humble Hound.” Rather than pretend to have all the answers, the Humble Hound “knows the world is too complex and irregular to be known, so life is about navigating uncertainty.” Bravado is kept to a minimum. The Humble Hound “tries not to fall for the seductions that Collins says mark failing organizations: the belief that one magic move will change everything; the faith in perpetual restructuring; the tendency to replace questions with statements at meetings.”
Joe Garrett, a principal at Garrett, Watts & Company, wrote in American Banker in 2008: “We have long known that Directors aren’t supposed to micro-manage, and as the cliché’ goes, the Director’s job is to direct, and not to manage.” Yet he continues, “There are simply too many of us who doubt that boards looked at their companies’ foray into mortgages with as much rigor as was needed.”
These reflections are important at this time – but not in order to continue the bashing. They are important in order to encourage and recruit the types of leaders who do the right thing, fiercely and with integrity. Now more than ever, the mortgage and financial services industry will benefit from tough minds and humble hearts.
Mortgage Broker vs. Mortgage Banker
Many consumers lack a clear understanding of the difference between a mortgage broker and a mortgage banker.
A mortgage broker essentially brings a borrower and lender together. He or she typically assembles and completes mortgage applications and may negotiate borrowing terms with a number of lending institutions.
Mortgage banks are state-licensed banking entities that make mortgage loans directly to consumers. A mortgage banker, therefore, underwrites an applicant and provides its own funds. The mortgage banker assumes the credit, compliance, and fraud risk associated with a loan.
Rancho Financial Mortgage combines both the resources of a mortgage broker and a mortgage banker in serving clients.
