Jeff Wilkinson is a longtime Austin entrepreneur, currently serving as the chairman and CEO of Keystone Bank. With his personal and unique human-centric approach to banking, Jeff leads Keystone Bank to focus on integrity, honesty and resilience. Jeff has over 28 years of experience in the financial and business industries with a focus on finance and business development. He has led various organizations in their expansion of locations and increased their assets.
Entrepreneurial Role Models:
- Elon Musk
- Jamie Dimon Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co
When business started difficulties overcame:
“I don’t even know where to begin. I’ve always been that one that’s always wanted to lean on the growth and sales side no matter whether I was in my CPA firm or working in the banks… I guess what difficulties did you have to overcome when you start a business? Some is just credibility. Like well you can’t know what you are talking about you are young… You just have to overcome that credibility gap. The bottom-line is you have to believe in yourself and you have to be honest and you got to be able to tell somebody what you are and what you are not and I think they are equally important ”…[Listen for More]
Favourite Books:
The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate The Three Essential Virtues Book by Patrick M. LencioniFavourite Quote:
“be ready to bring your track shoes and don’t let grass grow under your feet because you have never had an opportunity like this in your life to be successful”
Recommended Online Resources:
- LinkedIn is a business and employment-oriented service that operates via websites and mobile apps. Founded on December 28, 2002, and launched on May 5, 2003, it is mainly used for professional networking, including employers posting jobs and job seekers posting their CVs.
- Google LLC – is an American multinational technology company that specializes in Internet-related services and products, which include online advertising technologies, search engine, cloud computing, software, and hardware.
Best Advice to Other Entrepreneurs:
“Just kill it. Get out there and kill it. What are you waiting for…? You got to take every call and you got to answer call and you got to take every meeting. And I would say the modern-day entrepreneur/CEO founder you need to be accessible. People need to know that it’s okay to reach out to you. And you need to be accessible to everybody. I just think that’s so critical going forward. The old days of the veil of secrecy behind the leader and the inaccessibility being a key trait that people feel privileged to get the time with you I just think that’s bullshit”…[Listen for More]
More About Jeff Wilkinson:
Neil’s Quote at the Beginning:
“And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance… I hope you dance.” I Hope You Dance, Lee Ann Womack
Other Quotes From the Chat with Jeff Wilkinson:
- “Trusting your gut but listening to others. Isn’t that the fine Line of every entrepreneur? We think we have all the answers and I make good decisions and I’m going to invest money in this because this is going to pay off. A lot of times people can’t see your thinking and it’s helpful to have people around you that will respect you if you still make the decision you wanted to make even if it differs from them but if you listen to them over time, you will think I’ve learned that even though I am capable of making quick decisions there are some decisions that if you give yourself a little bit of time to talk about…”
- “Do you love what you do? If you don’t love what you don’t do, don’t do it. Don’t be something that you are not”
- “You are either humble or you are about to be. So why not be humble first because it will save you a lot of embarrassment later… It isn’t just one that makes somebody great it’s multi-faceted and not everybody is great at the same thing. And we all have something we have to work on”
- “You have got to find hungry people and you have to find a way to instil it and encourage it and write out of people because I think it’s in everybody. And you have got to be people smart, you can’t just be book smart… The people who sit around you have to want to be around you. The like you, they have to respect you ”
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