My grandson loves books (a passion of mind too). He especially likes books with colorful and expressive pictures. One of his favorites is “The Pout-Pout Fish” by Deborah Diesen with pictures by Dan Hanna.

I was reminded of the message in this book during our monthly church Deacon meeting (via Zoom) and our lesson of the day, “Do Not Grumble Against One Another”. It was an excellent lesson based much on Moses and the Israelites fleeing from Egypt to freedom.

You know the story – Israelites wanting freedom, then complaining about the heat, the water, the food and much more.

Jorge (our deacon who taught the lesson) likened Grumblers to termites that eat away at the foundation of the church, the community, and dare I say, a business.

How we face challenges says a lot about us. COVID-19. Being a part of a changing industry that will continue to change even more in the future.

While we may not like the issues we face, not liking them or grumbling about them will not change them.

What will change – must change – is how we look at the challenges. Positive energy versus negative energy is required. We must support one another as we deal with changes (opportunities) instead of complaining about changes that will not be stopped.

As we see all around us, many banks are throwing up their arms and surrendering.

I hope that we roll up our sleeves and meet the challenges.

We can. We will.

Stay safe.

– Leton

____________________________________________________________________
“Letters From Leton” is a blog series comprised of the weekly updates that Leton Harding – President, Chairman, and CEO of Powell Valley National Bank, shares with the Bank’s team members. These newsletters are full of uplifting anecdotes and intriguing insights that are applicable beyond the Bank, so we want to share them with you.