1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 IF YOU COULD SIT DOWN WITH YOUR BANK’S CEO AND ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT THEIR CAREER JOURNEY, THOUGHTS ABOUT THE BANKING INDUSTRY, OR EVEN WHAT THEY DO IN THEIR SPARE TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU ASK? IN THIS FEATURE, NEW JERSEY BANKER WILL ASK THE QUESTIONS FOR YOU! WE ASKED JOHN S. FITZGERALD, PRESIDENT & CEO, MAGYAR BANK, SOME QUESTIONS. THANKS FOR SITTING DOWN WITH US JOHN! How did you get started in banking? I started in banking working for Hudson United Bank in Union City in 1986 right after graduating college. What advice do you have for young bankers starting their career? Have a positive attitude and make yourself available to help your bank in any way possible, whether it be participating in community events or taking on extra work. Why do you feel it’s important for banks like Magyar to be associated with NJBankers? It is vital to advocate for the industry, both politically in Trenton and DC, and in getting out the message of the great things community banks are responsible for in their communities. What trait does the modern banker need to have to be successful? Be persistent and you don’t know what you can do until you try. Over the course of your career, what is the biggest shift you’ve seen in banking? COVID changed the human interaction in banking both internally within the Bank and with our interactions with our customer. We are slowly getting that back. What is the difference between being a boss and being a leader? Do not always try to find the perfect consensus. Great leaders are simplifiers who listens to input and offers a solution everyone can understand. Maybe not agree with, but understand. What piece of advice do you wish you had known when you started your career? Don’t be in awe of titles and experts but listen to everyone to learn. What community projects has Magyar participated in that touched you the most? We have a staff and culture that breeds service in the community. If it is making meals at a soup kitchen or Ronald McDonald House, providing financial literacy classes to our Spanish speaking neighbors or handing toys out to sick kids and their siblings at the hospital, every time I see our staff and customers provide for a need in our community I am touched. What’s the best advice you ever received? Be optimistic, it always serves you best in the end. What helps you stay objective? Having good and smart people around me and listening to their input. I know I am not the smartest person in the room so listening to others to form a solution is the best process. Where do you find your inspiration? Family and friends and realizing how lucky I am to have a strong support network. What was your biggest ‘aha’ moment? When I served on a committee evaluating and offering a solution regarding a project early in my career. I had just done a lot of research on the topic so I was asked to join. Certain members of the committee had their minds made up before the committee even met. I offered my opinion but was not asked to come back to the next meeting. The project was not successful, but I did learn having good people around you and listening to their input is important. What would be the title of your autobiography? Hard Work Pays Off. What leadership traits are overrated? Plans, consultants and theories do not matter as much as having good people around you to be successful. How has your life experience made you the leader you are today? Understanding there are many different people in the world and you need to try to relate to all of them. I grew up with people who went to Ivy League schools and some who went to prison, and I was able to get along with most of them. What was the last book you read? I reread “The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway” and read “Once a Giant” by Gary Myers. Who is the most famous person you have ever met? Tony Bennet and Mayor Tom Lankey. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? Ireland. What is your guilty pleasure junk food? Anything salty—chips, nachos. Pizza—I’m hungry now. 21 questions and answers with featured bankers
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