Ian Koplin,
Editor,
Monitor

Mike Jones, president of vendor equipment finance at First Citizens Bank, is a true embodiment of servant leadership. His approach to equipment finance, his fellow team members and many clients, business partners and friends is one of mutual success, listening and incorporating all thoughts, ideas and skillsets. Humbly, Jones is eager to share his knowledge as well as his story of people, programs and associations that continue to help him make his mark on the equipment finance industry.

While Jones and First Citizens Bank have both received multiple awards throughout the industry for his and his team’s hard work, he says his greatest source of pride is when those around him are recognized for their efforts. The feeling colleagues instill in him when they are humbled by an award or recognition is cathartic for Jones and feels as good as if he were the one being honored.

“Personally, seeing my associates get accolades from the industry is most satisfying for

me, for sure,” Jones says with pride. “But the recognition that we’ve received from the Monitor — including the two awards in the Most Innovative Companies issue, as well as the other groups for the development of technology, most of which has been forward-facing to our customers, is definitely the most rewarding and the most work.

“Our products team led by Steve Lankler is consistently interacting with our customers, looking for ways to make that touchpoint more enjoyable, more efficient [and] driving API integrations. And it feels like just about every month, we’re connecting with our partners in a way that it doesn’t seem like a lot of the industry has been doing or focusing on.”

Through his involvement in STRIPES Leadership Program, Jones says he was able to empower his vision of servant leadership by formalizing his thoughts and ideas through dozens of workshops with peers. All he needed was an organization to help him center his thoughts, he says.

Mentors Met and Relationships Forged

Looking back on his career, Jones says one experience stands out in his mind as a formative and crowning achievement. Part of a 12-person team, Jones was instrumental in the launch of the independent equipment finance company known as US Express Leasing (USXL), and while working alongside brilliant minds and hardworking professionals, Jones and his team built a portfolio that circled around $3 billion in value before selling to EverBank in 2004.

“We went through the worst financial dislocation in any of our careers,” Jones says. “We successfully sold to EverBank, thankfully, because the securitization market just disappeared. And I’ve got to tell you, it was excruciating.

“Now, building it up from the beginning, I can remember sitting around the table, we had 12 chairs, almost like a folding table, a brown phone in the middle and one printer. And I remember Jim McGrane saying, ‘We’ve got to get this thing running in four months.’ And I said, ‘Well, you got to be kidding me.’ But we did. It was excruciating, but it was also amazing. And sometimes both of those things in the same day.”

Speaking more directly about McGrane, who played a pivotal part in his career, life and success, Jones says, “And as far as [influences on my] success, there’s no question it’s Jim McGrane. He was my boss, he was my mentor, he was my friend. He convinced me to leave an incredible organization. I was at U.S. Bank at the time — it’s a really good company, great culture, loved the people I was working with — but somehow, he convinced me to put all that aside and take this huge risk in doing something really special: building out a business from the ground up.”

McGrane, a co-founder of USXL who also worked for industry giants like Tygris Vendor Finance, EverBank, AT&T Capital, U.S. Leasing and Heller Financial before his passing in 2014, possessed an innate ability to connect with people and was able to establish a connection with Jones that he says very few others have shared with him. McGrane was special for many reasons, but one reason Jones was drawn to his approach to work, life and business was because McGrane would take interest in hobbies and ideas that he had no prior interest in just to get closer to colleagues in an effort to pull everybody together. They didn’t need to chat about work; McGrane just wanted to chat about anything but work, according to Jones, and that’s a side that stuck with Jones as he learned much of what he employs today at First Citizens Bank.

It’s not just colleagues that Jones both takes pride in and draws inspiration from, either. His wife of 37 years has given him the flexibility to take a lot of risks, deal with failures as they come and embrace success. His children, all now young adults, also provide great inspiration for Jones as he watches their stories as entrepreneurs unfold.

Looking into the Past for Future Success

Looking back, Jones says he would have gotten involved in industry organizations like the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association and STRIPES Leadership Program much sooner if he realized what he was missing out on. Another lesson Jones learned over time is not to hire just because someone’s experience fits the role you’re trying to fill. Rather, you should hire for leadership. Anything can be learned, and while leadership can be taught and learned over time, it’s largely an innate sense that just takes an opportunity to flourish. Harnessing these lessons and many more, Jones moves forward in-step with his team to continued success.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ian Koplin is editor of Monitor.