1.0
Katherine August-deWilde and James H. Herbert
1.1

Broad, Steady and Deep Leadership

Over the course of 35 years — or a single founder’s generation — First Republic has grown organically to become one of the country’s largest banks, with over $155 billion in total assets. There has been only one modest bank merger in its history — this is a client satisfaction, compounding growth story. “We’ve always been focused on providing differentiated, exceptional client service, nothing else. Our growth has been the outcome of this focus, not the goal,” reflected Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jim Herbert. In looking ahead to the Bank’s future, he said, “If you know your roots, you don’t lose your way.”
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Hafize Gaye and James H. Herbert
Image Credit – San Francisco Business Times
1.2

Preparing for Growth

Shortly after the management-led buyback of First Republic in 2010, Herbert and team focused on preparing to surpass $50 billion in total bank assets in a few years’ time, which would mean entering an enhanced regulatory environment as determined by the Dodd-Frank Act. “We knew we needed to bring in additional help and support, and we already had some very good proposals for capital stress testing advisors,” said Herbert. “So, when a gentleman called from Goldman Sachs to pitch the assignment, I took the meeting as a courtesy, really.”
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1.3
Forget the Résumé,
Find the Talent
During this growth period, as always, Herbert’s approach to finding and developing talent throughout the organization was infused with his entrepreneurial mindset. “The questions entrepreneurs ask are different, because you are always looking for similar characteristics for success: energy, passion, focus and a willingness to try new ideas. In fact, the more you focus on the résumé, the less likely you are to find the talent.”
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Mike Roffler, Chief Financial Officer
1.4

A Slope, Not a Cliff

In developing future leadership for the Bank, Herbert and the Board understood that transition planning would look different for First Republic. “I wanted a slope, rather than a cliff,” said Herbert. When the key to success is culture — as it is for First Republic — succession planning is not just about attracting the right people and placing them in spots vacated by outgoing leaders. The Bank would need to take a gradual approach, developing new leaders and enabling them to work alongside current leadership, then transitioning people into their new roles. Mike Roffler’s transition into the Chief Financial Officer role exemplifies this “slope, not cliff” philosophy.
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Jason Bender
1.5

Caring for Culture

As Herbert reinforced the entrepreneurial mindset of the organization, and expanded and developed its next generation of leadership, he continued seeking opportunities to seed First Republic’s values so deeply into the enterprise that they would grow in perpetuity. “Our values work here because they’re real — they weren’t written by a committee then distributed to the rest of the organization,” shared Jason Bender, Chief Operating Officer. “They were written as a description of the way we have been operating from the very beginning.” Bender joined First Republic in 1999 and helped to codify the Bank’s values alongside Dianne Snedaker, then Chief Marketing Officer, while building the Bank’s first online presence.
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FRB Leadership Team
1.6

Core Leadership Team

In addition to the key promotions of Bender and Richardson, Thornton took on the full banking regions of Los Angeles and Palm Beach, in addition to his role in the integration of banking and wealth management at First Republic.
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