Leda Writes for Fintech Futures: why I want to be taken for granted

Every Thursday, Leda Glyptis, 11:FS Chief of Staff creates #LedaWrites. This week she examines why being taken for granted is the highest form of trust. Oh and some core banking principles too.

I am writing this on the last day of my holiday. It’s been amazing and, much as I love you guys, I don’t want to come back. Don’t take it personally. But I am in the most beautiful place on Earth, with one of my best friends, books and excellent coffee.

I can think of a reason or two to return, truth be told, but I do not share the barely suppressed panic everyone I have met so far on this holiday seems to feel while away from the office. The firmly held belief that their business is floundering in their absence, that their team is swinging from roof beams or accidentally setting the building on fire.

I am the CEO of a small tech firm.

Do you know what that means?

I have the least important job in the room.

We are a product company. The product team, the tech teams, the scrum mistress extraordinaire and the BAs, the delivery guys and the platform engineers. They are the company.

They should know I will deal with the stuff that gets in their way with a confidence that goes way beyond appreciation. They should accept and expect it. It is our covenant. If I do my job properly, they don’t ever think about it. They just go about theirs knowing I will do my bit and they should feel no excitement about it. They take me for granted.

It is as it should be.

Core banking and new age sages

I feel very strongly about this because this is how we feel about the area of banking we operate in.

There is a new kind of wisdom to what my team are putting together: something so reliable, you can forget about it.

Core banking was not core because it was that central to differentiating business propositions. It was core because it was at the centre of the unmovable monolith that set the bank’s slow pace and bridled its ambition.

And that needs not be the case any more.

Your core banking should be so good, you don’t need to wonder if it is up to the challenge of what you need to do next.

Your core banking should be so reliable that you never need to remember to remember to think about it.

Your core banking is there to underpin, fuel, support. It should be counted on to work seamlessly, effectively, perfectly.

You should expect it to be willing and able to accelerate your ambitions, not hold them back.

I know it sounds crazy: wanting your product to not be at the forefront of your clients’ thoughts, not seeking out and manufacturing delight-filled touch points. Not wanting opportunities to engage, interact and rejoice. I know it goes against the grain of how we have structured interactions with clients, historically.

But pause and think.

There is a new kind of wisdom to what my team are putting together: something so reliable, you can forget about it.

Read the whole story at Fintech Futures.