Grant James, regional president, Tarrant County, Community Trust Bank
Grant James of Community Trust Bank knows it is there, on his desk, even though a mere mortal couldn’t necessarily find it. James is a “pack rat” (his words) who does not want to get rid of anything but often has to, if only to make room for the flurry of new business rolling in. U-shaped with stacks of papers, mementoes and photos pretty much everywhere, desk life for James is best described as methodized disarray. Here’s what we found on James’ desk.
Daily information book: Full of handwritten notes of
clients, possible clients, meetings, what was talked about, not talked about, what he needs to do. Or not. This has long been his way of organizing his days. He has previous folders of notes going back years. “I can go back and see what action I took on something years ago.”
Golf articles. Found one on short game techniques. Another on the best balls to purchase. James cuts them out of Golf magazine and reads them when time permits. He recently played in the Colonial Pro-Am. “I like to play.” (Ask him about golf balls and settle in for a conversation about maximizing distances, producing spin, compression, reducing curvature on shots, etc.)
Community Trust coin: Used for Community Hero presentations at Texas Christian University home football games until Big 12 rules spoiled the party.
Clear piggy banks: For James’ two grandkids. Each time they pop into the bank they earn a deposit of some kind into their bank.
Fort Worth Social Directory: “A great source of accurate information about who’s who in this town. It’s hard to connect people sometimes. I’ve been at it for 35 years and this is a pretty handy tool.” And yes, he’s in it.
Stationery: James prefers the personal touch. “There’s one thing to fire off an email but it’s quite different to send a personal note. I think we’re losing that and need to do more of that.”
Hub peanuts. Not only his office snack of choice but his choice of snack, period. “The greatest peanuts ever packaged.”
Business cards. Yet another old school way James stays in touch.
Quote: “I’m a pack rat. I have to really think about organizing and getting stuff put away. It’s only times that I’m leaving town or if I have some kind of an inspection, I’ll clear it off. Stack it up and stick it under the desk.”