Leading in Times of Challenge with Suku Radia

Suku Radia is retired CEO of Bankers Trust in Greater Des Moines (DSM). He has also served on the executive committee and board of directors for the Greater Des Moines Partnership. Since retiring, Suku has stayed busy serving on three corporate boards and three nonprofit boards.

Peaks and Valleys

Suku says the one of the biggest challenges he’s dealt with in a leadership role was shortly after happened the week after he became CEO of Bankers Trust — the Great Recession. This was after nine years as CFO at Meredith Corporation. He says no one could have predicted the freefall of the financial crisis. Suku explains how even when you don’t know when something might end, you still must lead your team through it. He explains how with experience, you learn there are peaks and valleys.

As the new guy at that time, employees wanted to hear from him. He held an all-employee meeting and said they would not give up and that as long as he was CEO, the company would not have a layoff. He received a standing applause because that was exactly what they wanted and needed to hear.

The Leading in Times of Challenge podcast was previously produced by the Greater Des Moines Partnership. To learn more about community events and leadership, check out The Partnership blog.