Reflections on Wachovia's bright future
Medlin reflects on the big picture, sharing his sense of optimism for the nation's future and the people who drive Wachovia's success.
Citing this Excerpt
Oral History Interview with John Medlin, May 24, 1999. Interview I-0076. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) in the Southern Oral History Program Collection, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Full Text of the Excerpt
I'm interested in as you take in the broad sweep
of the forty years you've been involved with the bank and all of the
experiences that you've had across the years in virtue of the leadership
role you've had at the bank. I'm wondering if there's any trend line or
evolution you could point to. Maybe it would be the fact that there
hasn't been much change would be the interesting observation in your
broad outlook on this state's prospects, on the region's prospects, on
the society's prospects in continuing to make progress in certain social
problems. I'm thinking to here with the rapid globalization of our
economy and our culture, I suppose, just sort of how your thinking has
unfolded broadly.
- JOHN MEDLIN:
-
Well I think that today, 1999, we have a much better Wachovia, North
Carolina, nation, world than we had in 1959 when I came to work here. I
think the trend has been good on virtually all fronts, whether it be
human rights or economic prosperity or standard of living or personal
freedom, all those things that are important to mankind. I think the
quality of service of a bank, the technological advancements that we
have made that have been good for people as well as for efficiency. Good
progress and good trend very much I think in a position to power forward
on all those fronts to continue improving. One thing I have learned is
pessimists most often are wrong. This is a nation and I think our bank,
we're optimists. People with positive, creative views of the future are
more likely to be right. While I think you can take some measure of
worry in some of the things you see in society today on the moral front
and those kinds of things, never the less I'm impressed by the young
people that we have in our company today. I still see some, despite I'm
retired, I'm very impressed with the young people I see and my
grandchildren. So I think there's a great future for Wachovia, for
America, for our society, and for our whole nation if we just continue
to keep our eye on the values and fundamentals that have made life
better will make life better. That could make life better in the future
and not get too carried away with technology but continue to do those
things, make progress on a scientific front where it has human benefits.
One of the organizations I'm involved with is the National Humanities
Center is trying to make sure that we put a few drops of humanity
back into the mainstream of education and society
wherever we can. So that maybe the next century we won't have the
brutality and the things that we had during this century where many
people have been murdered and slaughtered. That we can maybe have a
twenty-first century that will be a little better along those lines. I
think it can. I think it can.
- JOSEPH MOSNIER:
-
Are there matters that you would like to spend a few minutes or as much
time as you like talking about that we haven't touched on today that you
think are important to these sorts of reflections and spanning
the-
- JOHN MEDLIN:
-
Well, one of the things that maybe I haven't touched on as much as I
would like to and with as much passion I think is that an organization
like Wachovia and one of the reasons I was sort of subtly attracted here
and as dedicated to doing a good job as I was during my lower life and
upper life in the company is that Wachovia has something of a heart and
a soul and a spirit. We all feel, I know the present Chief Executive
Officer, Bud Baker and I felt and my predecessor felt, Archie Davis and
before him, it was very important to preserve. Going off and merging too
far and too fast, you tend to lose that. There are people who have told
me that the state of North Carolina would not have been able to meet its
payroll and obligations during the '30s had it not been for Wachovia,
which was one of the only banks that was available and had the money to
step up when the times were really tough. We have a role in society like
that. We have a very sacred trust with the people who put their money
here and expect to get it back whether the Year 2000 works or not. I
think that's an important note to close on too. There's something more
than just a bank here. There's an institution. There's something that's
important not just in North Carolina now, but to the other states that
we have bought major banks in and likewise have a right to look to us
the same way that North Carolina always has. The best way to ensure that
is the kind of people we hire and the values that they have when they
come to us and the values that we reinforce them when they're here. They
don't get distracted by the transient and the expedient along the way.
It's very easy to do at times, to follow the fashions and the fads in
banking or whatever else is going on in society. That's one of the
things that was passed on to me by people like Archie Davis and John
Watlington and I think likewise to them by Mr. Robert Hanes and those
people who were such an important part of our heritage. We've got a
legacy here that's important to pass on in a stronger fashion than we
took charge of it.