A desire to continually learn has helped John Bryant earn a recent promotion to Loan Operations Officer. John, who joined the bank in 2004, learned from each previous position to prepare to continually step up and provide service to INB customers.
John started with in our North Dirksen Parkway Branch as a teller. Later, as a teller supervisor, he says he had the chance to take part in a training program that allowed him to get better acquainted with other areas of the bank and their employees. Interestingly, he moved to the Mortgage Department in 2010 because, he said, “It was one of the few departments that I was not able to learn about. I jumped at the opportunity because I really wanted to continue learning about the different areas of the bank, and I knew the mortgage staff was made up of great, knowledgeable people.”
John left the bank in 2011 to fulfill a lifelong dream of being in the U.S. Marine Corp. After three years, he came home to be close to a sick family member and had no hesitation in knowing he wanted to return to INB.
He says, “I wanted to come back to INB because it is a great company to work for . . . As soon as I made this decision, which was about two months before my return date, INB was gracious enough to call me that same day I applied, and we scheduled an interview for a few days after I got back to Springfield. I was hoping they would see me as a good fit for the department and hire me because I worked closely with the loan operations staff in the past . . . I also felt that it was a good opportunity to work with great people and continue learning.
“I’d like to think I worked hard prior to going into the military,” John continues, but the Marines instill an undeniably high level of hard work and discipline into people. On top of the discipline, I had the ‘work smarter, not harder’ mantra beat into my head. I believe this helps me focus more on improving processes and making tasks easier on myself or others than I did before. The military is also a great place to help develop leadership skills in young people, which I hope I took advantage of.”
John’s education continues. He is going to school full-time at Southeast Missouri State University to earn a degree in business administration. He is also active in the local running community, and recently helped coach INB staff who wanted to improve their running or walk for fitness. He admits going to school full-time and working full-time is very difficult. He says, “My girlfriend helps a lot through this! She does almost all of our cooking and does a lot around the house while I am studying. She also puts up with me doing homework almost every night and most of the day on Saturdays and Sundays. Her support and taking care of the house opens up a little more free time for me when I don’t have to do homework. I definitely would not be able to do things like help with the running group without her support.”
As for his personal running, John says he tries to run about 10 races a year. “I enjoy running, so I typically run every race I can find without worry of when the race is happening. The fact that the proceeds usually go to charity, and the running community is a great community to be around. My favorite races of the last several years have been the races the INB running group has done together. It’s great to see employees get out there and give their best effort while supporting each other.”
John sees this same support when INB encourages its employees to be involved with community activities. “I enjoy the fact that INB not only encourages employees to volunteer, but they give us opportunities to do it as well. Whether it is a United Way Day of Action, regular blood donation drives, or any of the other many opportunities, they give us the opening to volunteer and the employees always step up to the plate.”
Congratulations to John for stepping up to the plate on behalf of INB.