Unlike a technology company, we are in the business of helping our customers grow wealth, manage it and enjoy it. This requires people who possess a high “EQ,” or emotional quotient,” says Jay Sidhu.

Sidhu brings over 25 years of banking experience, an industry he was “fortunate” to join, after his MBA in the seventies. During his stints at Fleet, JP Morgan, Chase, and Chemical among others, Sidhu steadily rose up the ladder and joined Sovereign in 1986 as Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer. In 1988 he was named President and CEO of Sovereign Bancorp, and last year, became the Chairman, President and CEO.

“Fifteen years ago, we were at the bottom of the industry. It has taken absolute clarity of vision and dedication to reach our current position of among the 25 largest banks in the U.S.,” says Sidhu. “If you create immediate success, you’re probably spending the money on the wrong thing. Real change comes at the speed of shared values.”

Building an 8,500 strong team that could understand this vision in totality has been no easy task. “We have identified over 25 super-stars in our bank, who outperform normal teams by over 50 to 500 percent. This commitment comes only when the culture of thought changes,” says Sidhu. “We act like shareholders because we are shareholders. Practically, every bank employee owns stock in the bank. This has given us all total focus on our corporate strategy: to out-local the nationals and to out-national the locals.”

Sovereign has successfully completed 24 acquisitions since 1989, with each acquisition accelerating Sovereign's earnings growth. Most notably, on July 21, 2000, Sovereign completed its largest acquisition of approximately $12 billion in deposits, $8.1 billion in loans, 281 community banking offices and 550 ATMs from FleetBoston Financial. This acquisition was probably the largest branch acquisition in banking history.

On March 8, 2002, Sovereign Bancorp, Inc. acquired Main Street Bancorp, Inc. At the time of closing, Main Street Bancorp, Inc. had $1.6 billion in assets, and $1.3 billion of deposits in southern Pennsylvania. Sovereign Bancorp, Inc. (“Sovereign”), a thrift holding company, was formed in 1987. Its first subsidiary was the Penn Savings Bank, which was formed in 1984 as the result of a merger between the First Federal Savings and Loan of Lancaster and the New Home Federal Savings and Loan Association.

The numerous mergers have brought people from different work cultures together. “We make it a point to ensure that every team member has the knowledge of how one’s goals contribute towards the achievement of the company’s goals, mission and vision,” say Sidhu. Open and honest communication is the basic building ground, recommends the chairman. In honing the bank’s competitive edge, Sidhu has introduced a daring “perform or pay” Red Carpet Service. “Simply put—if we don’t deliver, we will pay our customer for the inconvenience. To the best of our knowledge, Sovereign is the only bank in its marketplace to hold out this guarantee,” says Sidhu.

“Which brings us back to what I said before—this business demands emotional intelligence,” emphasizes the quiet-spoken bank chairman. Adding emotion to intelligence and thus gaining wisdom, emotional intelligence develops in us universal values of dignity and trust. “Realizing our real limitations and our real abilities is the beginning of all wisdom,” quotes Sidhu from Montaigne. “We believe in authentic leadership, for that creates sustainable growth. Technical and business skills are necessary, but by themselves create only short term improvements. The ability to realize oneself, and thus one’s abilities is the start of nurturing true leadership.” What he looks for in people are empathy and values, he says, and he pairs people with a mentor and buddy. In his listing of important people, he names team members first, then the customers, and then the shareholders.

“Today, we have strong competition from national banks, multinational banks, and a large number of small local banks. Our goal is to offer all that and more than what a multinational bank can offer, yet with customized services that will help us come across as the local friend in the community,” underlines the Sovereign leader. “To do this, every one of the team member needs to be clear about his or her role in the company, and how it will affect the company performance. Clubbed with some well-thought reward programs that justify superior performance, we have been very successful in building a very dedicated, sensitive, responsive and sensible team...that wins!”