The Many Uses of a Penny (more than just money) – A leadership story for today’s banking environment
Recently, after a long board meeting filled with discussions about margin compression, digital adoption, core vendor challenges and regulatory uncertainty, Rachel, a community bank CEO, noticed a single penny sitting at the edge of the conference room table. It was almost invisible; overlooked by many, insignificant in value, and ultimately easy to ignore.
However, it brought Rachel’s mind back to a story her grandfather, the founder of her community bank, used to tell her.
One day, Dennis, a local farmer/customer, walked into the bank with a jar full of pennies and placed the jar on his desk. Dennis didn’t want to deposit the coins; he simply wanted to make a point.
Dennis explained to her grandfather that every morning he gave each of his kids a penny; not to spend, but to use. What Dennis saw his children use some of their pennies for not only surprised him but made him realize something of deeper meaning. You see, the first child had used some pennies as garden markers, while the second child used them to tighten a loose hinge as a spacer and a screwdriver while the third used some of them as weights for their homemade kite. The lesson Dennis realized was simple:
Value isn’t always tied to price. Sometimes the smallest, most overlooked things carry the greatest utility—if you know how to use them.
That lesson stayed with Rachel as she held the penny from the conference table. The memory of her grandfather’s story changed how she looked at the penny. She saw it not as currency, but as a metaphor for the hidden value inside every financial institution.
A Penny as a Leadership View
A penny can tighten a loose screw. → In banking, that’s the frontline employee who resolves a customer/member issue before it escalates.
A penny can level a wobbly table. → In banking, that’s the operational tweak that stabilizes the entire customer/member experience.
A penny can be a classroom science experiment element. → In banking, that’s the power of simple data—often underutilized, yet capable of revealing friction, leakage, or opportunity.
A penny can become art. → In banking, that’s the brand story: taking common components and arranging them into something memorable.
A penny can mark a golf ball or check tire tread. → In banking, that’s adaptability—using what you have, when you have it, to keep business moving forward.
A penny can be a token of remembrance or good fortune. → In banking, that’s trust: built through small gestures, repeated consistently, over time.
The Strategic Insight
Community banks and credit unions often feel pressure to chase the next big thing—new platforms, new products, new technologies. Those investments matter, but they’re not the whole story.
Strength also comes from recognizing the overlooked assets already within reach:
- The institutional knowledge of long‑tenured staff
- The loyalty of multi-generational customers/members
- The resilience of local businesses and farmers
- The operational insights buried in everyday data
- The cultural capital of being a trusted community anchor
These are the “pennies” of a community financial institution—small, quiet, often underestimated, yet capable of creating amazing impacts when used intentionally.
The Leadership Question
As Rachel slipped the penny into her pocket, she made a mental note for her next executive meeting:
What are the pennies in our organization—small, overlooked resources that could create strategic advantage if we used them differently?
Because in banking, as in life, the institutions that win aren’t always the ones with the most resources. They’re the ones that see value where others do not. They’re the ones who understand that even something as small as a penny—humble, forgotten, nearly worthless—still has many uses beyond money.
And sometimes, that’s exactly where the next competitive edge begins.
Atlas Advisory Partners also understands value isn’t always tied to price. This is why we specialize solely in helping community FIs identify, quantify, and take advantage of key components, some of which may appear to be small at the time. We employ this understanding in both our vendor contract negotiations and in our non-interest revenue enhancement engagements. Our approach is NOT a “one size fits all”, but a curated, proven approach where we deliver a specialized strategy for each FI. Contact us to discuss how a tailored engagement could support your institution.
