Banking & Finance
Money in the bank
How Marc Stefanski uses values-based leadership to nurture and grow Third Federal
By Kristy J. O’Hara
Smart Business Cleveland | November 2008
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When TFS Financial Corp., the holding company for Third Federal Savings & Loan Association of Cleveland, had a magician perform as part of its 70th anniversary celebration this year, the performer pulled Marc Stefanski aside and asked this chairman, president and CEO if he could speak with him. While he wasn’t sure what the magician was about to say, Stefanski obliged.
“You and this organization get it,” the man told him. “I’ve done hundreds of these things annually, and nobody gets it. The CEO, a lot of times, doesn’t show up, the people who contract me to come in are in marketing or PR, and they don’t even bother to show up. It’s never the directors or top management there or directly involved. If they do show up, it’s a token appearance, and they go on to something else that’s more important.”
What followed touched Stefanski even more.
“You’re directly involved,” the magician said. “You give things away. You tell people how much you care about them. You can’t imagine what I’ve seen out there. You can’t imagine how far it goes. This is just amazing to see and watch and be a part of.”
What the magician saw was a culture70 years in the making, based on values that Stefanski’s parents believed in when they started the company.
“It comes from the top down,” Stefanski says. “If the leader is focused on one thing but tells all the associates to do something a different way to create this culture out there, it will never happen. The leader has to be visible, has to live the values, has to be the keeper of the values.”
And that’s exactly what Stefanski does. Each year, you’ll see him up on stage with other associates playing in a company rock band in front of employees. This past summer, he paid a visit to a Euclid branch to meet a 103-year-old customer who wanted to meet him because she thought he seemed like a nice guy.
By reinforcing the values in different facets throughout the years, Stefanski has-been able to not only earn the respect of his employees, but that respect has translated into the company having $10.28 billion in total assets and $538 million in interest income last year, up from $8.42 billion and$414 million in 2003 respectively. The key to creating a culture and team that “gets it,” as the magician put it, is first establishing values, communicating those to the organization and having people who embody them. You also need to commit to those same people and involve them along the way.
“My strategy has always been putting people first and strategy second,” he says. “I’ve always believed that if we can do that ... we can be very successful because this is people business. This is not about money. It’s about people and taking care of their money and putting people first.”
