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Every summer in Northern New Jersey, you could find a young Bruce Van Saun rallying the neighborhood kids for another competition.
Baseball. Basketball. Olympic-style games they invented themselves. And there was something important on the line: bragging rights—and the coveted title of “Mr. G.”
That stood for “Mr. Great.”
Van Saun liked that title. And by his recollection, he won his fair share. He was the kid who wanted the basketball in his hands with the game on the line. Competition wasn’t something he had to learn to enjoy, it was woven into the way he grew up.
These days, he carries a different title: chairman and CEO of Citizens Financial Group. And there’s a little more at stake. Citizens is one of the largest financial institutions in the country, with more than $234 billion in assets and more than 17,000 employees.
During his tenure with Citizens, Van Saun has been named American Banker’s Banker of the Year and a Barron’s Top CEO. Citizens also earned recognition as The Banker‘s U.S. Bank of the Year.
And to what does Van Saun owe all that success? For him, it’s about a developmental model that relies on both trust and accountability—you know, the same things he brought with him to the field of play as a young athlete.
“You have to empower people,” he explains to me on a recent episode of the Corporate Competitor Podcast. “Give them big jobs that you know maybe they’re 80 percent qualified for and expect that they’ll rise to the occasion.”
For Van Saun, elevating others is key to long-term success. One is never going to know what a job really takes until they’re sitting in the seat. But he includes one more detail in the equation.
“You empower people,” he says, “but you hold them accountable to deliver the results.”
The CEO talks about all this and more on the podcast, including:
• Focus on fundamentals. As a young baseball player, Van Saun’s coaches taught him the fundamentals of the game. With a strong foundation, he was able to navigate any scenario that came his way. As a CEO, he knows that mentality remains key. “Coach made sure our head was always going to be in the game,” Bruce explained.
•It’s okay to be yourself. For Van Saun, being himself is important no matter what his job title might be. He wants to remain genuine, whether he’s having a beer at the local watering hole with friends or speaking with colleagues at a Town Hall. “For me as a leader,” he says, “I just have to be a regular guy—not some guy up in the cloud somewhere.”
•Talk about your flaws. Even the greatest business leaders have holes in their game, Van Saun says. So when you have the chance for a performance review or to speak to a mentor, take it—and listen. “The people who are successful,” he offers, “are very self-aware. They want to have mentors point out areas of opportunity.”