BMO's Erminia "Ernie" Johannson said leadership requires courage, perseverance and resilience.
She led the
Johannson, who leads 24,000 employees as group head of BMO's North American personal and business banking, said she learned a lot about herself and her leadership style during
Leaders are under more pressure in an increasingly complex world, she said.
"Breaking through requires deep courage of conviction — bold beliefs, bold choices, the resilience to win over naysayers and the perseverance to galvanize teams into action," said Johannson, who joined BMO in 2012 from Fidelity.
"Above all, clarity of focus releases energy, time and resources for best use not only for leaders, but their teams," she added. "Getting that clarity — and holding on to it — requires strength to support your beliefs in the face of adversity, and the confidence to do the right thing despite criticism or external pressures."
The move into the West Coast market added 2 million new customers and thousands of new employees to the Canadian bank, emerging as a major driver of BMO's growth.
Behind the scenes, it took 20 months of planning, three mock conversions and a major dress rehearsal over Labor Day weekend in 2023 to complete the conversion.
A major goal for BMO's integration team was to ensure that Bank of the West customers
As part of the effort to take as much friction out of the process, Johannson held an ongoing listening tour to encourage new employees to offer ideas on how to improve employee and customer experiences. BMO received hundreds of suggestions and has implemented 75% of them so far.
As if integrating the $16.3 billion acquisition wasn't enough, last year BMO also completed the purchase of LoyaltyOne's AIR MILES Reward Program, with nearly 10 million customers. Johannson plans to revive and expand this program.
For bankers looking to succeed in a complex and challenging profession, Johannson suggests making bold choices that galvanize others.
"We all need to ask leaders the tough questions: What do you believe we should do, and what is stopping you from leading it?" she said. "And then, we as financial services leaders need to be prepared and vested to support the response with our own actions."
Johannson has also worked to help customers deal with the effects of higher inflation. She is a proponent of banking products that improve customers' long-term financial health by rewarding savings. BMO's Savings Builder Account rewards customers with a bonus interest rate for growing savings, which the bank said led to a 33% increase in savings habits. A specialty lending program, Zero Barriers to Business, provided $85 million in capital last year to women- and minority-owned businesses.
Johannson has become a major supporter of banks advocating on their own behalf to deal with the onslaught of upcoming regulatory changes. She was named chair of the Canadian Bankers Association and she serves on the board of the Consumer Bankers Association. As a member of the CBA's government relations council, she advocates for a more constructive regulatory environment.
Johannson said she is concerned about the compounding impacts of emerging regulations, fraud and cybersecurity risks.
"The financial services industry has become more complex and challenging, and it is under more pressure than those in it would have expected after successfully navigating a global pandemic," she said.
"Leaders in this industry — regardless of gender — are executing, leading, building, fire fighting, and juggling more complex decisions with less time and, in many cases, with less data in a world filled with data," she added.
