81: From Nothing to a Billion: The Leadership Playbook They Don’t Teach You w/ Harry L Allen

Traditional banks often lack personalized service, and local businesses struggle to find true partnership in financial institutions. Meanwhile, higher education faces scrutiny over relevance and ROI in a world where information is nearly free.

Harry Allen helped launch Studio Bank to blend technology with high-touch service, fueled by community investment. At Belmont, he's applying the same entrepreneurial mindset to modernize university operations and embed practical learning experiences, like a one-of-a-kind partnership with Dolly Parton, into academia.

In this episode, Harry L. Allen, co-founder of Studio Bank and now CFO at Belmont University, unpacks the bold vision behind launching a community-first bank in a city dominated by financial giants. He shares the leadership lessons that shaped his journey, how to lead through crisis, and why mentorship is the key to filling today's leadership vacuum.

Key Takeaways

• Leveraging both financial and social capital creates a unique, community-first banking model.
• High-tech doesn't mean low-touch, Studio Bank fused innovation with personal relationships.
• Leadership means showing up, especially during crisis.
• Universities must shift from being information hubs to delivering real-world experience.
• Succession and mentorship are vital to cultivating the next generation of leaders.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Harry L. Allen
01:49 The Birth of Studio Bank
04:29 Leveraging Technology in Community Banking
07:25 The Courage to Start a New Venture
10:37 Leadership Challenges in High Growth
13:02 Leading Through Crisis: The COVID Experience
17:55 Transitioning from Banking to Education
21:16 The Role of Leadership in Higher Education
25:16 Adapting to Challenges in Higher Education
30:04 The Leadership Vacuum in Society
33:17 Advice for Emerging Leaders
35:21 The American Dream and Community Impact

No Limit Leadership is the go-to podcast for growth-minded executives, middle managers, and team leaders who want more than surface-level leadership advice. Hosted by executive coach and former Special Forces commander Sean Patton, this show dives deep into modern leadership, self-leadership, and the real-world strategies that build high-performing teams. Whether you're focused on leadership development, building a coaching culture, improving leadership communication, or strengthening team accountability, each episode equips you with actionable insights to unlock leadership potential across your organization. From designing onboarding systems that retain talent to asking better questions that drive clarity and impact, No Limit Leadership helps you lead yourself first so you can lead others better. If you're ready to create a culture of ownership, resilience, and results, this leadership podcast is for you.

Transcript

Sean Patton (00:00)
Welcome to the No Limits Leadership Podcast. I am your host, Sean Patton. And today we have the honor of welcoming Harry L. Allen, a leader who has made a huge impact in banking, business, and education. Harry co-founded Studio Bank in 2018, making it Nashville's first new locally headquartered bank in a decade. Under his leadership, the bank grew quickly, managing nearly $1 billion in assets and building a strong team. In 2024, Harry took on a new challenge as the chief financial officer at Belmont University. Where he had once been a student.

Now he helps lead the school's financial future while staying deeply involved in the community. He serves on boards for organizations like the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee and the Nashville Public Education Foundation. Harry's career is a great example of leadership, service, and innovation. So I'm very excited today to be chatting with Harry L. Allen. Welcome, brother.

Harry L. Allen (00:49)
Thank you, Sean Happy to be here. This should be fun.

Sean Patton (00:54)
it's going to be awesome. I'm really excited for this. Just our pre-call interview. I feel like we should have either had, it was either coffee or, you know, drinks or something at night. We could have gone on for, an hour. So I'm excited to have this and share some of the amazing lessons you have. let's just jump right into it with, you were in your, I guess, mid thirties and you said, I'm going to start a bank. Right. And it's in a town with, you know,

Harry L. Allen (01:02)
and it's really good.

Thank

Sean Patton (01:18)
plenty of banks and big banks and the names of banks on giant buildings downtown. ⁓ you know, what led you to decide to do that and what problem were you trying to solve?

Harry L. Allen (01:19)
Yes, that's right.

Thank you.

Great first question. So I was invited to help start a bank by a friend of mine that we worked together as peers and colleagues and became quick friends. worked together for a bank that in 2016 was acquired by a large regional bank. And that often happens in banking. You'll have consolidation of smaller firms with larger.

But as a sixth generation, Nashvilleian and someone who cares deeply about the community and who opted in to a community banking model, I really wanted to retain that in a city as robust and dynamic and as entrepreneurial as Nashville. You know, I felt like Nashville's business owners and the businesses they run. felt like Nashville's citizens needed a local option.

for banking services. And we saw an opportunity not just to retain community banking and that high touch personalized service model, but really leverage technology in a way that allows even a small community bank to compete with the technology stacks of much larger players so that the trade-off isn't, know, capabilities. But our clients were opting to do business

with us because they wanted true partnership and a relationship with their banker and the tools to run their business really successfully. The third piece, so high-tech technology, the third piece is really leveraging the contacts of our coalition that we had put together. The capital we raised was from local Nashvilleians. We have over 500 investors in the bank.

locally a dynamic board of directors and then our bankers. And we all have relationships that we leverage on behalf of our clients. And so deploying social capital alongside of financial capital, you need both to build a business. And we don't mind creating those accidental encounters by hosting happy hours and events and peer learning opportunities for our client members to gather.

and connect with one another and we sit back and watch the magic happen. But we know that we've taken a role in making those introductions. So that was what we felt was unique and the community responded in really powerful ways. So yeah, we grew in six years from zero to a billion dollars in total assets and now we're over 90 employees. It's been a lot of fun.

Sean Patton (04:23)
I'm interested in hearing more about, mentioned new ways to leverage technology. ⁓ and it sounds like in order to enhance your ability to stay high touch. Can you tell me more about that?

Harry L. Allen (04:28)
Good night.

Yeah, so community banking is not a model that's new, right? Most business loans are originated by local banks. What we found is many of our community banks have not invested in technology in a way that provides a compelling digital experience.

for either consumers or business clients. And so, you know, we were very intentional about choosing technology partners that allowed us to create a beautiful experience digitally, knowing the trend of business owners and consumers not frequenting branches to conduct transactions anymore, right? They need to be able to do those things on their

on their phone, tablet or device with one sign-on no matter what you need to do at the bank. And since we were a new bank and technology had advanced so much since the last new bank had started, we were able to build our stack from the ground up and start fresh. Whereas most banks, if they want a technological transformation, they have a legacy system to contend with.

And that can sometimes create challenges and clunkiness. So yeah, we were able to build a very seamless interface and provide some capabilities to business owners that were imported before other banks were even able to do so. And it helped us differentiate our sales for sure. Now we just got to keep up with the emergence of new technologies along the

Sean Patton (06:30)
I think it's just such a great tale of the power of being the little guy, right? The power of entrepreneurs and the power of being an innovator. And I think, sometimes as small business owners or entrepreneurs or, ⁓ you know, maybe even, ⁓ you know, intrapreneurs, ⁓ inside of a larger company that are trying to innovate. can seem so daunting as you look out at the field, cause you know, so many people are doing so many things and there's so many services and it's just like,

Harry L. Allen (06:39)
you.

Okay.

Sean Patton (07:00)
How can I even compete with that? And it's just such a great example of you identifying the ability to take that high touch community model that people love, the fact that they know they're a banker. I'll shout out here, I heard you speak years ago and switched my banking for my business, the Studio Bank, and know my banker and the service. I can attest to all these things, the digital services and everything.

Harry L. Allen (07:03)
in the end.

Awesome.

Sean Patton (07:31)
But I think it's great to hear and for leaders to challenge ourselves to look for that competitive advantage and know that, you know, if you, maybe you have more capital or you have more connections, you have something you can leverage, but you could also leverage the fact that you have no digital footprint, right? You could love the fact you have nothing by being more nimble and reactive.

Harry L. Allen (07:37)
Thank you.

That's exactly it. It's a unique

slate. Yeah, that's right. That's right. And the process is daunting, you know, our regulatory bodies, you know, our friends at the FDIC don't necessarily make it easy to start a bank. And I don't think it should be easy. It's really hard. But, you know, we said, okay, it's hard. There are million steps.

to bring this vision to reality. Let's take the first one, see how that goes, and then take the next one and see how that goes. And I think a lot of entrepreneurs get stuck in the ideation and dream phase because the fear of how daunting it is, you know, to bring that concept to fruition can be paralyzing. And so...

You know, the courageous thing to do is just take one step and take the next one. then before you know it, you're 10 steps in and it's time to quit your day job and focus on building this company.

Sean Patton (09:04)
What do you think the confidence you mentioned, you know, being courageous or what, what do you he brought you the confidence, um, with all of that, all the challenges that come with starting any business, much less that one, we gave you the confidence to take that first step. And it was that previous experience was that the people around like, what, what gave you the confidence to take the first step toward that daunting step or the daunting task of starting a brand new venture, much less a bank.

Harry L. Allen (09:25)
Yeah.

And

yeah, so I had the benefit of doing a lot of the earliest work with a partner with the co founder and saw our answers will probably be different in terms of what gave us the confidence to take the first step. He had been a part of the bank we worked for from its inception. And so he had the frame of reference of

starting a bank from zero and scaling it. For me, what I understood to be one of the biggest challenges is the capital raise. And once we decided to really commit to this being a community-owned and empowered bank, and instead of raising funds from institutional investors in large chunks, were a very small group of

extremely wealthy individuals in town. We wanted to invite as many people to participate as possible. And as a banker who's lived in this community forever, whose family goes back six generations, this was an opportunity for me to leverage all of those relationships and invite people to be a part of something that I believed in. And so the courage for us

was in that we have some experience having members speak for them. And then we know enough people in town that we could talk to early that gives us either validation to keep going or y'all are crazy. This might not be something you want to pursue. And we were met early, early on with significant and resounding support that put women and ourselves to keep going. But I remember those

Sean Patton (11:11)
Hahaha

Harry L. Allen (11:25)
know, key early conversations with influential business leaders that gave me that boost of confidence to pursue this thing. And I'm really very grateful for their support. And now, you know, I get to serve with them as directors on our board of the bank. So it's super cool.

Sean Patton (11:48)
As you were in those, I guess, earlier stages of this high growth stages of growing Citibank, what were some of the leadership challenges you faced?

Harry L. Allen (12:03)
Yeah, I think growing from bootstrapping, know, startup things to high growth phase, you know, making those adjustments. And when you're a small founding team, each member is wearing a few hats, right? And it takes organizational maturity.

understand when we need to add layers of management and at the same time preserve culture. know, and as the organization's scaling and becoming more complex, let's try to make it feel as flat as possible and executives have access to their employees and vice versa. think striking those boards and maintaining that

balance is a leadership challenge. I'll also say, you we were 18 months old as a company when COVID hit. And that was a leadership challenge for sure in the early stages and really proved how smart and resilient of a team we had. And spending the amount of time we spent as a founding team, fleshing out the big rocks in development.

people, culture, brand and client experience. Like we knew who we were. And so when the unexpected happened, we could quickly pivot and make decisions that were aligned with our vision because we had synced. We were all on the same pages as leaders and founders. And so we almost immediately saw what other

banks were probably freaking out about as an opportunity. You know, here we are, we invested in a digital platform that allows us to run the bank without paper. And now everybody's having their work from home. Like we're set up perfectly for this moment. So let's keep our phone lines open and serve as many small businesses during this really chaotic period as possible. And we grew tremendously through COVID and

You know, I think the work of our team during that period is something we're really, proud of. But yeah, they were all challenges. Nothing that the economy or the world has thrown us in our first six years has been easy when you think about what has happened in our world since 2020.

Sean Patton (14:50)
Yeah, you know, you just reminded me of something I love to preach when I talk with clients and leaders and speaking engagements, which is as a leader, when you're, as you mentioned, you guys were prepared, right? You had clear vision, clear values. ⁓ you knew who you were. And as a leader, you know, we don't get paid to lead during the easy times, right? When revenue is good and like corporations are smooth and everybody's happy.

Harry L. Allen (14:50)
Thank

Thank

When do the

easy times come? I'm waiting. I'm still waiting. Yes, no, you're exactly right.

Sean Patton (15:20)
Yeah,

you're exactly right. But like it's those moments, especially those big inflection points when there's chaos and there people are nervous and they're scared. Things like COVID's happening, you're raising cat, like those types of things when true leadership shows itself and you become that calm in the storm. And I love how you mentioned that.

you you guys decided to lead by becoming that calm in the storm, that calming influence for all those small business leaders who are scrambling. And what happens is loyalty and trust is built during those moments when leaders are the calm in the storm. And I'm sure that the growth and retention and the loyalty you have with those people that you serve during the worst times now, ⁓ you know, they're going to be

Harry L. Allen (16:02)
for them to appreciate.

Sean Patton (16:14)
going to be with you and you know, they're going to be advocates for, for you moving forward because leadership stepped up and was the calm, confident center of the storm during, during tough moments.

Harry L. Allen (16:26)
Yeah, it's brilliant.

That's right. And you know, for those business owners who weren't yet banking at Studio and heard about programs like the Paycheck Protection Program and other things to support small businesses, they were trying to get their points of contact on the phone and realized in real time, wait a minute, I don't have a relationship with a banker group. You know, I'm just easily accessed. And so our value proposition is made very clear.

And, you know, we could answer the phone with the voice of the live individual on the other end and where they had been on hold elsewhere, you know, we were ready to serve. So, yeah, it was a great honorable service to this community. Really challenging.

Sean Patton (17:26)
What was a key leadership lesson that you had to learn during that time?

Harry L. Allen (17:36)
Yeah, I think early in the founding process, there was a phrase that emerged that we would say to each other, keep chopping wood. And, you know, it's just like keep showing up. We were going through our own personal challenges, too. I had three young kids. I still have three kids, but they were in elementary school and navigating virtual

school during that period and all that stuff, but as a leader, you have to remember to show up for your employees and show up with empathy, realizing that you're asking them to do hard and important things while they navigate personal challenges, the pandemic impacting all of us, and to model

behavior, know, I remember our chief experience officer posted a virtual mental wellness day where we hired a chef that did a virtual cooking class, which was a great way to just decompress as a work community and say, you know what, we have articulated our importance that, you know, this is a place where your full

person formation and well-being is valuable. What are ways that we can demonstrate that and give you time to decompress and kind of have fun? And so the modeling of the behaviors is also an important leadership lesson that I think I learned during that time that, you know, it doesn't serve anyone well for them to see you burnt out.

And so do what you need to do to take care of yourself. And that also encourages others around you that you're needed to do the same.

Sean Patton (19:44)
Hmm.

Yeah, that, that leading by example and being vulnerable and authentic, while also recognizing, I believe that, you know, one of the, maybe the differences between sort of management tasks and leadership tasks is, you lead the person, you, manage the position. And, and so that, I think you called that out, ⁓ very well. And

Harry L. Allen (20:09)
Yes.

Sean Patton (20:15)
as one of the key differentiators of and definitions maybe of leadership is you're, you're leading the person. ⁓ you're not just, you're not leading the, the teller or the executive director or whatever you're leading that human being who's performing a function.

Harry L. Allen (20:19)
Thank you.

That's right.

Yep, yep. Yes. Yeah. And even, you know, you're you're managing processes and you're leading people and the first person you need to lead really well as yourself. You know, and so, yeah, that was a big that was a big lesson. There were many days that. Were extremely hard, but yeah, I tried to remember. OK, Harry, keep showing up.

Sean Patton (21:00)
Well

then you made a pretty big transition, I would say not that many people, but go from banking to education. So what was that transition about? How did that happen?

Harry L. Allen (21:10)
Yeah, so I was, so I'm a double alum of Belmont University. graduated with both my undergraduate and MBA degrees from here and they've served the institution ever since I graduated. So I was on the board of trustees as the vice chairman when the announcement of our CFO's retirement was made and yeah, long journey short.

that presented an opportunity for me to explore my next role of service to my alma mater. And eight months ago, joined as the executive vice president for financial excellence and CFO. I'd served on the finance committee, chaired the endowment. I knew the institution reasonably well, you know, from a governance perspective.

And I had also been a nonprofit CFO once before in my career. I left banking in 2008 and was the CFO of a regional nonprofit, Big Brothers, Big Sisters in Middle Tennessee. And even in my banking career,

For 23 years, I've served nonprofit and institutional clients primarily. So it is this interesting marriage of my prior life as a banker, banking nonprofits, and then stepping into the lighter side of things on the nonprofit side. And I come from a family of educators.

Higher education and education generally is a passion of mine. Most of my board service, you mentioned the Puppet Band Foundation has been in this space. So it was an incredible opportunity to serve an institution that was served you need to be a part of an industry that is extremely impactful. And it all starts with education, the workforce development, health catering.

All that stuff. All of our community challenges are made greater. And so, yeah, this is, it's a dream. I'm living a dream.

Sean Patton (23:38)
That's awesome. I know we didn't talk about this before actually, but I grew up with a single mom in Night Mill, Tennessee, and in Kansas, and had a big brother for seven years that I still stay in contact with. That was super impactful for me as a young boy growing up.

Harry L. Allen (23:51)
Well, yes.

I love to hear it. Yeah, no, yes, it is meaningful work and all of us need others around us who care. And some of those folks, you you've got your family, but when you have a mentor relationship with an adult when you're a young person and there's no reason for them to be in relationship with you other than they care, that is extremely powerful and magical. Yeah.

Sean Patton (24:23)
It was, yeah, we, we go on a tangent up. was, yeah, it was, he was a, ⁓ a student at, ⁓ Kansas university because I was from Lawrence, Kansas. And, ⁓ and so I just remember, yeah, I'd go, you know, stay at his house and go to classes with him. He'd take me up on a, Friday nights to the gym because that's like nobody, everybody would be out like at the bars and party. And so it was like, he would get me in the pickup basketball games with him so I could play basketball. That was fine. It was the best. It was the best run. ⁓ well,

Harry L. Allen (24:36)
Thank

you

I'll let you.

Sean Patton (24:52)
So this must be a very different, well, I I said, how is it different leading at a senior leadership role at a university versus in banking?

Harry L. Allen (25:03)
Yeah, I mean, it is it's it's it's different. It's very different. So in my portfolio, I have finance and accounting, budget and planning, facilities, construction, grounds, keeping, custodial services, event services. So it's a broad portfolio of operations side. I touch everything except the education of

of our students that is managed by the provost and chief academic officer. And it's, so it's complex. I love it because every day is different and has different challenges and opportunities to learn into. It's also somewhat of a small town where 80 % of the population is less than 22 years old. So that's interesting.

and fascinating and yeah, is, it couldn't, in many ways it couldn't be more different. And then in a few surprising ways, it's almost as entrepreneurial, at least the work that I'm doing here at Belmont, is when you look 15, 20 years ago, it was a much smaller institution. When I graduated in 2004, we were less than 3000 students.

nearly 9,000 today. So tremendous growth over a short period of time. And there are lots of opportunities to lead change and think about innovation and implementation of systems and processes that help the institution from an infrastructure standpoint, catch up to the mid-size university status that we belong into. And so I love the opportunity to bring in fresh

eyes and perspectives to unlock capacity and potential with the team that was here before I got here and helped all my mature organizationally in ways that I think have been needed and it's refreshing. It's a lot of fun.

Sean Patton (27:21)
Yeah, so how are you applying this entrepreneurial mindset to your role at Belmont University?

Harry L. Allen (27:29)
Yep. Yeah, so.

think banking is a different entrepreneurial exercise than others. And we're a risk management business in a highly regulated industry. That's very similar to higher education. you think about our accrediting partners and the requirements we have to adhere to from a regulatory standpoint, like the department of the head and.

other entities. so innovating and being entrepreneurial within those boundaries of a highly regulated industry is something that I'm familiar with. And there are opportunities, you know, to understand the line and get as close as you can to it without crossing over. And so helping underwrite the risk involved in the

audacious things that we want to do is a fun way for me to partner with the executive team and hear their vision, understand our parameters, and figure out what's And, you know, it's like in banking, the risk we take in lending money to businesses, that's not our capital, that's our depositors.

The resources that we use to reinvest in ourselves at the university setting are philanthropic dollars often in partners with grant makers. And so this isn't our capital that we've earned through surpluses. Like this is, these are partners who are investing in our work. And so you want to be really

careful to be the best stewards of these resources that aren't your own as possible for the maximum salary impact. so applying this filter always is this in the best interest of a multiple and diverse group of stakeholders is very similar to innovating in space. I hope that's clear and helpful.

I feel like I may have rumbled a bit, but happy to clarify any of those points that we did.

Sean Patton (30:06)
Yeah, no, I think that's great. I I think as you move through and bring sort of this entrepreneurial spirit and mindset, I mean, I couldn't come at a better time because for a lot of reasons, it feels like higher education particularly is facing some new challenges to stay relevant.

in a world where information is sometimes free almost all the time, right? And people are moving maybe offline more or there's just a lot of other options. So as higher education faces new challenges and staying relevant, how is Belmont adapting?

Harry L. Allen (30:57)
Yeah, it's a great question. I love it. And it's part of what got me really excited about this opportunity is I think that Belmont in our DNA has always had this entrepreneurial spirit. And in our history, there are a few times, like it would have been way easier for the board to just shut the doors and say, we tried, you know, but in those critical moments.

some of our best programs today came out of innovating during those most challenging times. And so here we are facing a sector, sector level challenges that I think we are really well positioned to live into. you mentioned free access to education, I mean to information. That's true. And then there's AI and then, you know, there's the cost of

a traditional higher education experience and a lot of young people and their parents and families asking what is the return on this industry, right? While information may be more easily accessible and free, education is about both information and experience. And I think that the universities that understand that as a key component of the value proposition

And how do we teach not just the theory, but give young people practical experience while they're with us that allows them to immediately go out and engage the world and make a difference is really perfect. Our placement rate for graduates who end up taking jobs in their fields of study is over 90%. And so we

can say to prospective students and their families that if you get a degree from Belmont, you're going to be employable in the field that you're passionate about, and we're going to help make that so. Super excited about the partnership with Dolly Parton and Dolly you as a real great example of, you know, how do we take marketing students, entrepreneurship students, musical theater, music business, and give them the practical experience of helping

icon tell their story on Broadway through a Broadway musical that's being premiered right here on campus, right? And so these graduates will get to say, yeah, not only do I study these things, but let me show you what I did. And it's that match of information with experience that best prepares people to go out and change and transform.

their worlds and communities and that's what we've always been about here.

Sean Patton (33:52)
Can you tell the audience you may not be familiar with what Dolly you is?

Harry L. Allen (33:57)
Yeah, so it's a strategic partnership with Dolly Parton where there are a number of classes. We have about 100 students taking different classes that are tied to her work of producing a Broadway musical called Dolly that will premiere this summer. But we've had students engage in

putting the marketing together, merchandising, production assistance, the whole nine. So it's a great experiential learning opportunity. If you're partner, circle of home management team in Belmont. Yeah.

Sean Patton (34:41)
Yeah.

It, you know, and all of that, mean, it's such a cool way to take, ⁓ as you mentioned, not just theory, not just, you know, book learning, ⁓ but, ⁓ take that and then use the resources of the university to put people and resources together to connect it, to get these unique experiences, to better prepare, ⁓ students in these different sectors to, to go into the workforce already.

having these maybe lessons that they would have to learn the first, they have to stumble through the first year, three years of their career. It's like, no, already, because we all know we're learning by making mistakes, right? Still now, so. Yeah, exactly.

Harry L. Allen (35:17)
It's hard. It's hard.

Let's make them as early as possible. that's right. Yep. And even

when I was a student, you know, I had an internship my junior year, the second semester of my junior year, BMW in Germany. And that experience changed, you know, changed my life. And I learned a ton, you know, and I was in a foreign country immersed in a foreign language. And so I came back my senior year like

senior year is going to be easy. just did. I just went 4,000 miles away from home leaving everybody I know. And I survived. So you build resilience and grit by presenting these hard opportunities for students to take it back and check it.

Sean Patton (36:09)
I do believe that I think that is absolutely true. And sort of piggybacking on that in our pre-call interview, you mentioned.

And I would agree that there's a sense of a leadership vacuum inside of society today. Why do you think we're lacking a next generation of strong leaders right now?

Harry L. Allen (36:23)
Mm.

Yeah, and it's more of a feeling than something that I've read a research, but I do feel like there is this, you know, generation ahead of us that, you know, we know stayed in the workforce longer because after the great recession, you know, that

If you were nearing retirement, wasn't the best time to actually retire the value of your retirement assets that probably plummeted. And so I'm not saying that folks stayed in their roles too long, but I don't know that we have been very intentional in many organizations of thinking through succession planning early enough.

to build those bridges between one generation of leadership and the next. And then when you think about community succession planning, if it's a thing that, you know, I think about a city like Nashville, I mean, from here, I can easily name those business and civic icons that were really impactful in driving big initiatives for the city forward.

professional sports, convention center, defeating an English-only bill that was proposed and would have been very detrimental to Nashville if it hadn't been defeated. These are leaders that we still look up to and celebrate, but then you stop and ask, well, who's the next one? And nobody has the answer. And so it is a challenge.

And, you know, we have multiple generations working in the workforce now.

on how to build those bridges between those generations. And not just identify the high potential leaders, but sponsor their leadership.

Sean Patton (38:46)
And what should these senior leaders be doing to mentor and develop the younger talent?

Harry L. Allen (38:54)
I don't know that I have the answer of what they should be doing, but they should be doing something. I think, you know, at the very least, know who they are. So look at your organization and identify those high potential folks who aren't at the level from a structure standpoint, but have the potential to move and maybe give them some projects.

outside or in addition to their daily tasks, encourage them to get involved in the community and represent the organization on the board of a nonprofit or something like that. But, know, you have to show them what's possible. And occasionally for me, you know, I've had mentors that identify qualities in myself that I didn't yet see for myself.

And be intentional about calling those things out that you see in the folks that are around you. Yeah, and also recognize when it's time for you to slide to the side and let some new leadership emerge.

Sean Patton (40:10)
You

I love that. you know, as you look down, maybe at these, you know, and started identifying talent in your organization or just generically, what is one piece of leadership advice you give, you would like to give to emerging leaders that are listening right now?

Harry L. Allen (40:34)
Yep. So I think in my experience, the times that opportunity has found me is when I was being the very best and most diligent steward of the task that I was given today. So I think it's really easy to focus on the rungs of the ladder. you know, I saw

Dwayne, do this next. So I need to do that. Well, the best way to position yourself for future opportunity is being excellent with what you've been given today. So that's usually my advice. And then the other piece is understand not just your role, but the business and the problems that management and leadership is trying to solve.

And get curious. You know, maybe take a leader to lunch or coffee and understand their perspective. And if you have ideas, hopefully there's psychological safety and culture that allows you to share ideas that may help the organization solve the problems it's trying to solve. And then you get recognized as a thinker as well as a doer.

So do the good job, but also have enough perspective about the organization to understand where is wanting to go and don't be shy to raise your hand and say you can help with a particular.

Sean Patton (42:14)
Dude, those are so powerful. if I had to add to that, think, and you may confirm this, if a younger leader comes to me, if they have a great idea, that's awesome. If they can see the bigger picture, right? And what may be even more powerful is if they come with a great question.

Harry L. Allen (42:32)
Yes, yes,

yes, curiosity is is great. Yeah.

Sean Patton (42:37)
If they come with a great question that makes you sit back like, I don't know, let me think about it. That to me shows so much in potential and your ability to think through and understand the bigger problem. We only have a few minutes left, but you mentioned earlier, so kind of to maybe pivot a bit here, that you're a sixth generation Nashvilleian.

Harry L. Allen (42:50)
perhaps a little bit.

Sean Patton (43:07)
Keeping that in mind, one thing that's very cool, and I don't know what percentage that is, but it's gotta be like 0.001 % of everyone in Nashville right now, because no one's even half a generation in Nashville. What does the American dream mean to you?

Harry L. Allen (43:21)
⁓

Wow.

That's a great question. You know, I think that the American dream means to me, for me, it's like everyone is dreaming. I want to be seen.

loved and given a fair chance to realize my fullest potential.

That's it.

Sean Patton (43:59)
That's that dude. Yeah. Well, we're not going to get any better than that, man. That was a mic drop moment. And I know I probably dropped that question on you, but it was a beautiful answer. I really appreciate that. I appreciate the work that you're doing and you you are someone that's, that's filling that leadership vacuum in, our community. And, just an honor to get to chat with you today, man. ⁓ people need to learn more or want to connect with you, ⁓ about what you're doing to studio bank or bellmonter or else like, what's the best way for them to get hold of you.

Harry L. Allen (44:16)
I it.

Yep, so LinkedIn my profile is Carrie Allen. Feel free to. And look forward to connecting.

Sean Patton (44:39)
Well, thanks so much for this Harry. This has been fantastic.

Harry L. Allen (44:42)
Thank you.