Employee Stories: Reid Walder

Reid’s Story

Finance has always interested me as it combines both numbers and relationships. My entire professional career has been in the banking industry.

I earned my bachelor’s degree in finance, and then later completed my MBA at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I started in banking as a Relationship Banker with my hometown bank during college. Since then, I have worked for three other financial institutions, with most of my time spent here as part of the Heartland Bank Team.

Here at Heartland, my career has included stints as a Credit Analyst, as a Commercial Lender in our Champaign market, and now in my current role as a Senior Vice President & Credit Officer. Most of my day to day is focused on working with our commercial lending teams in structuring and approving loans to our commercial borrowers, as well as strategic oversight of several functions within the Credit group. I appreciate the variety of what comes my way each day, and that no two days are the same!

While I enjoy the role I play in our prudent lending activities that support local businesses, create jobs, provide housing, and generally enhance the communities we are part of, the most meaningful part of my job is my role as a leader within the organization. I’m thankful for the opportunity to spend my day finding ways to serve our team and getting the privilege of impacting the trajectories of their careers and lives. I thoroughly enjoy being a supporter and encourager to those on our team and then stepping back and watching them grow and succeed!

Finding A Career Path

I was first attracted to Heartland Bank primarily because of its reputation as a strong credit culture given my career goals. When I was coming out of college in the early 2010s, it was not the most ideal time to be looking for a banking role given the state of the economy, so the Bank’s strong financial position and track record as high performing organization was especially attractive. I met employees during the interview process that left an impression on me, and I knew I wanted to be part of this team.

After five great years of growth and development with the bank that surpassed my expectations, I made the difficult decision to pursue an opportunity outside of the Bank for the next step in my career. A few years went by and then, Mark Scheirer, Chief Credit Officer, reached out to me about an opportunity to return to the Bank in the role I now hold. The role was a great fit and the right next step toward achieving my career goals. The people, culture, commitment to employee professional development, and the Bank’s leadership made re-joining an easy decision.

Support from Managers & Professional Development

Throughout my career I’ve been thankful to have had excellent mentors that have helped shape my professional career, and three of those have been here at Heartland Bank. Like many leaders at the Bank, they each are consistently supportive and encouraging, while also challenging me to grow.

• Jake Seckler, Credit Operations Officer, led with integrity and taught me much of what I know about the mechanics or “science” of credit underwriting. This helped build a solid technical foundation for my current role.
• Phil Duffy, retired Senior Lender, led with ingenuity and a servant heart as he instilled in me the “art” of lending, which is staying disciplined from a credit perspective and protecting the Bank, but also genuinely caring for the individual customer and meeting their needs. This helped to prepare me for the relational component of my current role.
• Mark Scheirer, Chief Credit Officer, has been the key mentor in my career since I started as a Credit Analyst, consistently pushing me, educating me, and giving me opportunities to grow and achieve my career aspirations. Much of my own success can be attributed to his ability to simultaneously support and challenge me.

I would simply not have experienced the career success and fulfillment I have thus far without these leaders, and each were instrumental in developing the professional I am today.

Heartland Bank’s Culture

Heartland Bank has a culture that is committed to integrity and excellence as well as truly caring for employees. This commitment to integrity shows very tangibly in how leadership consistently looks to do what is right in every situation, whether it be doing right by the customer or an employee.

A focus on excellence shines through in the everyday teamwork amongst departments and there is a genuine desire to help each other learn and grow by staff at all levels of the organization, both formally and informally. Even as the Bank has grown, strong internal personal relationships have remained a key institutional strength. Finally, I’ve seen Bank leadership care for employees in all situations: positive, difficult, and everything in between.

I’m proud to work for an organization that exhibits these qualities.

Advice from Reid

Growing up on a grain farm in central Illinois, I was taught the importance of hard work and integrity. I believe that integrity, a positive attitude, and consistent initiative are key to a life well lived, both professionally and personally. Much of life is not in our control, but these three character traits are. Demonstrate them consistently and your reputation will stand out.

I’d encourage you to surround yourself with great people that demonstrate these characteristics. Professionally, these do not have to be within your current team. Seek out a mentor, take a colleague out to lunch, or ask someone you aspire to be like for help in an area you’d like to grow. Their influence will develop you and open doors you may not expect. The best roles in my career were not from a job posting. Sometimes by demonstrating the above characteristics the role finds you instead.

One of my favorite quotes is: “A ship is safe in harbor, but that is not what ships are built for!” – John A. Shedd. Step out of your comfort zone today and take a risk and you’ll be surprised where it will lead you!