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St.George regional manager of intermediary distribution, Paul Mullens, shares his thoughts on the importance of teamwork in a leadership role

Self-proclaimed ‘passionate and loyal optimist’, Paul Mullens is a name that many in the banking sector would find familiar. Having worked in the industry for over 30 years, the 53-year-old father of four has demonstrated his effectiveness as a leader time and time again, making him a natural choice for the role of regional manager of intermediary distribution – Northern NSW at St.George.

A true people person, Mullens’ commitment to his team has seen him help brokers grow their business. “Leadership is by example,” says Mullens. “You can be a manager, or a leader. I’m a great believer in the power of the team so when my team is there working, I’m right there beside them.”

This dedication to his people could not be more important in his current role at St.George. Working with his team to set clear expectations and achieveable outcomes, Mullens is responsible for supporting St.George’s third party distribution channel in NSW.

City versus country

A career banker, Mullens has been working in the banking industry for over 30 years. Starting in 1975 as a batch clerk with National Australia Bank, his career has taken him all around NSW, including three years as a country bank manager in Holbrook, 491km south-west of Sydney. “I loved it there,” says Mullens. “I don’t think I’d ever worked as hard but it was something different, exciting, and I was learning about farm management and all sorts of principles that a city, northern bred person had ever come across.”

Fancying himself as a “bit of a country boy”, Mullens moved his wife and four children to Holbrook in 1990. “The reality was that it suited us at the time to go bush. We had four kids, and a house and a car were provided. It was a nice family lifestyle, even though I was still working six days a week,” laughs Mullens.

However, Mullens still found time to engage with the community, joining Rotary, acting as a treasurer for an arts council, and playing on both the local cricket and rugby teams. “It was brilliant,” he enthuses.

However, it wasn’t all play for the branch manager. With satellite branches reporting to Holbrook, Mullens found himself at the centre of a hub of activity. “I was managing some struggling branches at the time, and the writing was on the wall back then. Most of those branches spread through country NSW have now closed,” he says.

Moving his family back to Sydney in 1992, Mullens spent 18 months working on a business interest he had established with some friends. “I used to clean National Bank branches,” says Mullens. “I noticed that the bank always struggled to find a good cleaner and thought it was a good opportunity. With a couple of other mates we built a fairly good business but after five months, I was brain-dead. I lasted another 12 months before joining St.George as a branch manager at Balmain in 1994.”

Wanting desperately to be in a role that gave him face-to-face time with people, Mullens felt positive about returning to a branch role. “You go back to what you know, and I knew finance,” he says. “I had a good career at NAB so it felt right to go back into a branch role where I would be helping people,” he says. Managing branches across the inner west, Mullens’ intrinsic leadership skills shone through and by 1997 he was promoted to lending sales and operations manager in the Hornsby/Parramatta area. After five years of working with a team of what Mullens describes as “high achieving performers,” in 2002 he took on what was to be both the most challenging and rewarding role in his career.

Moving into third party, Mullens began a two year tenure at St.George’s Broker Mortgage Services in Parramatta, where he was responsible for re-building both the team and a third party process that was largely out of date. “It was six months of working huge hours, six to seven days a week, trying to bed that place down,” he says. “Morale was terrible and the third party function was dysfunctional at that time. We were using an outdated process that couldn’t handle the volume we started to receive as a result of the campaigns we were running to seek a larger share of the market,” he explains.

“The process just wasn’t built for that and so there was all that to deal with, all the while asking people to make an extra effort despite not having the best tools.” Yet Mullens achieved an almost total turnaround for the office, bringing in consultants to assess and improve the processes while working on building morale for his team. “We had to show we were committed and that it wasn’t just all talk,” explains Mullens.

“Changes to the processes, and little things like painting the place, showed we were committed to making it a better place to work. We worked on getting people to understand the big picture and their role within the organisation. It was about engaging them in the whole conversation about how the team was key in delivering market share which changed the whole feel of the place to something positive.”

Onside

It is Mullens’ understanding of what makes people tick that helps him strengthen the teams he leads. “You have to find out what’s important to each one of them,” he says. “Everyone is made differently, and each of us tackle problems and challenges differently. You need to respect that everyone is an individual – but the real power comes from working together and putting your support behind the team.”

According to Mullens, sport plays a great role in teaching people the lessons of teamwork. “Through playing sport you learn about doing things for the good of the team. You learn that together you can achieve a lot more than you can individually. That was always a key lesson for me; it’s not always the side with the best individuals but the side that works together the best that wins,” he says.

As a leader, he is guided by his passion for people. “I believe what I say, I am passionate about what I do, and I back my people,” he explains. “Communication is important. You need to make sure people know what you are about and what’s important to you. I’m really big on setting expectations with my team so they know what outcomes they need to achieve.”

This, explains Mullens, has been vitally important in revitalising and motivating his teams to reach performance goals. Drawing lessons from the people he has worked with, he believes that both the good and the bad are effective teachers. “When you’ve had a career as long as mine you work with a lot of different people. Some are great, and some are bad, but it’s just as important to learn from the bad operators as it is to learn from the good,” he explains.

For Mullens, being a good leader is all about bringing to St.George a competitive edge. “You have to excel in what you do,” he says. “Understanding what you and your competitiors are selling, where your processes are better than others and understanding your niche is what a good leader needs to do to give a competitive edge. Competitors change, the market changes, but if you evolve with that and change your focus you will be a good leader.

Field of play

Never could this ability to evolve and change be more important. As St.George refocuses its business strategy and moves to strengthen business with key partners, Mullens is there to see his people through. “St.George has acknowledged and identified the changing market,” says Mullens. “The market has gone from being just a volume game to one that focuses on strengthening relationships and developing business partnerships with partners who share the same customer values. We want to deal with brokers who have the same mantra as us, who are professional and have built an understanding of the importance of delivering quality service based on a customer-centric culture in their business.”

As the market evolves, Mullens suggests it is reminiscent of an earlier time where relationships were the main focus. “Right now we have issues with the cost of funds. I don’t think focusing on volume is going to be sustainable in what’s being called the ‘new normal’,” he says.

“Now it’s more about the profitability of relationships through customer cross-sales. Single transaction relationships are going to change because there is more of a strain on margins. Now we will be looking more at the overall relationship and what else we can offer.”
For brokers this means stickier clients, says Mullens. “By focusing on maintaining and building relationships, brokers will have clients who stay with St.George for longer. They’ll maintain their trail and improve referrals with more satisfied clients,” he says.

Moving forward, Mullens is hoping to build on St.George’s strengths by showing brokers how they can benefit from the bank’s commitment to quality business. “Education and clean business is just as important to a broker as the number of loans settled. It is important that they know we will look after their client,” Mullens explains.
“We pride ourselves to be known as a bank that offers brokers the strength, security and a full range of products and services – along with the genuine support and friendly service of a small bank.”

Up close and personal

Paul Mullens
+ Age: 53
+ Family: Wife Colleen and four children (Kate- Maree, Sarah, Beth and Sam) and now five grandchildren (Ryan, Connor, Jack, Sophie and Blake)
+ Favorite band: Red Hot Chilli Peppers
+ Favourite sports: Cricket (still play!), rugby league and horse racing
+ Favourite movie: Unforgiven with Clint Eastwood
+ Self described: Passionate and loyal optimist
+ Hobbies: Bushwalking and reading
+ If not in the mortgage industry: History teacher
+ If the house was burning and the family was safe, what would you grab: Photos, my Canon PowerShot camera and my cricket bat
+ Retirement plans: None yet – still too much to do!
+ Turning point in your career: Leaving National Bank in 1992 after 18 years of service and moving to St.George Bank in the early 1990s. It is most unusual to leave a long-term employer in the banking industry. I am usually risk-adverse but this was a gamble that paid off
+ What qualities do you most admire in business people?
Strong communication and leadership qualities

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