Special Lecture by Smile Microcredit Bank Chairman Kim Seung-yoo “Try to call someone by his/her name. It is a sign of acknowledgement.” On December 3rd, Kim Seung-yoo, Chairman of Smile Microcredit Bank (former Chairman of Hana Financial Group), gave a special lecture on leadership and talked about the importance of calling people by their names. At the lecture themed “Together, We Can Go a Long Way,” he recalled his college days at University of Southern California. He does not remember anything about the course that he took, but he does remember the professor who called him by his initials, ‘SY,’ during each class. He decided to do the same for his employees. He learned over a 1,000 names of all the people he worked with and called them by their names. “Memorizing more than 1,000 names is not easy. I looked at name cards and familiarized myself with the names through storytelling and by making myself reminders.” His efforts and unique management style touched the hearts of the employees. When the number of employees increased to over 5,000, it was no longer possible to memorize everyone’s name. Instead, he sent hand-written cards to employees on their wedding anniversaries. “I tried not to write the same old congratulatory messages. I took care with every single sentence I wrote on the card to express my sincerity.” His genuine sentiments and affection for his employees encouraged them to grow a sense of ownership and see Kim as their leader. Kim said that, “Being a leader does not mean being a king. You should think of your employees as partners. You need to set an example for them. Those in the mainstream professions (such as doctors, professors, executives of banks) have to be considerate of others.” He also set out to get rid of favoritism based on school ties and personal connections. Applicants were not told to specify their schools in their application forms and if they mentioned a school by name during the interview, they were automatically dropped. He explained that, “A long time ago, my boss asked me what I thought about selecting people from a certain school for an opening at the company. I replied that everyone deserves a fair chance. He agreed and said that he was wrong to suggest else. He was a great leader who knew to accept his shortcomings. From that moment on, I decided that he is my mentor.” He applied his philosophy in the management of Hana Academy as chairman of the board as well. The first thing he said to the principle and teachers when he was appointed was, “Please call the students by their names.” His philosophy won the students over, too. “The media labels Hana Academy as an elite school. This is partly true; we have the best school facilities in Korea. However, most of the students do not come from economically affluent families.” Kim adhered to his belief that everyone deserves a fair chance and that everyone should be evaluated on equal grounds. Kim recently took notice of the US World Report of the top 25 universities and its presidents. He said that, “Only two universities have presidents who were alumni. The rest have presidents from other universities most of which are not ranked in the top 25.” This shows that school ties are not an important factor in US society. Furthermore, he added that only 1 out of 25 coaches of their football teams is an alumnus. Which school one graduated from is not important. It is one’s competence. Lastly, he asked the students some final questions. “What if the president of Yonsei University is not an alumnus? What would it be like to have a football coach at Korea University who never studied there?”