Wow. What a whirlwind of a month! As we wrap up this month, our Agenda needs to include: paying attention to details, looking around you and seeing what needs to be improved, and asking “what can I do to make a difference?”

We’ve been through 30 days of new system installation, loss of our primary production lines, changes in investor guidelines, and decreased numbers. We were profitable last month and expect to be slightly profitable this month. One month ago we were drowning in post-funding guideline changes and it was scary. Yet, we kept on keeping on. We put our heads down, took personal accountability and behaved our way out of a literal mess. Let’s recognize that the mess was two fold; ours and the industry changes.

May will bring about a lot of changes; auditors – new processes – more AUS training – new product mixes – new underwriting methods – new pricing models – new strategies – heightened need for people performance. Again, let’s recognize how overwhelming this can be and decide now how to respond.

I’ve very Purposefully picked this time to bring QBQ and Personal Accountability back to the forefront and hope that everyone embraces this tool. We have come a long way and our survival depends upon our ability to behave well. Behavior is 100% your responsibility; not blame, but leading and influencing. It is your personal choice as to how you behave. My door, email, and phone is open for questions, concerns, and discussion; seek clarity.

We'll continue to focus on the 3 processes of People, Strategy, and Operations; an important part of this is how well we perform and how we gauge our performance. We'll talk a bit about this in the 1006 meeting today.

Thank Don and Betsy for the meal today. Every month you bring us lunch on the last day of the month and I appreciate it (even when it’s girl food!) Thanks Don…and thanks Betsy for putting up with us!

Danny

As you might know, I read quite a bit, but most of it just goes by the wayside unless I read it again and again. But! Every once in a while I’ll breeze through something (you know, there’s so much to read and so little time)…I’ll have a drifting thought specific to an article, or a piece of an article. This article has been the subject of that drift many times the past 3 weeks.

The following are excerpts from that article on Performance Appraisals.

"Performance evaluations are about as much fun as an annual physical exam for a fifty-year old male. At least the physical exam is useful!Few business activities create more havoc in the workplace than the "how are you doing" sessions most companies require their managers to foist on their workers. Managers hate to complete them, workers hate to receive them, and even the best of them tend to produce friction between the firm and the worker more often than they produce results. Still, this pivotal ritual in employee relations continues unabated, with companies trying out new systems hoping to discover one that works across the board."

"Beneath the surface of the evaluations, another problem erupts. In a culture where many of us define our worth by our jobs, the performance evaluation strikes at the core of our being."

For the complete article, go to http://www.hcbcworklife.com/ and click on Viewpoint on left navbar.

Danny

In case you did not get the announcement I left hanging on Friday’s Focus, we had a couple of days where our Underwriting Received numbers jumped to 25+ loans per day and well over half were “AUS APPROVED” loans. That is good, really really really good. This is a direct result of our increased emphasis on turning these files around faster in underwriting; initial file and conditions. We haven’t arrived, yet, but it is an incredibly good sign of future victories.

My focus for this week will be on…

Past and future Performance Results; we will be pulling a lot of reports and numbers and building new “dashboards.” These dashboards will consist of numbers/dates/data.
My direct reports will be working on lists of numbers/dates/data they pay attention to and what reports they pull to review those numbers/dates/data. We will also want to know what benchmarks the numbers/dates/data is being compared against.
We’ll be discussing this week in how well we are performing in all aspects of our business processes; hiring, originating, processing, underwriting, closing, funding, shipping, investor relations, finance and accounting, profitability, warehouse line management….everything.
Processes; Systems, Strategies, and People. If you have not read the attachment I sent last week on this subject, please do so.

Roy asked me to pass on this information: The Fletcher, Mary Ellen file funded on Monday the 21st and was purchased on Friday the 25th; it was a “First Touch Purchase” The file was conventional and AUS-approved. The LO was Jayne Herrera, Kim Odom processed (YO! - KIM), the underwriter was Mike, Carmen drew the docs, and if I remember right, Isabel funded the file. John "the Man" Harris shipped the file.

Now, I don’t care who you are (as Chas would say), that’s GREAT PERFORMANCE RESULTS. Thanks everyone.

Oh….who shipped that file? And who Processed it?

The daily 2pm AUS meetings are proceeding very well and should be bringing everyone together. It has amazed most of us as to how many ways the AUS findings can be read and interpreted, thus, the reason we will meet about this process everyday for weeks. Please remember that all underwriters and others in the office and field are in this meeting from 2 to 3pm everyday. Beginning today, I will attempt to log these discussions for future benefit.


To that end, Thanks for the hard work,


Danny

Focusing and reflecting is a tough thing for me some, much, most, of the time. I’m not the type to focus very well. I love that red block; be quick, be prepared, be gone! “Back-in-the-day” when I was still agile and willing to suffer more self-inflicted pain than I am today, I loved barefoot waterskiing….still do, but the pain out-weighs the urge. I’d be scurrying along, no skis, at 47 mph rope and have some of the strangest thoughts. My ability to focus was pathetic and thus, I took some incredibly hard falls. What was possibly the last of such falls was 3, maybe 4 years ago. Cathy saw it (I was wanting to show off for my woman!!! :-). Literally, I thought I’d broken both arms and my face. These falls are so fast you can’t even close your eyes and your eyelids get rolled back to the point you have to reach up and fix them.

Obviously, I should have been paying attention to keeping my toes pointed up, and my knees bent, and my eyes on the top of the windshield…but nope, I was thinking about people watching and I needed to look good. And it was an incredible fall. I understand the sound, when my hands, forearms, and face slapped the water, was like a rifle shot. It was incredible. But then….you can’t waste a crowd! Right??!!

(Ok…deep breath. Whoa! Did I just hear a barefooter on the water?…wow, no wind, there’s dust on the water!!)

(Focus..deep breaths.)

(Ok, I’m fine, for now…concentrate) Today and tomorrow, I need to be sure I’m focusing on what is important and not on looking good. I understand that “looking good” can be the result of the importance, and can even drive us to do the basics well, but style points only represent 20% of the score and without the basics, we don’t get the style, and looking good is way too temporal.

I’m continuing to focus on our Mission and our Values. I’m focusing on how we live those out through people, systems, and strategies. This has been my focus for months, even years, and I am hopefully learning how to live this out better than before. If I appear intense, that’s why. Everything I do is directed towards that purpose.

Ok, new thought. Bryon shared some great news with me yesterday afternoon. I was in the rear kitchen…needing coffee (I quit the Crown a few years ago). And there was no coffee, I was feeling incredibly irritable, Paul was trying to talk to me about something, I was silently praying that I could pay attention, and Mr. Cunningham popped his head in. If you don’t know Bryon very well, he’s a reporter and I can tell when he has something good to talk about. There’s a certain skip and sway. He was looking good! And I forgot about the coffee….

Don’t miss the 1006,

Toes up, knees bent, eyes on top of the windshield…


Danny

Isn’t it interesting as to how we absently come to focus on certain things. And how that focus can drive our emotions for a period of time. This thought came to me while reviewing the warehouse line status report Roy so diligently sends out each morning. While the report doesn’t tell the entire story, it sure gives a snapshot and begins to set-up some of my behavior for the day. It can quickly put a frown or smile on one’s face.

This morning, upon reading the report, I had thoughts of;

Wow, we’ve only been using GMAC’s line again for 10 days or so and it has come down by 400k. Good turnover
Good deal….the NattyMac line is increasing; this means we are funding some AUS/BBT loans. I’m glad it’s not all GMAC product right now.
Wow, the 1st Star line has come down almost 3 million the past.
This means we are getting really good turnover. Thanks Kandy.

I smiled. But then I wondered….”what else is going on?”

We’ve behaved our way very well these past few weeks. It was refreshing to get MaryR’s email on Friday about all the loans being purchased.. Everyone, please, give Kandy a big hi-five for a great job she is doing.

Over the past few days, setting through my class, I’ve thought a lot about how we’ve come through some tough times the past few months. That’s not to say that we haven’t come through others over the past 10 years, because we have. What has been particularly gratifying is how much better we lived out our Mission and Values this time; or, at least I want to say we have; we include each of you…how have you lived out our corporate values?

Speaking of values and behavior…We invested almost $10,000 of direct cost in the QBQ classes last year. The further investment of your participation time puts the price tag up close to $20,000. Personal accountability is at the core of the QBQ classes and accepting personal accountability is at the core of how well we’ve behaved these past few months. It is not an accident that our behavior has improved over the last year. Our improved behavior is a direct result of that investment last year and that was money well spent. In part, I bring this up because we circle back around to our QBQ classes beginning today. Those that are not in the classes need to be aware the classes are going on and who is in the classes. And the refocus on what and how questions that begin with I and causes action. I look forward to the continued improvement in our performance and behavior as a direct result of participation in these classes.

I’ve attached a paper to this email. Though a bit daunting, this paper is an easier read than the entire book of which the paper is a summary of. For a look into part of the madness behind my methods, review this paper. It will give you a bit of a look into what I am focusing on as we work through these next few days and weeks. Without doubt, changes are in the wind and I want you all to be aware as to how all encompassing these changes need to be. We will have changes in each of the 3 process; people, operations, and strategy. We must be purposeful about the changes. Or they will, again, be imposed on us.

As I mentioned in a couple of meetings yesterday, I’m thinking about June, concerned about the volumes (or lack of) and thinking about what I’d be thinking; I’d be thinking…”what could I have done back in April to have caused business to be better?”

When you see me walking around the office and wonder what I’m up to, that’s it…thinking what can I do now to not be thinking in June about what I could have been doing back on April 24th to not have to have been have this thought in June. In short, I’m thinking about performance, behavior, creativity, personal accountability, mission statements, values, and doing things because they are the right thing to do.

And how do I get everyone to engage. Oh yea, clarity. I’ve got to be clear…


With humility…..as mud,


Danny

Good Morning: Thanks again Jason and Curtis for the job you’ve done.

Thinking back about yesterday I remember evaluating forward on regular intervals and I’ll spare you the replay of the mental gymnastics, yet, I want you to know I can’t get a good picture of how well we stick the landing. And I just realized I can’t get “that” picture, because it is in the future and as I evaluate forward I do so based upon the results of the past and our past does not show that we change well.

The “forward” is our mortgage business, our type of business, without what has been our typical 1st time homebuyer. Forward is the world of automated underwriting. If it wasn’t so serious, this would be a bit humorous because the world of AUS is where we transitioned from! A place we did not think we could compete well. So, here we are again. Can we compete well? Can we change whereas we can compete well?

To evaluate forward we do so on a foundation of the results of our history and how well we believe we can change based upon the people and systems we have. How Well we can learn to operate out of the box with the boxes we have, or change boxes. What am I so concerned about? Engaging? Empowering? Persistence? Performance? Results? Fun? Mission Statements? Values? Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and more yeses. But what scares me is Change. I’m concerned about changing. I’m concerned about how well you can change. I fearful about the results of not changing Well.

And change we must. Change you must.

But not from manual underwrites to AUS. Not from one system to another. Not from one process to another process.

You must change in the area of Trust, and Conflict, and Accountability. You must come to accept that you have to learn how to work together. The key word here is learn. Learn. Learn. You must accept that you have not arrived. You must accept that you influence others and that your influence either lifts others up or puts others down. You must come to accept that this is not about YOU. Hmmm….maybe the key is accept, not learn. But both you must do.

This isn’t about just underwriters, closers, account executives, processors, managers, loan officers, supervisors, teams, and a CEO changing. This is about Alethes changing. This is about every person, every position, the entire org chart. Chas and JohnG can talk till they are blue in their face about Together Everyone can Achieve More (T.E.A.M.) but until You decide to change You, good teamwork will never happen. We aren’t born with the ability to be good team players. We WORK and LEARN to be good team players.

Change is about reaching down inside of yourself and becoming something you have not been before. I know there is a better you. My bible tells me there is and that is the premise that drives me everyday. You are important. Your job is important. The person you stand behind at the copier is important. The person on the other end of the email is important. Look around the office…right now…every person you see is important. Every person that sets in every chair and walks those isles is important. Their jobs are important. Look at them. They are important. The job they do is important.

How important is their job? Your job depends upon how important they accept the importance of their job.

Is your job important enough to influence others well? As I evaluate forward, can I depend upon you to change so that we can achieve better results than we’ve had in the past?

My focus today is about change and I pray that you take this very personal. I’m writing to you personally asking you to change.


Sincerely yours,


Danny

I believe it was in Joy at Work, where I learned the term “evaluating forward.” As I evaluate this remainder of this month forward, the words people, process, clarity, consistence, performance, engaging, empowering, persistence, and continuity jump immediately to mind. Now, continuity is not a word I normally use, or even think, so I just looked it up and it means performance, stability, link, connection. The opposite of continuity is interruption. Interruption draws me to diversion, which brings me to “what not to be diverted from?”

Our pipeline, our task-at-hand: Jason has broken down our locked pipeline, expiring between 4/15 - 5/9, as follows:

Locked
209
$24,094,723.13
51.16%

In Underwriting
27
$3,316,313.00
7.04%

Suspended
39
$4,670,261.00
9.92%

Approved
105
$11,885,353.00
25.24%

Docs
26
$3,129,627.00
6.65%

Total
406
$47,096,277.13
100.00%

Thanks Jason, those words I mentioned above all come to mind as I think about closing this pipeline out Well.

I Pray that everyone thinks about what I said yesterday about Meaningfulness. This pipeline can be either staggering or uplifting; how do you look at it? How do you think about your task at hand; your job? Do you believe it is important? How will you respond to this challenge? Undoubtedly, a portion of this will fall out, yet each of these 406 loans represents someone wanting a home. Each loans represents a task/a job that needs to be performed well. Each loan represents a paycheck, a car payment. Each loan that funds represents an immediate purchase or an exception to purchase. Each loan represents……

You play an important role in making this happen. The person next to you, across the room, and on the other end of the phone and email, play an important part.

I want to take this time to thank Jason and Curtis on a marvelous job they did getting this pipeline locked. At one point, with the locks still coming in, Curtis told me it would take him 34 hours to get the loans locked and in the systems. When I inquired with Jason he mentioned that the locks were coming in like rain, acid rain. I decided that the best I could do to help them was to shut-up, leave them alone, and pray.

If Jason and Curtis did not think their job was meaningful and worthwhile we would have a mess on our hands. If Jason and Curtis had not realized how important their job was and hunkered down we would not have this pipeline. Many of you, most of you, and not just in prod/ops, would be without a job today. Do you think their job is meaningful?

Take time to thank Jason and Curtis today.


Thank each other also.


Danny

Good Morning: We are at the half-way point of the last month of the FHA mortgage business as I’ve known it for over 24 years. FNMA and FHLMC introduced their automated underwriting engines in the mid ‘90s. Some 6 or so years ago FHA followed with their “scorecard” to run with DU and LP and now we are at a point in history where the traditional manual underwritten loan has almost been eliminated.

With automated underwriting comes a more consistent product and a higher “quality” of loan. Those that know me well know that I firmly believe that by setting higher standards we will raise the outcome. Yet, I’m struggling with denying an entire class of people with the ability to purchase a home and in essence, that is what is happening. I also dislike being at such the forefront of this change. It is also interesting to note that the 540-580 credit score loan is performing today the same as it did 10 years ago. While we have been attempting to change our business model for a few months, this is much more drastic than any of us would like. Though, it is making us change and I wonder about the timing of it all! And that is another reflection for later.

It’s appropriate that the subject of our Leadership class the past week has been about Intuition. John Maxwell teaches….”Some people are born with great leadership intuition. Others have to work hard to develop and hone it. But either way it evolves, the result is a combination of natural ability and learned skills.” I have to point out the “work hard to develop and hone it” part because this is an area I believe critical to successfully leading well. I also point it out because it is an area I personally have had to develop and struggle with way too much.

Maxwell lays out 3 lists of 5 “things” in each list in which you can develop and learn better Intuition:

Reading; Situations, Trends, Resources, People, and Oneself
Providing What Others Can’t: They See Differently–They Provide Correction, They See Globally-They Provide Direction, They See Clearly-They Provide Structure, They See Relationally-They Provide Support, and They See Expectantly-They Provide Confidence
Competing With the Best: Become a Man/Woman of Prayer, Communicating Personally with People at all Levels of the Org Chart, Laying out the Vision, Selecting and Training Leaders, and Releasing Leaders to Lead

If you’d like to participate in a discussion on the subject of Intuition, join us in the conference room at 11:45 today.


My focus today is on

1) where we are at with our pipeline and supporting systems to close it out this month and

2) AUS and its supporting systems. The supporting systems for AUS includes;

DU, DO, LP
IDs and Passwords
Uploads, downloads
Who runs AUS?
How is AUS run?
How the loan gets to us
Validations
ProLender
Pull-Throughs
What do we Sell?
????

What are you focusing on today?


Danny

Management and Leadership guru Peter Drucker said “good leaders need to regard first of not their task, but of their time.” Ephesians 5: 16 and 17 states that wise leaders work to redeem the time they have. What can I do to help you manage your time at Alethes? How can I help you to redeem your time at Alethes?

Time is a serious part of our Performance evaluations and a crucial part of achieving good Results. The affects of Time were a key ingredient in selecting ProLender. TQM and TOC workflow and management processes are about making the most of TIME. Chas has been talking about how we need to increase our “number of fundings per staff employee.” TIME

Did you notice the QBQ questions in the opening paragraph?

Ok….My Persistence, along with being Purposeful, is kicking in here.

Thanks Gail for inquiring about the QBQ classes. Sharon will have the upcoming class schedule out soon. The classes will not be “open enrollment” but instead we’ll work through the supervisors to insure attendance. If you have not been through the training, you’ll be required to attend and participate.

Back to the last question…..If you didn’t notice it, then you are clueless and you need to get a grip. Ok…my bluntness is also kicking in.

I can tell who really attempts to practice QBQ (hence, Personal Accountability) and who doesn’t care. If you don’t care, please stop not caring. If you are not going to practice personal accountability, you are going to fail at Alethes. You are going to be miserable and I really don’t want you to be miserable. (I’m I offending anyone yet?) Making people miserable is not why this company was started, though we will offend some and that is part of who we are. We are not for everyone and those staying at Alethes must be willing to learn. Are you going to fail at QBQ? ABSOLUTELY. Do I fail at it? YOU BET. That is why it is called “Practice.” We are not perfect. God only made One perfect man and we are not Him. But, You have to be willing to grow. If you aren’t willing to learn to be personally accountable for your actions, your words, and what happens to YOU – please just leave. I say leave, because my demand that everyone is personally accountable is going to drive you nuts and this is not a good company fit for you.

Read Persistence.

You should know by now that just doing a good job is not enough and is not what makes a good Alethes employee. Do you want to learn? Do you want to be the best (insert you job title) in the business? If yes, and yes, then as long as God allows Alethes to continue, this is the place for you, because through the good, the bad, the pretty, and the ugly, you’ll grow at Alethes.

John Glenn keeps saying, “Alethes is about Truth and Possibility.” This encumbers a vast field of stuff, but in the heart of it is included personal accountability. No “buts”, no “blame games”, no “theys”, no “I can’ts”, no “yets”, not “whys”, no “whens,” Just plain personal accountability: whats, hows, I’s, and actions.

Almost daily I ask myself; what problems do I have, what could I have done differently in the past to have prevented them, and what am I going to do in the future to see they don’t happen again?”

I’m not talking in circles and this is meant in a heartfelt and positive way. If you aren’t getting it….well, you just don’t get it.

TIME, it’s precious. David asked God to help him number the days (Ps 39: 4 and 5).

-------------------------------------------------------------
ProLender/WebLender We’ll have a better idea after WebLender gets the kinks worked out.
4/10 – ProLender has a custom report writer that works in conjunction with Excel. Anyone that can move around well in Excel will be able to customize their own reports. Roy and Scot spent about an hour a developed one report Roy needed for MIP Payments. Every department will be responsible for writing their own reports. Please start thinking outside the restricted DT box we’ve been in the past few years. Every department has numerous reports you are going to need as we move more Purposefully towards Profitability and Performance.
4/10 – Scott and John made good progress yesterday. WebLender should be taking seamless uploads and the calls should have decreased drastically
4/11 – Notes from John Bentham: We received an update from LSSI Wednesday that corrected some of the fees that were not showing up on closing docs. Isabel tested it this morning and it seems to be fixed.
I also sat with Isabel through a Closing doc set and identified a few more fees that were in PL, but did not show up in LSSI. I made screen shots of all applicable areas and sent it to both LSSI and PL for resolution. I intend to do this a few more times today with different loan/program types and identify any other areas that need attention.
There is an issue with the Per Diem Interest rate calculation on the LSSI side that is being worked on right now.
We attempted a resolution of the WebLender "pipeline" issue Wednesday night, but backed it out after Jason identified some unforeseen affects (namely too many cancelled loans). We're reworking the logic on this one today for a fix either tonight or tomorrow. Meanwhile, we made a small adjustment to the WebLender application and it should work, albeit slower, until we get a permanent fix
4/11 – more progress was made and we’ll give updates in the 1006 meetings. The report writer in ProLender is proving to be a great tool. To learn more about the tool and how to write your own reports, go to the Help menu and search for Report Writer; you will also need to go to the Print menu, select reports, select “Data Dictionary.” If I have any of this wrong, Scott and/or others will provide corrections.
Please pay attention to needed rules and proper permissions.
It is extremely important that you have the proper permissions. If you have access to something you feel you do not want the responsibility for, or should have and don’t, see your supervisor. Everyone needs to be evaluating 360 degrees to insure the proper permission levels.
RULES – if you see something that can be fixed with a “rule,” bring it to your supervisor’s attention. If you don’t understand rules, bring it up in the 1006 meetings. See clarity.
Our locked pipeline
What does it look like? What are the Real loans? 4/09 -
4/09 - We took 268 GMAC locks last week (Jason and Curtis - Thanks for your Persistence)
We expect to fund 50-75% of these loans
Curtis was able to finish the input to ProLender on Tuesday and we’ll start running reports to validate our pipeline
4/11 – we’ll run reports again today to see how the Datatrac to ProLender clean up is coming. This is hampering our ability to pull an accurate pipeline.
4/11 – PLEASE NOTE – we have loans that are being locked AUS that are not AUS Approved – please pay attention to insure the system matches the file – this is part a whole new emphasis on DATA INTEGRITY. If you see something not correct, ask questions – bring it to your supervisor’s attention.
File Flow Process / Robust evaluation and correction of changes we made last week
How are the changes we made last week working? 4/09 - there are some bumps and grinds but it appears to be working well. Some of us are exchanging emails and clarifying and testing how this is working. The periodic announcements you see via email is also helping to communicate the changes and to remind us all of new habits we need to develop
o We are holding the loan officer and processor’s feet to the fire for good submissions. Approximately 30% of are being rejected for underwriting and the LO/processor is being told to complete the processing and resubmit a complete file. Those rejected go into the shred bin. (now that’s a change!)
4/10 – please read the emails I sent out yesterday with “Changes -……..” in the subject line. Whether you think they apply to you or not – READ THOSE EMAILS. And, pass them on to your departments for review. PLEASE be Purposeful in getting feedback from your People (we are not as good as all of us!).
4/11 – new changes were started yesterday. I hesitate being too transparent because it can be construed by some to be unfair, but, I’ll try to be clear and specific…here goes:
we have a really good pipeline of manual uw loans that needs to close out asap
we have AUS files stuck in the workflow.
these AUS files are generally considered to be better processed (some exceptions)
we have clients that consistently send us business, good business, and they are in the fight with us, month end and month out
again, these AUS and these clients are being hampered by the poorly processed and/or manual underwrite files
AND, looking FORWARD….it is these AUS files, and these clients, we are depending upon after the manual uw’s are gone (in 30 days)
SO?.... beginning now,
A. AUS approved submissions move to the front on “that day’s submissions”
B. Conditions for AUS approved files move to the front of ALL conditions
C. The procedures and details have been worked out with Gabe, James, Jessica, and the underwriters.
D. We’ll continually be evaluating and correcting this process.
What next? More changes.
NOTE: please do not make a big deal about these changes. I would sincerely like “our ACTIONS to speak so loudly that what we say they can not hear.”
Warehouse line turn-over ratio
Are we getting files shipped as fast as possible? 4/09 - I’ll be talking to Kandy and Mary today about any additional help they need; chasing packages, stacking, etc. 4/10 Awesome job by Kandy and Crew these past few weeks. They are keeping up. Mary and I discussed the possibility of needing someone to help with chasing the funded loan packages from Title companies. She’ll let us know if that is needed. Also, give Maggie a high 5 for a great job she is doing in the shipping department. Mary is so proud of her she’s going to burst.
Are the recent quick purchases at trend? 4/09 - No good answer yet. Keep praying - we hope so. Something like 14 loans bought on Tuesday and 21 on Wednesday. This keeps up we’ll be doing great on warehouse lines this month.
Review of the Corporate Branch/Processing Center’s processes (Mark and I are meeting Friday morning)
Position Contracts
Work flows
Loan Officer performance
Notification to existing loan officers of change we are making with whom we will be working with in the future
Release of memo about what level loan officers we are now working with (this will happen after the meeting today)
Training and Equipping
21 Minutes class today is on the Law of Respect. This covers the 5 levels of leadership. 4/09 - Great class – we discussed this week Deborah and the Law of Respect. Did I mention Persistence? Amazing how the lessons from this class keeps coming up during the week.
Note: please review these levels. What level are you on? 360 degrees? 4/09 - How are you influencing across?
The Call: a discussion group will begin Tuesday night – 6 to 7pm – to discuss the book “The Call,” by Os Guiness
What does it mean to “be Called and not driven?” We had a group of 8 that met. Hopefully they’ll all come back next week.
I will send out a separate email asking for your list of meetings you attend on a regular basis
Note: this is one important area in which we have improved during this “crisis” time. 4/09 - Thanks to those I’ve received back. I’ll be posting a list of meetings so you can all see who is meeting and when to help with planning 4/10 – really good emails yesterday. Did I mention that I wanted everyone to review? We’ll put the changes into P&P after we’ve done some good REC to see if they stick.
AUS strategy scenarios. 4/09 - Though we’ve slowed down the emphasis for a few days, this is not on the back burner. I’m very concerned that we Persist through our existing pipeline for a few more days until we are sure what we have and don’t have. 4/10 – if you are a sailor, you know what “tacking” means. I’m looking for the right time to start tacking. 4/11 – we started tacking yesterday afternoon. See the file flow process notes above.
Training Sunne is ready with to test her training materials. Once we are ready, we’ll have training schedule within 2 or 3 days. Much of it can be done on-line. 4/11 – Mark and the Corporate Branch team went to FNMA/DU training yesterday. I’ll get a report today and pass it on. One thing I did learn from Natalie is that the training they had yesterday is available on-line also.
Reports Paul has determined what reports we’ll use to track the AUS 4/11 – Monday, we’ll begin a robust evaluation of our AUS pull-through. The AEs are calling all of their clients and tracking the AUS files. NOTE: this is the backbone of our AUS agenda. (?!?!?!)
DU or LP not sure yet, but we are leaning towards DU except on certain file types (self-employed – LP)
Pull-Throughs 4/11 – Monday, we’ll begin a robust evaluation of our AUS pull-through. The AEs are calling all of their clients and tracking the AUS files. NOTE: this is the backbone of our AUS agenda. (?!?!?!)
Approved: submitted vs approved we are currently looking at a 75% benchmark, though it will likely start out at 50. 75% though by July 1.
Funded: approved vs funded 85% pull-through
Overall and by AE see above

Rock and Roll, God Bless and Lord, help me to redeem my time today,

danny

Focus and Reflection started out as something I would send to myself in the hope of it being a way to help me Pay attention. Then I sent it out to my direct reports to let them know what I was thinking about it terms of some strategies and thoughts about strategies we needed to discuss. From there a few people who’d heard about were added to the recipient list. So, I’ll now add you all.

Today is a bit of a continuance from Monday, so, if you want I’ll send you the others, or feel free to ask your manager.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I’ll try to Practice what I Preach and Pretty much stay with Persistence again today.

A couple of noteworthy updates to my agenda:

for the first time since 3/31 we have put a new loan of GMAC’s warehouse line. Woody, Bryon, and I made the decision to do so after some serious debate among ourselves and conversations with Robin @ GMAC (warehouse) around our available lines, pipeline needs for the remainder of the month, and the overall GMAC warehouse line restrictions we’ve been working been within. Much like we hesitantly went back to the Txbanks a year ago, we decided to tiptoe back into the GMAC relationship again.


ProLender/WebLender We’ll have a better idea after WebLender gets the kinks worked out.
4/10 – ProLender has a custom report writer that works in conjunction with Excel. Anyone that can move around well in Excel will be able to customize their own reports. Roy and Scot spent about an hour a developed one report Roy needed for MIP Payments. Every department will be responsible for writing their own reports. Please start thinking outside the restricted DT box we’ve been in the past few years. Every department has numerous reports you are going to need as we move more Purposefully towards Profitability and Performance.
4/10 – Scott and John made good progress yesterday. WebLender should be taking seamless uploads and the calls should have decreased drastically.

Our locked pipeline
What does it look like?
4/09 - We took 268 GMAC locks last week (Jason and Curtis - Thanks for your Persistence)
We expect to fund 50-75% of these loans
Curtis was able to finish the input to ProLender on Tuesday and we’ll start running reports to validate our pipeline
What are the Real loans? 4/09 - We are holding the loan officer and processor’s feet to the fire for good submissions. Approximately 30% of are being rejected for underwriting and the LO/processor is being told to complete the processing and resubmit a complete file. Those rejected go into the shred bin. (now that’s a change!)
ProLender 4/09 - Steadily working through the kinks (thanks John and Scott…you are awesome).
File Flow Process / Robust evaluation and correction of changes we made last week
How are the changes we made last week working? 4/09 - there are some bumps and grinds but it appears to be working well. Some of us are exchanging emails and clarifying and testing how this is working. The periodic announcements you see via email is also helping to communicate the changes and to remind us all of new habits we need to develop
4/10 – please read the emails I sent out yesterday with “Changes -……..” in the subject line. Whether you think they apply to you or not – READ THOSE EMAILS. And, pass them on to your departments for review. PLEASE be Purposeful in getting feedback from your People (we are not as good as all of us!)
Warehouse line turn-over ratio
Are we getting files shipped as fast as possible? 4/09 - I’ll be talking to Kandy and Mary today about any additional help they need; chasing packages, stacking, etc. 4/10 Awesome job by Kandy and Crew these past few weeks. They are keeping up. Mary and I discussed the possibility of needing someone to help with chasing the funded loan packages from Title companies. She’ll let us know if that is needed. Also, give Maggie a high 5 for a great job she is doing in the shipping department. Mary is so proud of her she’s going to burst.
Are the recent quick purchases at trend? 4/09 - No good answer yet. Keep praying - we hope so. Something like 14 loans bought on Tuesday and 21 on Wednesday. This keeps up we’ll be doing great on warehouse lines this month.
Review of the Corporate Branch/Processing Center’s processes (Mark and I are meeting Friday morning)
Position Contracts
Work flows
Loan Officer performance
Notification to existing loan officers of change we are making with whom we will be working with in the future
Release of memo about what level loan officers we are now working with (this will happen after the meeting today)
Training and Equipping
21 Minutes class today is on the Law of Respect. This covers the 5 levels of leadership. 4/09 - Great class – we discussed this week Deborah and the Law of Respect. Did I mention Persistence? Amazing how the lessons from this class keeps coming up during the week.
Note: please review these levels. What level are you on? 360 degrees? 4/09 - How are you influencing across?
The Call: a discussion group will begin Tuesday night – 6 to 7pm – to discuss the book “The Call,” by Os Guiness
What does it mean to “be Called and not driven?” We had a group of 8 that met. Hopefully they’ll all come back next week.
I will send out a separate email asking for your list of meetings you attend on a regular basis
Note: this is one important area in which we have improved during this “crisis” time. 4/09 - Thanks to those I’ve received back. I’ll be posting a list of meetings so you can all see who is meeting and when to help with planning 4/10 – really good emails yesterday. Did I mention that I wanted everyone to review? We’ll put the changes into P&P after we’ve done some good REC to see if they stick.
AUS strategy scenarios. 4/09 - Though we’ve slowed down the emphasis for a few days, this is not on the back burner. I’m very concerned that we Persist through our existing pipeline for a few more days until we are sure what we have and don’t have. 4/10 – if you are a sailor, you know what “tacking” means. I’m looking for the right time to start tacking.
Training Sunne is ready with to test her training materials. Once we are ready, we’ll have training schedule within 2 or 3 days. Much of it can be done on-line.
Reports Paul has determined what reports we’ll use to track the AUS
DU or LP not sure yet, but we are leaning towards DU except on certain file types (self-employed – LP)
Pull-Throughs
Approved: submitted vs approved we are currently looking at a 75% benchmark, though it will likely start out at 50. 75% though by July 1.
Funded: approved vs funded 85% pull-through
Overall and by AE see above

Sharon reminded me yesterday of John Harris’ 1006 comment last Friday about “how much the attitudes have improved recently.” Wow – that is awesome. Everyone, please thank John for noticing and speaking up about that. Did I say wow? WOW. Thanks Sharon.

Thanks John Harris!

Thank you Lord.

It seems I’m stuck on the letter P; last week it was Purpose and Planning and Performance, yesterday Pragmatism. The comments on Pragmatism were from Dave Moore’s new book, “The Last Men’s Book You’ll Every Need.” And though Mr. Findley might disagree, Dave does not throw women under the bus and all genders will enjoy the read!

Today I’m thinking about Persistence, Performance, Principles, Prayer, and Priorities. And Patience. But, I’ll concentrate for the moment on Persistence and ask you to remember the trip we’ve been on the past few months.

While Scott was discussing the WebLender problem, I was reminded of the date “October 23, 1998.” This was the date AmeriNet was first approved with HUD. I know that date, not necessarily from memory but because I went that night (10/28/1998) and bought newspapers; Wall Street Journal, NY Times, Baron’s, Dallas Morning News, Austin American Statesman, etc. When I look across my desk, these newspapers, along with a few from other special dates, set just above eye level. Its interesting how I can absently look at that stack and what comes to me about the last nine years. I believe I bought those newspapers, even at a whim, because I wanted a reminder of the beginning of this trip. I wanted to be able to think forward and be able to look back on that date and be reminded of where we’d come. It’s also interesting as to what was going on in the world at that time (and what is irrelevant, but that’s another thought entirely).

I wasn’t sure where we were going, who all would be going with me, or what horse I would be riding. I wasn’t sure even who “we’d” be. I was just praying that I would make this trip better than those in the past. At this point, it had been 3 years since I had written my personal mission statement and around 5 years into the “I’ll be the same 5 years from now as…..” process. I was even learning more about what “better” really meant. Still am.

Thinking back now (remembering the trip), it has been a good. Would I want to do it again? Not really. Would I change some things if I could do them over? You bet. And I will change some things as I do them over. Oswald Chambers states how repetitive life is and that “God will keep putting us through the same thing time and time again until we get it right.” I call it the ground-hog day syndrome (think back to the Bill Murray movie).

What would I change? Or, what will I change?

Me. I’ll pray and work for a better me. I’ll continue paying attention to 1. with whom I hang out, 2. what I watch and listen, and 3. what I read. A few years ago I started working on ways to be more Persistence. This came during the time I was learning Patience through woodworking (another story). I can learn Persistence in part just be being repetitive. This is not something that comes natural considering all the Louis L’Amour westerns I devoured at an early age. Cowboys had to change up their schedule everyday or risk being ambushed!

One of my Persistence practices is reading Proverbs and Psalms everyday (almost). This gives me a sense of being repetitive and having a since of Persistence. I also learn more by revisiting these same words month after month. This is the same reason I re-read parts of books over and over again. And why I read biographies and time-tested books. I want to learn from the mistakes and triumphs of others. Persistence gives me the ability to evaluate and correct without new things being thrown in unnecessarily – or at least it allows for a few certains. Persistence helps set boundaries I can work within.

I applaud you for your Persistence. Let’s not grow weary. Be sure you are rested; insure you take time to re-energize and refresh.

I applaud John Cox and Roy for taking a breather. You have done a great job with the added accounting demands these past months and now you’ve got an audit coming up.

Carmen and Jessica. I applaud you for your Persistence through the LSSI issues, again. I know you want to scream and I Pray that you don’t take this out on your families.

Ruth. The files just don’t get any better do they? I applaud you for keeping on keeping on.

Folks, we have some good momentum going into our new fiscal year. Think back over our trip; remember the trip, the changes, the faults, the defeats, the victories. Thank God for the challenges and blessings.

I pray for Persistence through my agenda this week.

God Bless,

Danny

Our locked pipeline
What does it look like?
We took 268 GMAC locks last week (Jason and Curtis - Thanks for your Persistence)
We expect to fund 50-75% of these loans
Curtis was able to finish the input to ProLender on Tuesday and we’ll start running reports to validate our pipeline
What are the Real loans? We are holding the loan officer and processor’s feet to the fire for good submissions. Approximately 30% of are being rejected for underwriting and the LO/processor is being told to complete the processing and resubmit a complete file. Those rejected go into the shred bin. (now that’s a change!)
ProLender Steadily working through the kinks (thanks John and Scott…you are awesome).
File Flow Process
How are the changes we made last week working? there are some bumps and grinds but it appears to be working well. We’ll have a better idea after WebLender gets the kinks worked out
Robust evaluation and correction of changes we made last week
How are the changes we made last week in the working? Some of us are exchanging emails and clarifying and testing how this is working. The periodic announcements you see via email is also helping to communicate the changes and to remind us all of new habits we need to develop
Warehouse line turn-over ratio
Are we getting files shipped as fast as possible? I’ll be talking to Kandy and Mary today about any additional help they need; chasing packages, stacking, etc.
Are the recent quick purchases at trend? No good answer yet
Review of the Corporate Branch/Processing Center’s processes (Mark and I are meeting this afternoon)
Position Contracts
Work flows
Loan Officer performance
Notification to existing loan officers of change we are making with whom we will be working with in the future
Release of memo about what level loan officers we are now working with (this will happen after the meeting today)
Training and Equipping
21 Minutes class today is on the Law of Respect. This covers the 5 levels of leadership. Great class – we discussed this week Deborah and the Law of Respect. Did I mention Persistence?
Note: please review these levels. What level are you on? 360 degrees? How are you influencing across?
The Call: a discussion group will begin Tuesday night – 6 to 7pm – to discuss the book “The Call,” by Os Guiness
What does it mean to “be Called and not driven?” We had a group of 8 that met. Hopefully they’ll all come back next week.
I will send out a separate email asking for your list of meetings you attend on a regular basis
Note: this is one important area in which we have improved during this “crisis” time. Thanks to those I’ve received back. I’ll be posting a list of meetings so you can all see who is meeting and when to help with planning
AUS strategy scenarios. Though we’ve slowed down the emphasis for a few days, this is not on the back burner. I’m very concerned that we Persist through our existing pipeline for a few more days until we are sure what we have and don’t have.
Training Sunne is ready with to test her training materials. Once we are ready, we’ll have training schedule within 2 or 3 days. Much of it can be done on-line.
Reports Paul has determined what reports we’ll use to track the AUS
DU or LP not sure yet, but we are leaning towards DU except on certain file types (self-employed – LP)
Pull-Throughs
Approved: submitted vs approved we are currently looking at a 75% benchmark, though it will likely start out at 50. 75% though by July 1.
Funded: approved vs funded 85% pull-through
Overall and by AE see above

Again, God Bless.

My agenda yesterday was:
Our locked pipeline
What does it look like?
What are the Real loans?
How are the changes we made last week working?
Robust evaluation and correction of changes we made last week
How are the changes we made last week in the working?
Warehouse line turn-over ratio
What has it been?
Are the recent quick purchases at trend?
Review of the Corporate Branch/Processing Center’s processes
Position Contracts
Work flows
Loan Officer performance
Notification to existing loan officers of change we are making with whom we will be working with in the future
Release of memo about what level loan officers we are now working with
Training and Equipping
21 Minutes class today is on the Law of Respect. This covers the 5 levels of leadership.
Note: please review these levels. What level are you on? 360 degrees?
The Call: a discussion group will begin Tuesday night – 6 to 7pm – to discuss the book “The Call,” by Os Guiness
What does it mean to “be Called and not driven?”
I will send out a separate email asking for your list of meetings you attend on a regular basis
Note: this is one important area in which we have improved during this “crisis” time.
AUS strategy scenarios
Training
Reports
Pull-Throughs
Approved: submitted vs approved
Funded: approved vs funded
Overall and by AE

I seemed to have drifted quite a bit because I was only Purposeful about 1. the 21 Minutes class, 2. a sneaker meeting with Scott about ProLender, 3. a few emails, and 4. a couple of discussions about warehouse lines. Well, I was Purposeful about drifting.

So, today, I’ll attempt to pay attention to the points above, plus warehouse lines and ProLender and some hiring practices. I’ll be sending some of you emails about specifics.

One thought though (more of a “reflecting forward” thing)….

Pragmatism is defined as “the idea that if something works, then do it.” Good behavior could be defined as “neglecting pragmatism and doing something because it is right, not because it works.


Danny

Good Morning,

I remember a few Mondays ago, in a 1006, sharing how I had left on Friday afternoon, not wondering if we needed to lay-off some people due to loan volumes and other problems, but praying about who those people would be. Yet, as the weekend progressed, I felt God moving me more towards resolving overall performance problems; Alethes needed people who were performing; we needed people getting good results; I needed people working together. Though our industry was constricting and changing, our problems weren’t really because of that. Our problems were because of people performance problems. Our problems were because of us not getting results we needed with our own performance.

On Monday morning, I had zero doubt; Alethes needed performance and if I did not get 360 degree Performance, the lay-offs that day would not be near enough.

We became Purposeful and began focusing on Performance and the Results have been Inspiring. What has been extremely Exciting has been the Intensity with which we’ve worked together in meetings. This is not surprising considering how Lencioni tells us that it is through an emergency that you really find out about your team’s ability to perform; one of his examples of a team that always performs well (if it has the right people) is a hospital emergency room.

The test for us now is to continue to perform well; our emergency status is still at “urgent and important.”

The trick is to then keep that “crisis management mode” behavior instilled in ourselves. We can’t apathetically lay back and let things “float along” ever again.

My focus is on INTENT.

Covey writes that “intent is a matter of the heart.” He further describes how Intent is about motive, agenda, and behavior.

My heart is focused on the INTENT to improve the performance of Alethes through you, the people of Alethes. We can have all the systems, strategies, scenarios, processes, products, and technologies that money can buy, but if we don’t have Performing People the spent money is a waste.

My agenda today will particularly pay attention to:
Our locked pipeline
What does it look like?
What are the Real loans?
How are the changes we made last week working?
Robust evaluation and correction of changes we made last week
How are the changes we made last week in the working?
Warehouse line turn-over ratio
What has it been?
Are the recent quick purchases at trend?
Review of the Corporate Branch/Processing Center’s processes
Position Contracts
Work flows
Loan Officer performance
Notification to existing loan officers of change we are making with whom we will be working with in the future
Release of memo about what level loan officers we are now working with
Training and Equipping
21 Minutes class today is on the Law of Respect. This covers the 5 levels of leadership.
Note: please review these levels. What level are you on? 360 degrees?
The Call: a discussion group will begin Tuesday night – 6 to 7pm – to discuss the book “The Call,” by Os Guiness
What does it mean to “be Called and not driven?”
I will send out a separate email asking for your list of meetings you attend on a regular basis
Note: this is one important area in which we have improved during this “crisis” time.
AUS strategy scenarios
Training
Reports
Pull-Throughs
Approved: submitted vs approved
Funded: approved vs funded
Overall and by AE

Undoubtedly, I’ll be asking questions about ProLender or expenses or hiring practices or….?

But, as we go about today, let’s behave our way into continued performance,


Danny

Let’s celebrate the successes we’ve had this past month!

Please “Reply All” to this email about what we’ve accomplished; about what to be thankful for!

God Bless,

Danny

I’d like to talk at length about QBQ, Good-to-Great, Silos/Politics/Turf Wars, The Secret, The Contrarian Leader, The Calling, Death by Meeting, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Boundaries, Scenario Planning, How to Win Friends and Influence People, The Speed of Trust, The Other Six Days, Developing the Leader Within, throw in a few Proverbs, the book of Colossians…and a host of others.

But, today needs to be about settling down and focusing on the tasks at hand. Definitely reflect on what your past has taught you, but focus on the real task at hand.

Today needs to be about taking deeeeeeeep breaths. Pray for strength, discernment and patience.

Remember, we are people. We are going to let each other down. We are going to struggle. The work is not easy. We are grown-ups and should know better - but we don’t. Tomato to you is tomato to me (say each differently). Know that it takes work to work together. We are people.

Working with each other is kind of like stumping your toe in the middle of the night; you’re not expecting it – and it hurts. But you know, it’s suppose to hurt. And you weren’t expecting it.

We’re working with people.

Strength comes best from conflict. Learn from conflict. Let it bind together, not tear apart.

Don’t become obsessed over the minors. Choose your battles; rarely is there one worth bleeding over, even emotionally.

Take deep breaths.

Don’t become diverted from the real work.

Help each other. Lend a hand. Say something nice; even when it hurts.

Stay focused on being a team.

Let’s build the wall.

Danny

Yesterday was a whirlwind. I look back over my emails and notes of meetings and if you’re day was like mine and it very likely was….it’s a wonder we aren’t all schitzo.

I mean, the emotions went from “let’s be cool as we spin up ProLender to oh no I’m running late to wow we made it through another year, to…I wonder if we’ll make our equity requirements, to,….Kelley, sure, set down, tell me what you’re thinking and good thoughts, let’s discuss, to…we’ve got to concentrate on these loans we’ve got in our pipeline, to…what is the real pipeline, to…Chas/Paul – get the AEs in the rest of the week to help work these loans, to…ok everyone needs to take a deep breath, to…hmmm, can we really clean out this pipeline in an orderly fashion, to…well, we’ve got another personnel problem, to, cool pictures from Cathy’s birthday party. Do I really look that fat?, to…how is everyone taking to ProLender? I better make the rounds, to…laughing about a joke Paul said about Kelley and Kelley threatening Chas (just for good measure), to…walking in on a discussion about the TIL calculation in ProLender (it doesn’t calculate), to…let’s write our own program to calc it!, to….uh oh, how is Scott and John doing?, to…uh oh, to….wow, that granddaughter (looking at picture) sure looks cute with her grandfather, to….writing this program was a really stupid idea, to….was Woody in here a minute ago, to….writing this program to calculate TILs was a really stupid idea, to….where did John Glen go? I’ve got to talk about some loan officer hiring details, to…I’m going to beat Cunningham if he and whoever he’s with is laughing at me about this TIL calc program, to….what does HUD mean when they say “beginning balance is same as previous balance in first month and multiply times 12 and then divide by 12? HUH?, to….I’ll beat him for good measure, to…uh oh, that’s Cynthia looking for me, I’m sure Woody asked me to do something, to….oh! I see what HUD is saying in these 10 pages of instructions to write a TIL calc, to…don’t I have someone that can do this for me?, to….oh, I think Cynthia just told me that I needed to sign the warehouse extension and John Cox would be in to get it this afternoon, to….not now Chas, to…I can’t get this to work, there’s a bug, where’s Cunningham? Did he think I was serious when I said to give me some time?!, to…sure let’s talk about what Calling really means, to, yes Austen, I know I said we were going to have those IDs for DU today, but I’ve not gotten with Paul on a couple of things and we need to discuss some more strategy about how we’re going spin up the AUS agenda, to…hmmm there it is (the other bug), now I’m ready for Bryon (he’s not Cunningham for now), to wow, its after lunch and Jason is here and I haven’t even talked to him yet, I wonder how he’s holding up, to….well now Bryon and I are both stumped…the HUD example works, but not a real file out of Datatrac/LSSI --- AH HA GMAC was wrong the whole time – they ‘ve had us running all over the place chasing TILs and they were wrong! I knew it I knew it!, to….oh, that’s the problem, P&I / (1+0.225) is a calc from 1998 and the MIP in 1998 was 2.25 – it is now 1.50 so we substitute the 0.0225 for 0.0150 ---- ta DA – it works – let’s send this to ProLender – hey Roy, can you show me how to hide and protect these certain cells!, to “Jason, how’s it going” where’s Curtis? Oh, you told him to stay at Lock-In Central/Ground Zero.” Good move. How are you doing? 500 registrations last week? Wow. (uh oh..guldp),…..to Scott, John, how’s it going? Remember, we all just people – we’re not techies – (yes, I know techies are people too), to you’re welcome for lunch (it wasn’t necessarily kindness, I just wanted to feed you to get blood back in your face), to…(should I tell Bryon I thought about beating him), to…not now Chas, to….. Oh man, I haven’t looked at emails in 3 hours and I sent that email out this morning about File Submissions..do I want to look?, to….whoops, ticked that guy off! Return email; no sir – I think you are upset because you think I was directing this email specifically to you. This was a blast email that went to all Alethes employees and clients. We use a fancy program that makes it look personal (errrr). Yes, I’m sure you do submit a very clean file. Thank you., to…..ok, I understand we’re back to DataTrac on some redraws and the PL to LSSI problem is maybe limited to just files that had been run DT to LSSI first, to…yes Gail, I will start wearing my glasses at all times (private joke), to…where’s John Glenn (he really went to hear an economist speak at luch? And he was excited about it), to…Cathy, Chas!! I don’t want to hear anymore about stinking coffee, to…that’s it, I’m going to make a BUTT of myself about the cost of coffee – and speaking of coffee, why do we have to have a special water fountain, can’t we just drink tap water. Good grief, to…ok – Scott and John looking much better – the day’s almost done – thank you Lord. Whoops. I haven’t prayed in hours. Oh, and I’ve got a luncheon Thursday about integrating business leaders and the church – oh yea, I need to reschedule my “session” with Dave. Oh yea, he’s coming by later to pick something up, to…yea, no problem, we can change the wording on the TIL calc from something loan amount to Loan Amount: with UMIP. If that works, no problem, to,…good looking grandkids, to….ok, how’s everyone doing with ProLender – deep breaths, that’s ok, Rome wasn’t built in a day – work through supervisors – we can’t wear IT out on minor things – Lord, I pray that you give Scott and John strength, help them remember we’re all just people and some can get emotional. Remember Danny, this has nothing to do with your salvation, that’s done OK. Ok. Deep breath. Scott’s loosing color again, but he’s walking around, to…hmmm, hope I wasn’t rude to Woody earlier – my head was spinning with that calculation, to….everyone needs to know that Paul is hording coffee in his desk…good grief, I detest Starbuck’s coffee and I’ve been spending how much on it? I really do think they put drugs in to get people hooked. The price is ridiculous, to….that’s good (what’s good? – don’t know, I lost my train of thought), to…Paul, I need to meet about AUSes, I know I told you we’d do it this morning but I had the TIL calc that I let myself get involved in – pretty cool thing though, let me tell you all about it, to,,,,, ok we’ve got to get our head into the AUSes and what our strategy is so that we have files to fund in May and beyond. Ok, here’s what Bryon and I have been talking about – see this proposed org chart, we’re going to…..,, never mind, we can’t get in too deep on future stuff because I don’t want everyone thinking too much in the future because we’ve got to get today’s files worked. (wow, Lord, you’re giving us the opportunity to start out this fiscal year with a big bang of profits – I pray that we don’t mess it up – give me wisdom and discernment), to,…Paul, I thought you had to leave at 5 to work out? It’s 5:30 – you were looking for an excuse not to sweat. Bryon said you ate enough for 3 people today at lunch. The secret too weight loss is Eat Less – Move More, to…let’s look at the reports tomorrow morning and we’ll start the AEs chasing AUSes run in March and see if we can get our pull through up to 50%.to….ok Guys, let’s practice “be blunt – be gone” the red brick stuff, I want to leave before 7 tonight. Wait, let’s talk to Roy about how we chased DUs back in the Irwiin days, to…its about time to pull all the ex-Irwin types in to help us shed some light on what we did to have a 86% pull through, to…I’ve got to check to be sure Scott and John haven’t turned on each other, to…Cathy? Brandi? Are they still working on that 5% rule?, to…did Mark tell we funded 15 loans from the processing center last month? – AWESOME – that’s the best month in some time, to, cool, we got a ProLender to LSSI doc set out. Awesome, and they are working on another one. Thank you Lord. Pray for the next, to…AWESOME, JohnB has left at a decent hour tonight. Thank God for Ben being here to help. Thank you Lord for all the hard work going on, to…Cathy, I’m done and headed to the truck to read or nap, to, well Jason, how was today? I need to come your way in the next few days so we can set and talk about the AUSes and what that looks like from your end. Bryon says that he’s got some reports out of PL that can help us run better numbers. Lara run 112 AUSes in 4 days last week with a 60% approval and 25 were below 580 and 5 of those were approved. We are running more numbers to see how that holds ups, to, how did Cathy beat me to the truck – well, that worked out good – she drove the truck down to the front, though I could use the exercise, to…hey babe, how was your day, to…what’s for supper, to….wow, I forgot about that other REO – did we get the people out of the house? – I’m glad Cynthia is paying attention to that thing. Uh oh…she called me earlier. I need to call her back tomorrow, to….wow, everyone sure looked tired. What a day. Phone went dead. Good. I am not going to gouge myself tonight while watching CSI reruns.

(dang, I feel bad this morning). Lord, what do you have planned for me today?

Sound famailiar? J

Today? Focusing on what we need to change to get these loans through the system, what people can we move around, are we hiring good and ethical loan officers, how to spin up AUSes for May 15th, and what I can do to help with ProLender.

Don’t worry about tomorrow, today has enough problems of its own!

Buckle-up,

Danny

While it is not over, let’s pause from time-to-time in the coming months to remember the trip we’ve been on these past few months, weeks, and days. I look back through my emails and know they are a journal of thoughts, concerns, and wishes. Do that and reflect on what were you concerned about on March 1? Or the 12th? Or yesterday? Last year?

I’ll repeat Mr. Covey again, “we behave our way into trouble. And we don’t talk our way out, we behave our way out of trouble.” We’ve been in trouble these past few weeks, and some would say we still are……but we’ve behaved well.

Proverbs 25:2 says, “the glory of God is to conceal a matter, but the glory of man is to search a matter out.” Let’s insure we are searching out these matters. Asking ourselves what have we learned? What was the real purpose of the struggle? Was it more than just a mess? Was there a lesson? Were the triumphs themselves a lesson? If we were to be given a grade, what would it be? What do we measure it against?

Maybe it was just so we’d be more thankful. Maybe the struggle was just so we’d not be so cynical.

Yesterday morning we did not have enough warehouse line for the day. We had asked the Texas Banks for more credit last Friday and were told no. Yet yesterday, around 9am, after confirming with Roy, Bryon, and Jessica that the available warehouse lines were short by 1 million, an email came from Norman at 1st Star. Don’s phone call to give Norman a call revealed we had been given a 3 million permanent increase to our 1st Star’s line of credit.

Proverbs 1:20 says, “Wisdom calls aloud outside: She raises her voice in the open squares. She cries out in the chief concourses, At the openings of the gates in the city, She speaks her words.”

Imagine that; just think…..Wisdom is like a woman screaming out in public, “HERE I AM. I’M NOT HIDING. I’M RIGHT HERE –OUSTIDE, I’M NOT HIDING FROM YOU! LOOK AT ME! I’M WISDOM AND I’M RIGHT HERE!”

More times than not, we just need to go about our business, work the routines, search the matters out, and wisdom is bestowed upon us.

We end up looking real good. But let’s not forget how God provides. Let’s be sure and give Him the thanks for giving us the sense to behave our way through the troubles. I pray we handle the triumphs just as well. I pray that I remember Jesus today and tomorrow and on May 15th.

We’ve just finished a period of decent volume; January and February were the best fundings for those months we’ve ever had. Estimated fundings for March is 235 fundings (including LEM) and 268 purchases. Our goal, which would hopefully make us profitable for the fiscal year, was a respective 200 and 265.

This month will surely be a transition time; manual underwrites are all but going away; AUS becomes the king; new processes in processing/underwriting/closing; LTS Online going live; new LO hiring practices; AEs selling again; a new compliance agenda; ProLender; and more……..the need to perform continues.

Our funded pipeline should give us a record purchase month in April. With this and the combined open pipeline to fund out, we could set numerous records, including profitability. Profitability is important, yet not something I’ve focused on enough. That lack of focus has caused us to be barely sustainable at times and the jury is still out on how well the audited financials for the period ending 3/31/2008 will come out.

We’ve began the transition to AUS but most of us must stay engaged in the open pipeline. Though most of you will probably just start seeing and hearing bits and pieces about the transitions, and that’s what I’m hoping for; a transition that is not something so new we have to “get used to it.” I am meeting with Bryon, Chas, Paul, Mark and/or others numerous times per day as we work through bits and pieces of what the strategies might look like. The move from the Manual-to-AUS world is heaviest on most minds and should be. I’ll put out plenty of emails about the plans, but for now, unless you are requested different, please stay focused on your tasks and jobs at-hand. My office is open if you want to ask specific questions or just generally curious.

I want to thank you all again for the marvelous work you’ve done these past weeks. When I discussed back in early February about how well we needed to perform, this was what I was talking about. Last night Jessica, Gabe, and I were talking about how much better and smoother things were going in the prod/ops area; it was 6:10, the last day of the month and maybe 3 people were left in the underwriting to funding group. By 6:30 everyone was gone and it just wasn’t because of the ProLender conversion; it was because of good performance. We are performing at a higher level, with fewer people (more loans per person). This is not the results of any-one-of-us, but a testament to Teamwork.

Thank each other for that – you have all done well.

Let’s continue to behave well by being Purposeful with our actions and words; by pursuing good Results; by being Objective with our thoughts and manners; by being Vulnerable in our transparency and not have hidden agendas; by being Incarnational in how we help others; by being Dependable so that others know what to expect from us; by being Engaging and pursuing what needs to be done; and by being Resourceful and using what God has given us to succeed in life.

Today begins a new year; while learning from our history, let’s forget the past and look forward to the great things God has planned for us.

Let’s pursue that Call.

God bless,

Danny