|
Bob Andelman Articles Archive
Cozee Lynn Smith
Profile By Bob Andelman
(Originally published in Florida Business/Tampa
Bay, 1989)
Banks have to work harder than most businesses to keep customers
happy. People are very sensitive about where they put their money.
They want to be pampered, remembered by their first name and
see their bank participate in the community. If the customer
is displeased, too bad for the bank. This is not an industry
that gets a lot of second chances. There's a competitor on every
street corner, so there are a lot of choices.
For Barnett Bank of Pinellas County, Vice President of Community
Relations Cozee Lynn Smith often makes the difference between
the perception of Barnett as a community player and just another
place to store dollar bills.
"I think banks are expected, probably more than any other
industry, to be pro-active in the community," she says.
"I think if you have a very healthy community then the odds
are you have healthy business. It's one means of insuring the
financial stability of your company. And, we think, it has a
good impact on image."
Jack Painter thinks she's right. The president of Benito Advertising
describes Smith as "one of the brightest and most aggressive
of anybody in the Tampa Bay area banking business. She has helped
Barnett make a great reputation even better, knowing to pick
the things Barnett should be involved with and doing them extremely
well. She doesn't waste time with organizations or events that
don't have a real benefit to her employer.
"If all major financial institutions had a Cozee Smith,"
says Painter, "they'd be very fortunate."
Smith is responsible for all Barnett-sponsored community activities
in Pinellas County, as well as corporate contributions, local
advertising and media relations. She represents Barnett to a
legion of Pinellas organizations, festivals and events, from
the Hospice Care Foundation, Shakespeare in the Park, Tarpon
Springs Arts & Crafts Festival and Dreams Come True Program
to the YWCA, Pinellas County Arts Council and United Way. She
also conducts in-house programs, such as the annual March of
Dimes fundraising drive.
"She's a tremendous asset to the company," says Smith's
supervisor, Barnett Executive Vice President Joe Wheeler. "She's
the front line. The continuity of her being with the company
has made (Barnett) more effective. And there are not a lot of
women who are department managers at much higher levels."
Perhaps best known for her work with the Clearwater Jazz Holiday,
sponsored by the Greater Clearwater Chamber of Commerce, Smith
spent two years as chairman and has been involved in one way
or another since 1983.
"I went to Jazz Holiday for the first time in '82 and just
loved the event," says Smith. "I was sitting in the
audience in '83 and decided I wanted to be a part of it. I couldn't
imagine being responsible for something that attracted 10,000
people."
It was during Smith's two-year stint (1984 and '85) as chairman
that Jazz Holiday made the transition from a local music festival
to a nationally recognized, heavily sponsored attraction.
Don Mains, who co-founded Jazz Holiday a decade ago and is now
director of advance for First Lady Barbara Bush, is an old chum
of Smith's. "When I was asked to work on (President Bush's)
Union Station Inaugural Ball, I invited Cozee to come up and
help. We had a room where VIPs went and Cozee oversaw everything
that went on there," he says.
The two share a knack for aggressive promotion and mutual admiration
for each other's methods of goal attainment.
"She and I challenge each other to do things bigger and
better, not for ourselves but for the community," says Mains.
"The cooperation bonded us as friends; the competition said,
'Look at me, my event.' We always invite each other to see our
events. One reason is to share our pride; the other is to show
off."
Smith won't deny she is attracted to the glamor and high profile
events such as Jazz Holiday, Sparkling Clearwater Days or the
Hall of Fame Bowl Super Auction can bring. "I like it at
that point," she says. "When it finally gets to the
spotlight part, in front of an audience -- yes, I like that.
I enjoy public speaking. Leading up to that is the price you
have to pay."
One of the tests of leadership is the ability to effectively
delegate responsibility. As a person who usually can be found
juggling banking duties with any number of civic events, Smith
has developed a reputation in some circles for being hard to
work for and with. Difficult, some say.
"She does have a strong personality," Mains says. "I
would always notice that when Cozee needed to get something from
somebody, she'd turn on that southern charm. She usually shoots
from the hip, but when she needs something, she turns from gunslinger
to southern belle."
Smith is aware of the "difficult" label.
"Certainly, as a representative of my company, I feel the
pressure for potential failures. So I guess I could be criticized
for being too detail-oriented. Over the years, I have learned
what team dynamics is all about. A team is always better than
one," she says. "I think the thing I work on the most
is being a better delegator. I continually remind myself to delegate
better, sooner. To give other people the opportunity to take
something and run with it."
Joe Wheeler finds Smith to be well organized and prepared. "We
have continually challenged her with less resources and trying
to get greater output from those resources. A lot of times you
have people who are very creative. But they don't seem to be
very detail-oriented. In the case of Cozee, it's a very unusual
blend. I wish all my department managers were the same way. We
think there is a long-term future for her in the organization."
Home for Cozee Lynn Smith is a spacious one-bedroom condominium
in St. Petersburg's Caya Costa community. Smith has filled her
residence -- her first experience as a property owner -- with
paintings, pottery, sculptures, watercolors by her mother and
old photos she has found in flea markets and antique stores.
"I buy art instead of clothes," she explains, attaching
a story to each piece. "When I was living in New York and
Gainesville, I started going to flea markets. I loved to find
pictures I had a special feel for. There wasn't any plan; they
all just started coming together. A lot of this stuff is by local
artists."
She lives here alone. "I met the right person at the wrong
time," says Smith, 39. "I guess that's about all I
can chalk it up to. I don't have any aversion to (marriage),
but I'm not making it a primary goal. I go to black-tie affairs
and formal breakfasts, lunches and dinners so often I don't have
much desire to go nightclubbing."
A native of Tampa, Smith's family has deep local roots. Her father,
Preston Smith, retired in January after 40 years with the Tampa
Electric Company. Her mother, Anne, started a church day care
center. And her two younger brothers, Preston III and Scott,
own and operate Smith Brothers Framing in Palma Ceia. They are
a close-knit group; Cozee likes nothing better than going out
bass fishing on a boat with her family. "My family is everything
to me," she says. "I wouldn't leave this area. I can't
imagine a job opportunity more important than them. I would be
more than happy to travel extensively or relocate for a year
or so. But this is my home."
After graduating from Plant High School -- where both of her
parents also attended -- Smith earned a degree in English Education
from the University of South Florida, working nights at a health
club and summers at Hillsboro Printing. She packed her bags --
and Datsun -- and drove to
New York for two years of fun and self-discovery.
Returning to Florida in 1975, she found work in Gainesville with
Solar Energy Products as assistant to the president, University
of Florida solar pioneer Dr. Eric Farber. Solar was all the rage
and Smith saw herself on the cutting edge with a company selling
solar panel franchises across the nation.
"I was bringing the world this wonderful product that was
going to help people, never hurt anyone, and bring clean energy
to the world," she says. "It was a wonderful time.
I believed in it then and I still do. It has a place in our energy
production -- it makes sense."
Solar Energy Products gave Smith a broad education in innovative
marketing techniques, media relations and trade shows.
While the environment -- and solar energy -- are often perceived
as liberal Democratic issues, Smith is a rapidly developing Republican.
She's coordinator of Barnett People for Better Government, the
bank's political action committee and has a growing interest
in politics. "I'm educating myself politically," she
says. "I read as much as I can. I know from being in my
position for eight years how much politics affects our business
here."
Despite her affection for the spotlight, though, Smith says you
won't see her running for office "in a million years."
"The handshaking, the redundancy of politics -- you give
the same speeches over and over and communicate to a large number
of people who have a small and narrow interest -- that doesn't
attract me," she says.
A major project for Cozee Smith in 1989 is the development of
a program to encourage and assist more Barnett employees who
wish to volunteer for community programs. Whatever she faces,
whatever the multitude of challenges and opportunities before
her, Smith is ready.
"I've always been energetic," she says. "I like
to be involved in a lot of things at one time."
©2000, All rights
reserved. No portion may be reproduced without the express written
permission of the author.
PROFILES
FIRST
PERSON
LATEST
WORK
Free Andelmania E-Newsletter!
Want to hear the latest about the Andelmans? Join
our mailing list!
You'll get updates about the family and professional news, too.
Enter your email address below, then click the 'Join List' button:
You can order any of Bob's books from Amazon.com by
clicking on the icon below. His latest book, The
Corporate Athlete: How to Achieve Maximal Performance in Business
and Life, (John Wiley & Sons) written with Jack Groppel,
Ph.D., is now in stores.
   
  
These books are also available as audiotapes  :
 
|