The Big Picture
Robert L. Triplett III, first vice president and chief operating officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, joined Hunt College students Oct. 27 for a UTEP Banking Academy conversation about careers and leadership.
Students asked about professional growth, AI, family commitments, and burnout. Triplett drew on more than three decades at the Fed, where he began as an intern and worked in information technology and banking supervision before becoming COO.
Inside the Work
The replacement software needed some help.
One of Triplett’s hardest assignments involved replacing a decades-old system used to move money between financial institutions.
The strongest commercial candidate could not match the Fed’s performance requirements. A colleague nearing retirement recognized the vendor’s technical problem, giving Triplett an opening to negotiate.
“We’re going to show you how you can make your product better, but I want it for free,” he recalled telling the vendor.
The vendor agreed, Triplett said. His colleague then spent about 20 minutes at a whiteboard explaining the solution to its technical team.
The difficult part of the assignment was also personal. Triplett was responsible for moving to a new system and parting with the retiring team.
The Student Questions
His boss remembered dinner.
When his children were young, Triplett told his supervisor that he needed to be home at 6 p.m. for dinner with his family.
Months later, while they worked through an issue late in the day, she reminded him to leave. He offered to stay.
“We can wait until tomorrow,” she told him.
When he suggested reconnecting online after dinner, she again said they could discuss it the following day. His boss was holding him to a commitment he had asked her to respect.
Burnout got a candid answer.
Asked how he avoids burnout, Triplett quipped: “Oh, I’m burnt. To a crisp.”
He explained that he initially thought he should be able to handle every responsibility of his current role. As the workload grew, he recognized that he needed support.
He described hiring a chief of staff who helps communicate priorities, work with senior officers and keep assignments moving.
“I’ve got a teammate now.”
Bank These Lessons
On helping employees move on
“I love you being here, but you’re not going to get what you want from this corporation. I want to get you as far as you can until you need to go elsewhere to get it.”
On an education that lasts
“Think about how you are learning, not just what you are learning.”
On doing the right thing
“At the Fed, we never argue over what’s the right thing to do, but we argue a lot over how to do the right thing.”
