Integrity and Efforts are Tops

[LEADERS & SUCCESS]
GBC Bancorp's Li-Pei Wu: Integrity And Effort Are Tops In His Books

Byline: Emily Nash
Investor's Business Daily, December 13, 2000

Li-Pei Wu isn't looking for glory. He's looking for achievement.

"I don't talk much," Wu said. "I just do, and hopefully others will recognize my effort. Whether I am a subordinate or a leader, that's what I do."

Wu is chairman and chief executive of Los Angeles-based GBC Bancorp, the parentof General Bank, the third-largest independent bank in California aiming at ethnic-minority customers. With about $2 billion in a

ssets, it has 18 branches in California and Washington state.

"My philosophy is, You do your best. Then, when fortune comes, there is a foundation for you to create an opportunity," Wu said.

While growing up in Taiwan, Wu thought a great deal about what kind of person he wanted to become. While other youngsters dreamed of the jobs they'd have or how much money they'd like to make, Wu decided he wanted to be like his brother and parents - a hard-working, sincere, honest person. He vowed to strive always for those ideals, no matter what kind of situation arose.

He expects the same from his colleagues.

"Integrity is the most important thing I look for (in people)," he said. "If a person is smart, he will bring a great contribution to the company."

But if the person lacks integrity, he could do great damage to the company, Wu says.

Integrity won't keep people from making mistakes, Wu knows. But not 'fessing upto those mistakes is probably the worst thing a person can do, he says.

"Some people do not even learn from their mistakes," he said. "They keep defending themselves."

Wu tries to admit his own mistakes quickly and gain some lessons from them. Twoyears ago Wu made a $31 million loan to build a casino-hotel in Las Vegas. Theloan went bad when the borrower filed for bankruptcy.

But Wu had lost money before and had learned from the experience. As a result, he made sure before he approved the casino-hotel loan that GBC Bancorp could handle the worst-case scenario. After reviewing all the figures, Wu was confident the bank could.

"We had collateral and institutional support," he said. Because it did, GBC Bancorp suffered no loss.

"There are certain risks and rewards (in business). When I am making a decision, I try to think of it from every angle and consult every person I can," Wu said.

Once Wu makes a decision that can't be altered, he doesn't allow himself any second-guessing or regrets. He uses a psychological method he calls "turning on" and "turning off."

"People always say, 'You're so busy you must have a lot of headaches,' " he said. But Wu doesn't allow negative thoughts to linger. He "turns on" by going into full-scale decision-making mode. After he decides, he doesn't get caught up in what-ifs. Once he can no longer do anything about a matter, he "turns it off" and doesn't obsess over something he can't control. He also turns off business matters when he goes home each day.

Wu believes that every business decision carries a calculated risk. When Wu calculates risk, he researches his decision to determine whether the risk outweighs the reward. In addition to any printed material he can find about hissubject, he'll ask people better informed than he is for any information they might have.

When faced with a bad situation, Wu looks for an opportunity to make it better.Take his own struggle.

Wu was born in Taiwan in 1934. His second oldest brother, Su-Pei Wu, was arrested in 1950 and put in jail for 12 years. The charge was that he belonged to a college group suspected of possible leftist tendencies.

Li-Pei had a degree in economics, but as far as authorities were concerned, Wu's whole family was now "politically disobedient." In 1960, Li-Pei Wu joined Changhwa Commercial Bank in Taichung, Taiwan. He worked there for seven years and never got a promotion because of his brother's "criminal" record.

"When I entered the bank, I was a crook," Wu said. "When I left, I was a crook."

Wanting to get ahead, Wu discovered that the only way he could leave Taiwan was to get a student visa and study abroad. He focused all his efforts on that goal.

In 1968 Wu left Taiwan and moved to the U.S., where he studied business at Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas.

But his troubles were far from over. "When I came to this country, my vocabulary was limited," he said. At first Wu was frustrated because he had graduated from one of the best universities in Taiwan and was now struggling in his studies.

Suddenly in finance and investment courses he was at the bottom of the class. Wu quickly learned the exams were based on lectures, and with his limited English he couldn't make sense of the lectures.

Then he tried a different approach. Every day after class, Wu borrowed the notes from the two top students in the class and studied them until it was time for bed. Soon he went from being the poorest performing student to being the best.

At first his professor accused Wu of cheating. He grilled Wu in his office and made him take tests over again.

When Wu proved he knew the material, however, his professor invited Wu to his home once a week and helped him with the schoolwork.

"I guess he must have been moved when he realized how hard I worked," Wu said. "He must have realized I was good enough to help."

After working at banks in Alaska and rising to president at Alaska National Bank of the North, Wu joined General Bank as CEO in 1982.

Wu tries to help others in the way he was helped. Once he became successful, Wu founded the Taiwanese American Citizens League. Every year the league offers summer political internships for Taiwanese-American students. Under the program the students intern at political offices of their local representatives. The league's goal is to get Taiwanese-Americans involved in their communities.

In 1998 Wu donated $500,000 to the Taiwanese United Fund. The organization promotes appreciation for Taiwan's arts and culture. In the same year he donated $500,000 to the Tzu-Nah Foundation. The foundation holds summer cultural camps for Taiwanese-American youngsters. Wu believes it is important the children to know their roots and heritage.

Wu knows the importance of open communication. To that end, he encourages young people not only in his culture but in any culture not to let themselves be defeated by discrimination.

"Discrimination is something to overcome," he said. "It is not an excuse to fail."

While continued education is important, real-life experience is crucial, Wu believes. Between graduating from college and entering graduate school, Wu spent three years teaching at a vocational business school in Taiwan, one year working for a trading company and seven years at Changhwa Commercial Bank.

"[When I was studying for an MBA] I really learned, because I referred back to my actual work experience," Wu said. "Too many [business students] study too much and get straight A's, but know nothing about business."

Wu suggests that students who are considering getting advanced degrees in business work for a number of years before going to business school.

"You have to learn the real thing," he said. "Go into the work force before graduate school; then you can learn the real thing."

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