For some clues about Kristin Lesher's approach to leadership, look no further than the greens of the famed Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C.
The site of the PGA Tour's Truist Championship, its 18 holes wind through rolling, wooded terrain. While Lesher isn't necessarily an avid golfer herself, she sees the sport as a rich source of competitive lessons.
"Golf is in many ways about finding balance—about where things are going well, and where you have opportunities to improve," she says. "In every round, on every single hole, you experience moments you want to celebrate, when everything is working the way you want it. Then you have other moments where you have to take a step back and reevaluate. There are a lot of similarities to my leadership approach."
That nimble style has served her well, since Lesher arrived in 2024 after a long career at Wells Fargo. She's now had more than a year to settle in as chief wholesale banking officer.
So far, the arrow is pointing up for wholesale banking. In 2025, payments saw 8% growth, driven by double-digit growth in treasury management, compared to -2% average growth from 2022 to 2024. Wealth delivered 4% growth last year (excluding the Sterling Capital divestiture), driven by record performance in brokerage, compared to 2% average growth from 2022 to 2024.
Performance continued into 2026, with fees up 13% year over year in the first quarter, revenues up 5.5% year over year and earnings-per-share up 37% over the same time frame, according to the bank's earnings report.
Lesher's deep menu of duties essentially means she runs "more than half of the company," marvels CFO Mike Maguire. "One of her superpowers is the ability to form relationships quickly," says Maguire, a self-professed "lifer" at the bank who has helped Lesher acclimate to Truist. "In many ways she has become the conductor of the orchestra."
One of her key strategies so far seems counterintuitive: In an AI-driven era when many companies are slashing workforces, Lesher has made it a point to invest seriously in attracting and retaining talent.
That's especially important for an organization of Truist's size: It doesn't have the massive footprint of JPMorganChase, and it's not one of the agile, disruptive fintech startups reinventing how consumers interact with their financial institutions.
Its competitive advantage is more about deep local roots, and highly personalized service, which neither the giant whales nor the minnows can provide. It's an approach she gleaned from longtime CEO Bill Rogers, who brought her over from Wells Fargo and plans to retire in 2027.
"I've received a lot of wonderful advice from him, and one of the things that has stuck with me the most is ensuring we're client-focused in everything we do," she says. "It's something I see him do, and if we do that well, we'll be fine."
That challenge is much like Quail Hollow's notorious "green mile" from holes 16 to 18, known as the "toughest three finishing holes on the PGA Tour."
Lesher, unfazed by the stiff competition, has proven to be a formidable foe on the greens and in the office.
