ideal leader
Story by Susan O'Connor, Photo by Dero Sanford

During a long career in banking and consulting, Harold Perrin’s leadership style has evolved into the perfect archetype for the mayor of a small, but powerful city. He is an ideal leader.

“You’ve got to fly in formation, but at the same time, you’ve got to think outside the box,” he said of his team. “I like for people to reach out and dream with me — constantly looking for things we need to be doing.”

A native of Batesville and graduate of Arkansas State University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, Perrin’s first job post graduation was with Aetna insurance company, a five-year stint working on retirement and pension plans, life insurance and annuities.

From there, he took a position at what was then Citizen’s Bank of Jonesboro. In 1979, he moved back to Batesville to work for First National Bank. His next position was that of president of First State Bank in Newport, where he served until 1988, when an offer from Mercantile Bank brought him back to Jonesboro.

After his return to Jonesboro, Perrin became deeply involved in civic work. He served on the ASU Board of Trustees and was chair of the United Way of Jonesboro, as well as many other causes. For 15 years, he has served as a city councilman.

During his years in the banking industry, Perrin was politically active, but said he never considered running for office. He assisted Bill Alexander during his years as congressman for the First Congressional District, and worked on Bill Clinton’s campaign for attorney general.

“Never did I dream I’d run for office,” he said, sincerely. “I really thought I’d be better on the other side.”

After Mercantile Bank sold to Union Planters in 1991, Perrin started a consulting firm, assisting companies primarily in customer service and customer relations. He summed up his role succinctly: “In a role of ‘ex-CEO,’ I taught executives how to get the maximum utilization and return on their employees, and at the same time keep the employees feeling good about themselves.”

This expertise in customer service, as well as bank management, has been invaluable as mayor.

“In this job you’ve got to make some tough decisions, and you are not going to please everyone, everyday,” he said. “You have to tell people no, but what is important is the way you tell them no. For example, ‘Let me explain to you the reasons why we can’t fix that ditch right now.’”

Perrin hit the ground running as mayor, working the entire month of December 2008 at no pay. His approach to the job is decidedly hands-on.
“I wanted to get to know the people. I wanted to work with them personally —I wanted them to see my work habits. I waited six months to hire an operations manager.”

And his advice to employees, as well as the students he has taught in banking classes rings true for his career, as well.

“Love what you do and do what you love. Because unless you do, you are not going to be good at it or good for the company you work for.”

What surprised you most about your role as mayor?
I guess the biggest surprise has been just how non-stop the job really is. Don’t get me wrong; I knew there was a tremendous amount of work to do. But I think the volume of unresolved issues that seem to pile on top of the existing things we deal with in an operation this size has been more than I anticipated. The good news is that it didn’t take us long to reload and step up. We’re building a strong team that has a real understanding of the challenges ahead and how to best address that volume of work.

What is most difficult, and what is most rewarding?
The most difficult aspect is not being able to do everything you want to do for people as fast as you’d like to. We have so many challenges when it comes to drainage, infrastructure, traffic, etc. And I want to solve everybody’s problems on the spot. But we have realistic limitations in resources like time, money and manpower that make it impossible to do them all now. Our staff tries to at least respond to issues within 24-48 hours and handle the ones we can as quickly as possible, and work the others into an overall strategy to correct long-term problems. The rewarding part is when we do get to solve someone’s problem immediately; and that does happen more than you might think. It’s also great to give back to a community that has given so much to my family and me. I’ve said it a thousand times during the campaign: This is the best small city in America to live, work and raise a family. I just want to make sure everyone else in the country knows it!

What goals for the city are of utmost importance to you during your tenure? Getting a handle on our financial reporting and accountability was a big one, and we’ve made great progress in that area for sure. I want to do all I can to improve traffic flow in and through our city, tackle the short and long-term drainage issues and establish comprehensive long-term plans for the city that encompass everything from economic development to sustainability to housing. Revitalizing our more oppressed areas is also a major concern because our city is only as vibrant as our most oppressed neighborhood.

If you could go anywhere to wind down and relax, where would you go? Right now? Home … I don’t get to be there nearly as much as I used to! Seriously, though, probably Destin. We used to go there frequently but I haven’t had the chance to take a vacation in several years.