Darren Cole

Vice President, Field Examination Manager, Wells Fargo Capital Finance

Biography:

Darrell is a vice president and a field examination manager for Wells Fargo Capital Finance.  He attended University of Illinois at Chicago – finance degree.  He is a collateralized lending veteran with more than 20 years of experience.  In his role, he hires, trains, and develops entry-level talent with a focus on ABL field exam-related training.

His favorite way to spend time away from work is to perform community service as well as spend time with his family. Whether it is your first time meeting Darrell or if you have been fortunate to know him for many years, the interaction with Darrell is always the same.  You are greeted with a warm “Good Morning”, an infectious smile (that can even be heard over the phone) and an immediate feeling that Darrell has a lot of passion for what he does and is interested in you.  As manager of Early Talent, Darrell’s attributes are put to good use as he is often the first Wells Fargo team member to meet prospective candidates for our Early Talent Programs. 

What advice would you offer to someone just starting out who wants to be a difference maker in their organization?

Being a difference maker means being your authentic self at all times and identifying how your unique strengths can be best utilized in your organization. It is very important to not only understand the values and goals of your organization, but how you personally demonstrate these values as well. If the values of an organization align with your own personal construct, you are well on your way to being a difference maker as your passion will shine in everything that you do. While many people perform their job well and do a great job of contributing to the bottom line, a difference maker spends time thinking about the organization outside of their role and acts on those thoughts. There is also a certain amount of courage required as you have to learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable. As a difference maker, you have to be confident in challenging a group decision when you feel that decision is short-sighted. To some this may be viewed as potentially career limiting, but if so, you may want to reconsider if said organization is the right fit for you.    

You are deeply involved in Wells’ Early Talent Development and Diversity & Inclusion programs. Why are you passionate about these programs?

Growing up on the Southside of Chicago and being a first-generation college student, everything after grade school was foreign in every way imaginable for me. I had no role models or footsteps to follow in helping me navigate college nor to provide career guidance. During my senior year of college, a professor offered to assist me in my job search via mock interviews, which is how I landed in ABL. In our final session I inquired as to why he offered to work with me and he said that it was my integrity, perseverance, and unique perspective that made him want to see me succeed in my career. This is when I first learned that there is personal joy in helping others. As far as the personality traits that he had mentioned, I shared with him that I attribute those to my strong family upbringing and having to be innovative in avoiding the traps that snarled many childhood friends. At this time, I had no clue that my career would lead me to Early Talent Development and D&I, but this is no doubt when those seeds were planted and Wells Fargo has now provided the environment for those seeds to grow. My passion for D&I not only comes from my own personal diversity, but also from witnessing and leading tremendously successful and innovative diverse teams. When we consider some of the NextGen demographics and how well they correlate with what is needed in a successful D&I program, the two become somewhat intertwined.         

How can commercial finance organizations offer meaningful professional development and career advancement?

Many institutions have historically successful development programs, but are now faced with the largest generation talent delta in decades as approximately half of the workforce will be NextGen and the remainder a mixture of GenX and Boomers. The notion of remaining in a specific role for a number of years to gain experience just to be rewarded with linear promotions is not particularly ideal to NextGen talent, yet experience is still a great teacher. Organizations can benefit from targeted development programs that focus on key skills expected of top performers in said role and clearly emphasizing how these programs will qualify an employee for specific roles.