In many ways I count that as a blessing. We would also have to be more proactive both in taking risk and in changing programs and processes. But changing this agency's culture was one of the biggest challenges I ever faced. When I arrived, we had a lot of work in front of us. Employees had been trained to be risk-averse.
Government offers little incentive to initiate more risk.
We changed that. If I had to pinpoint one watershed moment, it would be the Asian economic crisis. When currencies collapsed and stock prices plunged, triggering the withdrawal of the private sector, no one could be certain where it all would end. Few would have thought twice if Ex-Im Bank had retreated. Instead, we stepped up our presence in the region and stood by U.S. exporters.