Building Legacy: Starting Strong, Staying Strong, Finishing Strong
In June of 1970, at just 28 years old, I began what would become a lifelong journey in banking at Columbus Bank and Trust Company. Several months before officially stepping into that role, I was called into a meeting that would change my life forever. My father, James W. Blanchard, had recently passed away, and the board asked me to assume his position as bank president.
I remember sitting across from D. A. Turner, the chairman of the board, feeling completely overwhelmed. I told him honestly, “I can’t even balance my own checking account. How can I possibly do this?” They assured me they would help with the details. And they did. What no one could help me with—what no one warned me about—was the emptiness I would slowly discover in the years that followed.
That season marked what many would call a strong start. In the years that followed, by God’s grace and through the dedication of an extraordinary team, we grew Columbus Bank and Trust into what eventually became Synovus Financial Corp. Along the way, we helped pioneer Georgia’s multi-bank holding company legislation, changing how banks could operate across county lines. That single shift unlocked a season of rapid expansion—bank acquisitions, innovation, and growth that moved faster than any of us could have imagined. We launched Total System Services, navigated transformational moments in the financial industry, and in 1999, Synovus was named by Fortune magazine as the “#1 Best Company to Work for in America.”
By every professional metric, I had achieved what most would call extraordinary success.
But legacy has a way of asking deeper questions.
Jesus asks it plainly: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36). Somewhere along the way, I realized that while I was succeeding publicly, I was failing privately. I was not the husband my wife deserved, nor the father my children needed. The very success I was chasing was costing me the legacy I actually wanted.
That realization brought me to a crossroads—a moment where staying strong required more than discipline or strategy. It required surrender. I came to understand that I needed Christ not only as Savior, but as Lord of every area of my life. I needed the power of the Holy Spirit to transform not just my eternal destiny, but my daily walk as a husband, father, and leader. Scripture tells us that the same power that raised Christ from the dead is available to us today (Romans 8:11). I discovered that to be profoundly true.
That transformation changed everything.
When I retired from Synovus in 2006, what I cherished most was not financial metrics or industry recognition. What mattered most were the quiet conversations and testimonies from friends and colleagues who have told me that, through our years together, I pointed them to Christ. That is legacy. What lasts is not what is seen, but what is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18).
In the years since, God has invited me into a new chapter—what I often describe as being “refired” rather than retired. He stirred my heart toward those bound by addiction and despair. Through my work with Teen Challenge Global, I have witnessed firsthand the redemptive power of the gospel at work in lives the world had given up on. I believe with all my heart that the same grace that saved me can redeem any life surrendered to Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Legacy, I have learned, is not accidental. It must be stewarded—intentionally, prayerfully, and generationally. Scripture calls us to tell the next generation of the Lord’s faithfulness, so that they too may set their hope in God (Psalm 78:4–6).
Legacy is not about what we accumulate.
It is about what we pass on.
And ultimately, it is about who we point to, and Finishing Strong the race before us.
Jim Blanchard
Former Chairman & CEO, Synovus Financial Corp.
Chairman, Global Teen Challenge Advisory Board