3 minutes
When I joined my credit union about 10 years ago, I asked my financial operations specialist, "What do you really want to be?" A high school graduate with a few years of college under her belt, Shannon told me she wanted to be in management.
Three years later, Shannon was ready to define her path to management. Together we wrote out her detailed personal vision, milestones and strategy. Since then, she has acquired both a bachelor's and a master's degree. Last August she was promoted to accounting manager and is now in charge of a five-person department.
My experience with all three saegments of CUES' CEO Institute underscored the importance of this work to support Shannon's development, and helped me to know how to motivate her, give her good feedback and provide guidance in support of her goals.
This same idea-having a vision and then planning how to execute it-can be applied to how we credit unions do business in general. While we're all task managers, effective leaders must look beyond the detail of the moment and have the skills to lead individuals and their company down the path to a successful future.
Things Learned
Besides executing strategic vision, here are some key takeaways from my experience at the three segments of CEO Institute:
Be comfortable with things being in a state of flux. There's no guaranteed permanence in the decisions you're making. You'll need vision, strategy, charisma and drive to communicate in ways that help you to manage change fast.
Make sure you have a "pre-mortem" plan. Ask yourself: "How is this going to fail?" and "What could kill this?" before you ever start. For example, we're building a new branch right now. I walk into the progress meetings with all of the possible hitches at top of mind, so that we'll be prepared if we actually experience them. Being able to recognize and examine threats is an important role for me as a leader, especially since I'm in charge of accounting, security, IT, collections, compliance and internal audit.
There are few "accidental" leaders. We lead because, at our core, we believe ourselves to be creators of value. And we believe we can provide choices and opportunities for those who may not know how to start their progression toward their pursuits.
Team dynamics matter to the success of your organization. As cliché as it sounds, there really is no "I" in team and we must trust (and hold accountable) each member of the team to do their part. That way, we're not just investing in "more bodies," but instead we're putting our efforts into people with quality minds, and the attitudes and desire to succeed.
Inviting, including and inspiring others (like I tried to do with Shannon) is really important. To do this well, we learned, we have to be present and truly pay attention to the people around us. We have to stop "nexting," for instance, which is thinking about the next meeting while still taking part in the current one.
What (or Who) is Next?
Now that I've earned my Certified Chief Executive (CCE) designation (from attending all three segments of the program plus doing the between-segments projects), you may be wondering, "What's next?" In my case,
the more accurate question may be, "Who's next?"
Shannon has recommended someone who might benefit from my help in developing a vision and plan for professional growth. It's actually a person we'd like to bring back to work at the credit union. The individual's potential is there and her personal fire is there. She just needs someone to hold her accountable. Fortunately, accountability is one of my strong suits.
With the three segments of CEO Institute behind me, I feel well-prepared to lead other people at my credit union to achieve their professional goals. After all, isn't leading about making human connections and wanting to help others to succeed?
CUES member Christie Jordan, CSE, CCE, is chief financial officer of $560 million Clark County Credit Union,Las Vegas.
