MADISON, Wis.—For Christopher Stevenson, what’s needed as a “wave” of credit union executives retire can be summed up by a recent conversation with a graduate the CUES CEO Institute III.
“He said that his idea of what he needed to teach the members of his lending team before he retired has shifted,” recalled Stevenson.
The leader, a lending executive, explained that his old idea of passing on knowledge was simply sharing everything he knows about making loans. But today he says he’s also going to share what he knows about leading.
Stevenson, SVP/chief learning officer with the Credit Union Executives Society, said that kind of thinking is important to the future of credit unions in order to avoid the loss of knowledge that comes with the retirement of many of the movements’ skilled executives. Stevenson shared tips on how leaders can pass along leadership skills before they move on:
- Value their informal learning. “Give your rising leaders opportunities to spearhead big projects outside the scope of their regular duties,” said Stevenson. “At CUES we tap mid-level managers to own company-level initiatives. When we do this, we’re saying to these staffers that we believe in them and that we think they have potential to do even more than their current job. It gets them really engaged, too, which benefits the organization as a whole.”
- Create a leadership library they can reference later. “A consultant from Australia says one of her clients has its leaders write case studies on situations they have encountered and how they dealt with them, successfully or unsuccessfully,” said Stevenson.
- Allow them to struggle a little. “Parents who want to raise their children to be high-functioning adults let their kids do some things—and make some mistakes—all on their own,” said Stevenson. “Sometimes executives need to provide the resources and new direction to their team members, but when the team member is being groomed for leadership, they’ll learn a lot by feeling their own way through some challenges.”
- Send your team members to formal training. “Of course, I recommend sending the CU’s upcoming stars to CUES’ CEO Institute,” said Stevenson. “Attendees of this flagship program learn leadership from world-renowned faculty members at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, the Johnson School of Management at Cornell University and the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia.”
- Bring team members with you when you network with industry colleagues. “CUES’ CEO/Executive Team Network is made for this,” said Stevenson. “With CEOs from across the industry attending with their direct reports all in attendance, the conference not only features great speakers but also offers your team members the opportunity to talk with peers and CEOs about what keeps them up at night and how they plan to address their concerns.”
Stevenson sees good things ahead for credit unions.
“If we keep hiring the right people, teaching them the nitty-gritty of how to serve members on a day-to-day basis, and showing them the path to leadership, credit unions and their members can only benefit,” he said.