On-Site at CEO/Executive Team Network: Passing the Credit Union Torch

Bo McDonald, Your Marketing Coby: Bo McDonald, President of Your Marketing Co. and CUinsight.com Contributor

The opening awards banquet on Sunday night was full of laughs, and a few tears as well. Several of those being inducted into the CUES Hall of Fame were CEO’s who either have recently retired or would be retiring in the very near future. But these weren’t just credit union CEO’s. These were passionate leaders who, despite their retirement, showed great concern for the next generation of leaders in the credit union industry.

Enter now, that next generation of leaders in our industry who had the spotlight on Tuesday and Wednesday with the CUES Next Top Credit Union Executive program, a forum for young credit union executives to display their talents and passion for people helping people at their credit union.

But let’s ask ourselves a question, one that I ask my team when they bring me a new idea: “What Else?” What if we could combine the years of experience of those outgoing CEO’s with the young and passionate participants of the CUES Next Top Credit Union Executive program to mentor them and nurture their talents to give these young leaders the opportunity to one day be the one who is being inducted into the CUES Hall of Fame.

It can work, and work well. An example of the kind of success seen from this CUES program is last year’s CUES Next Top Credit union Executive winner, Ronaldo Hardy. He captured the attention of his peers with a great presentation, but it didn’t end with his acceptance speech. Ronaldo did a superb job of leveraging his efforts to seek out mentors within the industry to not only “learn the ropes”, but take him under their wing and raise him up to be a great leader. Today, at the age of 27 Ronaldo’s hard work and passion for becoming a great leader has paid off as he earned the title of CEO at his credit union.

What is your credit union doing to identify the potential of your young employees? You may have a teller who has skills yet to be uncovered that would be a huge asset to your credit union. Looking past just identifying those people and what they can contribute to your team, what are you doing to KEEP them at your credit union? Credit Unions aren’t known for being able to pay competitive wages, but this up and coming generation looks beyond the pay scale to what you can offer in the way of experience and opportunity.

Kudos to CUES for providing this opportunity to recognize the next generation, and Tim McAlpine and the crew at Currency Marketing for a great job in organizing the program.

Bo McDonald is president of Your Marketing Co, A veteran of major market media sales and programming, Bo got his start in radio working for a variety of large radio conglomerates including Clear Channel Radio and Citadel Broadcasting. After several years and requests from clients Bo went out on his own to form his own marketing firm. Today, that marketing firm has evolved into a boutique firm serving only the needs of credit unions in the form of marketing, business development, and product development. Why credit unions? Thanks to his parents who are avid credit union supporters, Bo has been a member of credit unions from a young age.

Bo McDonald

Bo McDonald

Bo McDonald is president of Your Marketing Co. A marketing firm that started serving credit unions nearly a decade ago, offering a wide range of services including web design, branding, ... Web: yourmarketing.co Details