My Servus Young Leaders Network Bucket List

Friday is my 33rd birthday. 

While I love celebrating my birthday with my wife and kids, the day that I blow out my 36 candles will mark the end of my participation in the Servus Young Leaders Network. While I will always be available to our future successors in the form of mentorship, my direct involvement in the leadership and guidance will cease.

I could easily take this blog in the direction of sadness and that of letting go for the greater good of the Network, but this is no such column. It’s about having a vision and getting it done before my time is up. To help stay on track, I bought myself a new daily planner for myself with the encryption “Things I want to do before I die.” While this sounds very morbid, it’s not about the end, it’s about the things I want to do before I hit……..36.

So here it is, my Servus Young Leaders Network bucket list: 

• Much like The Cooperative Trust’s (Crash Network) Collider Project, I would love to see us open up the creative genius of our young leaders to bring new innovations to Servus, our members, our communitites, and the credit union system. Bill Clancy of Lake Michigan Credit Union (and my partner in 2CUGuys blog) has spear headed this within his own credit union and I hope to colloborate with him to bring it to the SYLN.
• During the cooperative principle and credit union discussion/debate at our 35 Under 35 Leadership Retreat, it was obvious that we have an opportunity to increase the knowledge of our young leaders in these two areas. I would like to see the Servus Young Leaders Network collaborate with our human resources department to introduce increased onboarding covering these topics. A lot of research has gone into what Gen Y employees are looking for, and if we can increase their knowledge of the social benefit of being a credit union, it will increase the attraction and retention of employees for years to come. 
• Create a foundation for kids. Helping kids has always been near and dear to my heart, and as you know, I have three of my own. I have loved my experiences in coaching minor hockey, teaching Junior Achievement, and helping kids learn how to read at local schools. I have been inspired by the young leaders involved with the Credit Unions for Kids and their contributions to local hospitals.  I know this goal will be tough to reach, but the impact we could create could change lives forever. And that is what makes all the difference.

On my 36th birthday, I hope that I can blow out those candles and celebrate the completion of my Servus Young Leaders Network bucket list.

Devin

Servus Young Leaders Network Blowing Up 2012

The number one priority for the Servus Young Leaders Network Executive Committee is to continually improve our existing programming and to bring new innovations to the network. The beginning of the 2012 year has definitely provided just that. 

The addition of our 3 new executive committee members has brought a new set of experiences, knowledge, and skill sets to our network. Specifically the addition of Kirk Nielsen has provided additional support to Robert Christiansen’s online presence committee. Based on feedback we received from SYLN members, they have constructed a crisper and cleaner look to the online site. Members felt there was too much information on the main page, so Robert and Kirk have made sure the focus stays on any current programming. For this month, we would like to receive feedback on our new look.  

We have also just completed the SYLN National Scholarship program, and I am very excited to congratulate Kirk Nielsen, yep, the same Kirk as mentioned above, as our winner. Kirk will now represent Servus Credit Union in the Credit Union Central of Canada’s National Young Leader Award where 5 finalists across the Canadian Credit Union System will be selected to compete for a $10,000.00 scholarship. 

This year we had exceptional applicants, however, we only had 4.  Servus Credit Union has roughly 800 employees 35 and under. While we aren’t looking for quantity over quanlity, we do want to ensure ALL of our outstanding young leaders are applying. I can ensure you that we have more than just 4. Some of our struggles comes to timing.  Our program announcement coincides with our corporate year end.  Between performance of the past year and preperations for the upcoming, the scholarship is not always a priority for our young leaders.  This is something we hope to change by making our young leaders more aware of the scholarship. While we can’t release until after the Credit Union Central of Canada’s National Young Leader award announcement, most of the main requirements has stayed the same over the past decade allowing for reminders through email, postings on the SYLN Online site, as well as at the 35 Under 35 Leadership Retreat. At our next face to face meeting, the Executive Committee plans to meet with our executive sponsor to discuss areas where we can increase the awareness of this important program. 

The Servus Young Leaders Network has also opened up an account on Twitter. Be sure to watch for us at ServusCU_YLN.

Finally, this past week, we were humbled to be asked to kick off the CUES NextGen Webinar Series. The presentation included the SYLN history, details on our programming, as well as our future plans. 

It was my first time presenting through a webinar and it was pretty tough. As someone that builds energy from the reactions of the crowd, I wasn’t really sure if I was connecting with the audience. I definately enjoyed the experience and thank CUES for the opportunity.      

Through the 2012 year, we will celebrate the international year of cooperatives. I have a feeling that it is also going to be the year of young leader developing throughout the credit union movement. 

Devin

We Are Young. So Let’s Set the World on Fire.

I watched Glee the other night…….

Ok, so that might mean that I will lose my man card for an extended period of time, but hey, when you don’t have control of the remote in your household from time to time, you accept that special someone’s choice in entertainment. 

As with most episodes of Glee, they ended the show with a rousing message through their music, but this time, the song selection, and specifically, these lyrics, struck a chord with me:

Tonight
We are young
So let's set the world on fire
We can burn brighter
Than the sun

While we have been able to celebrate the success of the Servus Young Leaders Network (SYLN) for the 2011 year, I’m all about looking forward. The 2012 year will allow us to continue to expand our wings and gain continued traction within Servus Credit Union. At present we have just over 30% penetration of young leaders within Servus as members of the SYLN Online Site. We are seeing more regional young leader groups being created and the SYLN will be providing them with assistance in objectives as well as providing potential funding for special projects. I believe this will not only increase the participation level in the SYLN Online Site, but I think it will also increase the engagement level of our staff within Servus.

I am totally pumped about our three new executive committee members, Kirk Nielsen, Karina Farr, and Trish Rasmussen. All have jumped right in to joining some of our executive sub-committees to help improve on the programming that was provided in 2011. Kirk has already been hard at work using his tech savvy skill set to provide a new look to the Online Site which should be released in the upcoming year.

The SYLN Spotlight on the Online Site will be shifted to a more formal process where young leaders will be able to nominate their peers for recognition.

As an executive committee, we are continually looking for ways to increase the development of our young leaders. A common message that will be encouraged throughout the year is that if you have unique ideas, suggestions, leadership articles to share, or just have a thought you think can improve you and your peers experience in Servus Credit Union as a young leader, send your ideas to any one of the executive committee members! We want to make the Servus Young Leaders Network is bigger and better year after year after year.

So there it is kids, we are young, so let’s set the world on fire!

To you and yours, a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

Devin

I Know That You Want to Be Canadian

Photo by sugarstation

As a credit union movement, we need to support the development of our young leaders.

The Canadian Credit Union system is doing that.

As per the Credit Union Central of Canada’s website:

In many ways, the future of Canada’s credit union movement rests with the best and brightest young employees. The National Credit Union Young Leaders Award helps identify these individuals, motivate them and publicize their accomplishments to inspire others.  In creating this award, Canadian Central’s Board of Directors helps national leaders demonstrate strong support for young leadership. By sharing their accomplishments, the credit union system inspires others to demonstrate similar dedication and effectiveness. These young high achievers tackle large complex problems that will help determine the future of financial services.  

Each year, up to five finalists of the National Credit Union Young Leaders Award are sponsored to attend the Canadian Conference for Credit Union Leaders. One finalist will be chosen as the 2012 National Credit Young Leaders Award scholarship recipient and will receive tuition plus travel costs to attend a leadership development program at a recognized university in Canada ($10,000.00 maximum).

The Servus Young Leaders Network has developed the Servus Young Leaders Network National Scholarship program to support this national initiative. As part of the program, a young leader that has been employed in the credit union system for 3 years is able to write a maximum 2,000 word essay on how their leadership has fostered growth, innovation, or community involvement.  

Our National Scholarship program will allow a maximum of 5 applicants to go into a “final round” and present their essay in a 15 minute verbal presentation to our Executive Leadership Team. The Executive Leadership Team will then select the winner and that person will represent Servus as they vie for one of the National Young Leader Award finalist spots. Regardless of whether they are selected as a finalist, our scholarship winner will be provided with a very unique and impactful opportunity to attend the national conference. Upon his or her return, the scholarship winner will share their learning on the Servus Young Leaders Network online site and will immediately become a member of the Servus Young Leaders Network Executive Committee. The winner will also be able to have a mentorship partnership with a member of the Executive Leadership Team for a period of one year.

As Canadian Credit Unions, we need to ensure that we are taking advantage of this type of young leader development opportunities.  There is absolutely no financial cost to your credit union to have a young leader apply for the National Young Leader Award.  If they are selected as one of the finalists, Credit Union Central of Canada pays the cost for them to attend.   

Run out of excuses? 

Good.

Click this link to have your young leader apply today.

Devin

Keep. Your. Hands. Up.

I am truly humbled and honoured to have been named CUES Next Top Credit Union Executive among such a great group of not only credit union young leaders, but outstanding people. It was fantastic to finally meet Amanda, Jay, Josh, and Alexia and I know we’ll be following each other’s successes for years to come.

Here is the challenge to all of you however.

For those that saw the three minute clip of my presentation in Las Vegas, I asked the crowd to all raise their hands and when I asked a question that didn’t relate to them, they could put them down.

Question 1: How many of you believe young leader development is essential to the future success of your credit union?

All hands stayed up.

Question 2: How many of you have a young leader program that assists in recruiting, retaining, and engaging your young leaders?

Half the hands went down.

Question 3: How many of you have a young leader program that can pin point your future leaders of your credit union?

Half of the remaining hands went down.

Last question: How many of you have a young leader program that is managed by your young leaders? 

One hand remained.

I regret not acknowledging that person/credit union because I would have loved to hear their story.

Everyone in that room agreed that young leader development is essential to the future success of their credit union, however very few are doing anything about it.

This is why we all need to support programs like the CUES Next Top Credit Union Executive competition. I think I can speak for Amanda, Jay, Josh, and Alexia when I say that this has been one of the most impactful experiences in my career to date. While participating in the Next Top Credit Union Executive program over the past several months, I have found a new passion and that is developing people. So much so, that I will be moving to a new position in December in the human resources department as a corporate trainer, leadership development.

This is all thanks to the Servus Young Leaders Network and the CUES Next Top Credit Union Executive.

Foster the growth of your young leaders by giving them these types of opportunities.

The Next Top Credit Union Executive may very well be in your credit union.

Devin

Devin Selte from Servus Credit Union in Alberta, Canada, wins title in CUES® Next Top Credit Union Exec Search

Devin Selte, Senior Relationship Manager, Team Lead with Servus Credit Union in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, has won the Credit Union Executives Society’s challenge, and the title of Next Top Credit Union Exec.  

Selte’s credit union project about Servus Credit Union’s Young Leaders Group was voted in June to represent the Canada Region. As one of five Finalists, Selte’s blog and video updates over the past few months provided the industry with an insight into the project’s progress, and culminated with a final presentation in Las Vegas, Nevada, at CUES' CEO/Executive Team Network™ this week. Selte emerged the winner after a three-part scoring process that included a panel of judges, audience voting, and online voting.

Selte is a self-starter who exudes a passion for developing his peers into young leaders. The Servus Credit Union Young Leaders Program highlights key achievements among participants, provides mentorship and shared learning opportunities, and creates a unified group of young employees who understand and embody the cooperative principles. In his presentation, Selte provided suggestions for how credit unions of any size could implement similar programs of their own.

The other four finalists include Jay Hansen of BECU in Seattle; Alexia Mavrakes of Aspire Federal Credit Union in Clark, New Jersey; Josh McAfee of Leaders Credit Union in Jackson, Tennessee; and Amanda Thomas of Members First Credit Union in Columbus, Ohio.

Selte wins a $20,000 educational prize package and will provide further project updates right here on the Next Top Credit Union Exec blog for the next year.

The CUES Team

Watch the finalists' presentations then vote!

Here are the finalists' presentations from yesterday in Las Vegas. Each of them did an awesome job! The videos are shown in the same order that they presented in.

First up was Amanda Thomas.

Second up was Jay Hansen.

Third up was Josh McAfee

Fourth up was Alexia Mavrakes.

And finally, Devin Selte was the fifth presenter.

Voting starts Tuesday at 8 a.m. Eastern and ends 8 p.m. Eastern!

The CUES Team

RadioFreeCU finalist interviews

RadioFreeCU's Jason Dias, Troy Hall and Christina Brocato have been kind enough to feature four of the finalists on their great show over past couple of months.

Alexia (Northeast region) was on the July 22 episode.

Amanda (Midwest region) was on the September 9 episode.

And, finally, Josh (Southeast region) and Jay (West region) were on the November 4 episode.

Thanks to the RadioFreeCU crew for having our finalists on!

The CUES Team

CU Chat Up finalist interviews

CU Chat Up's Carla Day hosted two live Internet radio show episodes with the finalists. First up, the women: Amanda (Midwest region) and Alexia (Northeast region).

And for the second segment, Carla interviewed the three men in the competition: Jay (West region), Josh (Southeast region) and Devin (Canada region).

Thanks Carla!

The CUES Team

CUBroadcast finalist interviews

CUBroadcast's Mike Lawson interviewed all of the Next Top Credit Union Exec finalists!

Devin representing the Canada region.

Alexia respresenting the Northeast region.

Jay representing the West region.

Amanda representing the Midwest region.

Mike is interviewing Josh on Monday morning before the final presentations. We'll post here as soon as it's live.

The CUES Team