It's pretty obvious that the next generation of leaders is readyto learn, grow, network and challenge the status quo in preparationto take the reins.

From the national expansion of the Crash Network, which sparked spinoffs of young professionaldevelopment organizations to  state leagues offering newventures including a Gen Y Summit, many agree it's all about the nextgeneration.

The first step to harnessing rather than extinguishing thatpassion seems to be listening and empowering, some credit unionshave discovered.

Some of those techniques can be seen through a collaborationbetween the Southwest CUNA Management School and the Texas CreditUnion Foundation. Both have teamed up to launch Connect toCollaborate or c2c as a way to help engage and retain leaders underthe age of 30.

“[Connect to Collaborate] was a direct result of listening tothe first Crash the GAC group live broadcast during the event,”said Janine McBee, director and synergist at SCMS. “They stole myheart. It was clear–the Crashers were seeking to make a difference,wanting their voices to be heard, and seeking mentor relationships.Through SCMS, there was an opportunity to reach out and helpyounger professionals connect on a wide variety of levels.”

The younger credit union leaders who were consulted to helpcreate, name, and develop the concept were Brent Dixon, young adultadviser at the Filene Research Institute, Mark Arnold, president ofOn the Mark Strategies, Shawn Temple, chief operating officer ofBossier Federal Credit Union in Bossier City, La. and branding firmPTP New Media. In addition to being able to hone their skills atthe school and participate in peer-to-peer learning and mentorship,first-year students have a chance to have their tuition reimbursedvia the C2C scholarship by being voted as the one who exhibited themost leadership skills among their peers, according to the program.After an annual alumni and student auction dinner, students canbuild their network while enjoying an open bar and chatting with acircle about credit union and career topics. Seated outside thecircle, executives listen in and get an inside peak at what a groupof under 30 credit union leaders think as they share their hopes,ideas, fears and concerns about the future of credit unions.

“I would never have created a session going from 9:00 p.m. to 11p.m., at the end of the day, in the second week of an intenseprogram,” McBee said. “We've done this for two years now and itworks. The environment is deliberately casual and relaxed with opendiscussion. The scholarship was created to help open doors foryounger students to attend and provide an opportunity to brag onyoung leadership. There is so much to learn from one another.”

From the summer C2C session, about 20 out 126 SCMS programparticipants were under the age of 30 and in the circle. Questionsfrom the audience ranged from 'please, tell me what it is you allwant,' and 'what do you feel you bring to your credit union assomeone under 30 that someone with more experience may not bring.'Mentorship expectations were also talked about. After muchdiscussion about mentorships, what they mean and what is beinglooked for, McBee said a student within the circle wrote out acomment card that succinctly summed it up: “The reluctance tomentor reminds me of a middle school dance with boys on one sideand girls on the other…someone has to make the first move…if theydon't move, you need to.”

“The biggest win for me is to see the generations listening toand learning from each other, [and] growing in appreciation of whateach can bring to the team,” said McBee of the circle.

In Vancouver, Wash., Jen Shefner, assistant vice president ofeCommerce at the $769 million Columbia Credit Union, has hadsuccess fostering innovation within her department with the GeniusHour. The program was inspired by Dan Pink's book Driveand an initiative from Google that allows employees to allot 20% oftheir time to do noncommissioned work.

“What happened at Google was that 50% of their new projects weregenerated from that 20% of free time,” Shefner noted. “So, I wantedto bring that same force of culture and autonomy to my departmentof three as I could. The Genius Hour has been our way to startsmall, and in my mind, we'd just try it for a month. But the staffloves it so I'd never want to take it away.”

Here's how Shefner makes it work. The creative time is clearlyscheduled for each person weekly and everyone pitches in to ensurebusiness needs are met while that individual is in the GeniusHour.

“It's important to all of us so we make the time,” Shefner said.“If it's not scheduled then it's too easy to let the daily workdaytake over. I have to say since announcing we'd be doing this inOctober of 2010, there hasn't been any lack of ideas. They come upwith [ideas] they are passionate about or want to learn more aboutor want to work on.”