"I often say sleep is for sissies, fuel up on coffee, rollup your sleeves and get working,” said Lisa Brown, president/CEO ofTallahassee-Leon Federal Credit Union.

“I’m a huge proponent of lifelong learning. The moment you thinkyou know everything and stop listening is the minute you setyourself up to fail. What you’re learning or who you’re learningfrom is not as important as being open to the experience, listeningand constantly pushing yourself and your organization to be bettertomorrow than today.”

That drive to do more has served Brown well in life and preparedher for her role at the Tallahassee, Fla.-based, $39 million creditunion.

“From an industry perspective, we suffer from an identitycrisis. I kind of envision it as being awkward teenagers, wherewe’re not sure we know who we are yet. There are a few things welove but don’t embrace as a whole and we simply can’t be everythingto everyone,” said Brown.

“So as an industry we have to come together and define this iswho we are, what we do and then actually do it. Actions speaklouder than words, so what we’re saying has to match what weactually do as an industry and that isn’t always the casetoday.”

She added that a similar reevaluation and honest look inward wasneeded when she stepped in to become CEO of the struggling creditunion in fall 2010. Faced with NCUA examiners threatening to closethe doors, she immediately took a three-pronged approach thatfocused on repairing the financials, getting back to basics andimproving the member experience.

“I’m really proud of our delinquency ratio. One of my hot buttonissues when I first started, it was well over 5.28% and charge-offsratio was 4.44%. We’re now down to 1.56% and 1.65%, respectively,”said Brown.

“It was hard work, but we set specific goals for contact withmembers, shifted our focus away from just reporting to working theaccounts, added the additional resources and allocated them in away that was aligned with our goals. We did a number of differentthings that led to restoration of capital ratio from 6% on Dec. 31and now projected for this year to be about 7.7%. I am so proud ofour team they really worked so very hard.”

She credited the tremendous progress in capital restoration tonot only the collections effort but to a reorganization and theinclusion of the entire staff in the strategic planning.

“When I stepped in, we knew where we came from and where wewanted to go but struggled with the specific steps. That is where,internally, we as a team had to get input from everyone; tellers,back office, every individual had to be involved in the strategicplanning,” said Brown.

“We needed ideas from people who touch members the most. If I’mjust in my office then I lose sight of the why behind what we doand that’s why I’m constantly talking to tellers, member services,accounting [and] collections. With those different perspectives inthe planning session we were able to quickly identify the issuesthat were most important. Then my job was to help facilitate andprioritize those issues and since it was a team effort there was anautomatic buy-in as they were all heard.”

She added that in today’s ever-changing environment, leadersmust have the ability to prioritize, find ways to become moreefficient and effectively communicate that vision with the staff,board, members and community constantly.

“You don’t have theluxury to wait because you need it yesterday, and if you’re a pooror mediocre communicator, then it’ll be a struggle because youwon’t be able to inspire others to do their best,” said Brown.“Particularly in a crisis, you have to make choices that are goingto give the most impact and bang for your buck and what’sfascinating is that it has to happen at the 10th level not a sevenor eight, while at the same time you can’t forget why you do whatyou do.

"It’s so easy when you are sitting across from an examiner,regulator or internal CPA and get caught up looking only as far ascapital or market share. Don’t get trapped, find that balance, getout there talk to members, look them in the eyes and remember whyyou do what you do.”

Given the more solid financial footing, she said 2012 has beenslated as the year of growth for Tallahassee-Leon FCU and alreadyfrom refreshing the website to car sales, credit card promotionsand social media campaigns the credit union’s name can be foundalmost everywhere around town.

“Our capital is targeted to be over 9% for the end of 2012 sowe’ll be in a more comfortable position to really look for growthopportunities that really fulfill our mission to help members bebetter off tomorrow than they are today,” said Brown. “As long asyou have that vision of where you’re headed then you can focus onthe result, not the particular steps, and be flexible enough withseveral possible plans and as long as you’re moving forward and cansee the vision in mind you’re almost there.”

She joked that there should be a certification for crisismanagement as she’d be an expert in that field. Since joining thecredit union industry some 18 years ago at the age of 17, Brown hasheld nearly every position within a credit union and she worked fora CUSO for five years.

At the CUSO, she established temporary staffing agencies forcredit unions across Florida. She completed her CCUE throughself-study over the course of two years in 2005 and celebrated thecompletion of her MBA degree just three years ago.

As the executive vice president at PBC Credit Union in West PalmBeach, Fla., she helped see her credit union through the housingcrisis. During that time, she sat on the board of the housingleadership council of Palm Beach – an organization that supportsthe sustainability of affordable workforce housing.

“At a smaller credit union you have to be an expert as much asyou can in all areas because you don’t have vice presidents ofeverything at your disposal so you’ve got to have a high level ofexpertise in many different areas,” said Brown. “The number oneissue small credit unions are faced with is increased regulationthat’s constantly changing and our ability to keep up and that isacross the industry.”

She added that good leaders making the move to larger creditunions has led to a lack of qualified leaders to steer small creditunions in the right direction. Having cut her professional teethunder such credit union leaders as Ron Fye of Florida Commerce CU,Ray Cromer of Envision CU, Larry Kirkman of First Florida CU andJohn Deese of PBC Credit Union, Brown is proof of the lastingimpression effective leaders can have on a young professional’slife.

“I absolutely love what I do and want my team to feel the sameway,” said Brown, “I treat everyone on the team with respect, andhaving been in almost every role I can empathize with thechallenges because I’ve been in their shoes. That interaction withthe members is the most rewarding part of what we do.

"We recently started a social media campaign that literallycelebrates something every day and on International Credit UnionDay we asked members to share with us what it was about creditunions that made their life different. The stories they shared werenice to know.”