For Anne Legg, senior vicepresident business strategy and innovation at marketing brandingfirm Third Degree Advertising, the glass is not only half full butit sparkles.

“You've got to embrace what you have, and let go of what youdon't,” said the latest Women to Watch honoree who hasinspirational quotes posted throughout her office that help keepher focused on the positive. “Happiness is not getting what youwant but wanting what you have.”

The longtime marketing veteran has been serving credit unionsfor 17 years since her first introduction to the industry workingfor an advertising agency that specialized in credit unions. Hercareer has come full circle back to her roots as she recently leftFinancial Partners Credit Union in a bid to better serve theindustry as a whole.

“I had several dreams growing up, including wanting to be awriter, and the best career advice I ever got was that whatever Ido I must love it because it will be done for a long time,” saidLegg. “It helped me realize that I needed to do something I feelgood about and at the end of day would leave a positive mark. Itturns out credit unions provided the perfect marriage. I could makeuse of my strategic skill sets satisfying both my creative andanalytical side, while doing some real good. I love how much thisindustry keeps changing and getting better and it's thrilling to bea part of it.”

Beyond making a difference in members' lives, Legg thrives oncollaboration to help credit unions move from being a best keptsecret to becoming a household name.

“We've got an industry as a whole that has a low awareness, butthat's changing and now is the time to show how we offer afantastic alternative,” said Legg. “We've got an authentic word ofmouth among our members and with technology leveling the playingfield awareness will become less of an issue.”

To her, innovation boils down to either coming up with somethingcompletely new or re-envisioning processes or common challenges ina new way.

“I think author and Harvard Professor Michael Porter'scompetitive strategy is spot on for credit unions to leverage thestrength of our shared value to completely change traditionalbanking business models and structures to benefit members,” saidLegg. “I'm very collaborative and love to have everyone share theirideas. No one person has all the answers, but collectively bringingin different perspectives, experiences and strengths we can allcome together and see how a solution can or can't work.”

As on who doesn't believe over communication is possible, Leggdescribes her leadership style as honest, open, direct and one inwhich she trusts and values what each team member brings to thediscussion.

Always one to pay it forward, she has served as an instructor atthe CUNA Marketing Management School teaching courses oninnovation, branding and measurement. She also serves as aprofessional marketing certification advisor and from 2003-2011 waschair of the CUNA Marketing and Business Development Council. Shehelped the council's offerings evolve beyond an annual conference,to include peer-to-peer webinars, an increased number of whitepapers, and set the foundation for a robust onlineforum/community.

In addition, her MBA thesis, “Creating a New Credit UnionSustainability Business Model,” received top honor at a CUNA CFOCouncil conference, became a CUNA white paper and most recently wasselected for publication and presentation at the 2012 InternationalCooperative Summit in Quebec, Canada, October 2012. Legg was theonly credit union professional in the United States selected topresent at the international event.

“If you are going to spend your time doing something then itbetter be something that makes a difference and you can feel goodabout,” said Legg. “No has never been an option for me. I just havehad such wonderful challenges in my life that have always proventhat there is an option. The question is whether it's feasible.Whenever someone gets stumped in a process, stop for a second andchange your perspective. Ask yourself, if time and money were noobject, what would it look like? That is where you begin.

Everyone has value, something to say and share, remove the 'no'and suddenly we are forced to see that issue or challenge from acompletely different point of view. There are no boundaries or fearof giving a wrong answer because there are none.”

It's something that can be applied to any credit union as itanswers the question of how can we add more value to members'lives?

“How can we proactively improve our members' interactions withus, what can we simplify,” said Legg. “We can all take a hard lookand find ways to remove the clutter. Who is to say the standard waywe do banking today will be the same in the future? If I can pay asmall business owner directly via my cell phone is the financialinstitution needed? We have to consider who our competitors will bein the future not just today, and innovate or partner accordingly.At the end of the day, each credit union has to make sure itsservices, products, interactions are beneficial to membersotherwise they will go elsewhere.”

She added that the future of credit unions also depends on itsfuture leaders.

“It's estimated that the industry will see quite a few longtimeleaders retiring over the next three to five years and that isgoing to change the face and structure of leadership,” said Legg.“It's an opportunity for a different type of leadership. We'realready starting to see a change and it's going to be veryfascinating to see what happens. When you look at a group like theCooperative Trust, which is filled with people who are absolutelyin love with the credit union industry, imagine what's possible asthey have the energy and capacity to take the industry to the nextlevel.”