For Debra I. Da Costa, who as marketing vice president has beendefining and delivering global marketing strategies at the $3.8billion United Nations Federal Credit Union for more than 13 years,every day provides a new chance to improve and she wouldn't have itany other way.

“There's always something you can improve upon and that's usefulin your personal life as well,” said the latest Women to Watch honoree. “I alwaysgo home feeling I could have done more. And that's why everymorning I make a silent commitment to find a way to do it betterthan yesterday, whether it's working smarter or having moreempathy, it's something I'll continue doing until I take my lastbreath.”

Da Costa, who recently left UNFCU, says working at the LongIsland City, N.Y.-based credit union has been a chance of alifetime and an experience she will treasure as she makes plans forher next adventure.

“When I entered college I wanted to be a biomedical engineer,but I am a people person and being in a lab all day would've beenthe death of me,” said Da Costa. “Although marketing may seem likea huge leap, it isn't, as both use analytical, problem-solvingskills and creativity. For me, marketing begins and ends with data,the creativity gets sprinkled in. So as much as a biomedicalengineer and marketer may seem worlds apart, they use some of thesame skill sets so it's not that farfetched.”

She added that she had an incredible mentor who constantlyencouraged her to look to the next goal or challenge.

“She'd always tell me to think of the possibilities and to thinkbig. She'd check in on me monthly to find out exactly where I wasand what was the next goal I wanted to attain,” said Da Costa. “Ilearned to be true to myself and always looked to even biggerchallenges. It's definitely one of the reasons why I accepted theposition at UNFCU, the opportunity to do marketing on a globalinstead of just a national level.”

Her mentor has become a really good friend and the experienceover the years has helped shape Da Costa's own leadership andcommunication style.

“To develop others' capabilities to contribute fully to anorganization's success and see how people blossom into fantasticleaders in their own right, that is the most fulfilling thing forme,” said Da Costa. “Leadership is about giving others the freedomto do something on their own and sometimes fail. Often you may be abit cautious about letting individuals make their own mistakes oryou want them to do it right the first time. But a really goodleader is a coach and collaborator who gives that freedom to learn.Be on the sidelines cheer them on and when their knee is wrappedwith ice give them advice, share your experiences of when youfailed and how you were able to overcome obstacles. They don't haveto necessarily take the same path you did but if you do not providethem with opportunities to learn from their own mistakes, how canthey blossom into leaders themselves? “

She added that flexibility is essential to effectiveleadership.

“I'm quite direct in my communication style, but people are themost important thing to me, and throughout the years I've tried tomaster as many leadership styles as I can to allow me to flex mystyle as people or situations dictate,” said Da Costa. “I try tofocus on strengths. It's so rewarding to be able to build someoneup. It's easy to crush confidence and ego but more difficult tobuild someone's confidence in a positive way by giving them theopportunity and having the trust and belief that they can besuccessful.”

Given how quickly the marketplace changes, she said today'sleaders must be more nimble and pivot to manage and identify shiftsand opportunities.

“To me innovation is doing something different. Doing the samething better is improvement not innovation. It's about connectingthe dots. Having the ability to see the greater, bigger picture andidentifying and connecting the tiny details to get there and do itdifferently,” said Da Costa. “Those who are successful atinnovation have the ability to see the bigger picture and I thinkthat is critical. I do feel credit unions are sometimes behind.You'd think because credit unions compared to commercial banks aresmaller that they would be more agile, yet often we can be less sobecause there's such a focus on the day-to-day operations and oftenwe are too procedural in nature rather than being able to quicklydiscern gaps, look at past, present and future contexts and quicklygo to market to meet members' needs.”

 Da Costa added that looking ahead, talent managementand diversity are critical to helping credit unions stayrelevant.

“When it comes to attracting great and younger talent, banks dothat really well. My fear is when I look at credit unions, theindustry is getting older, not just members but the staff,” DaCosta said. “If we can recruit, develop and retain younger talenton the board, staff and also at the membership level it benefitsnot only the individual institution but the industry.”

As far as the often touted statistic that there aren't enoughwomen executives at top levels, she agrees but says there's abigger issue.

“Should there be more women at top levels? Yes, there should be,but for me, it's no longer about women executives but having morediversity and multiculturalism at the top,” said Da Costa. “Whileindustry experience, insight, and expertise are critical, anequally important aspect is the wide variety of backgrounds andperspectives that individuals bring to work every day.

“By harnessing that collective varied assortment of backgrounds,an organization can and will benefit from the greater insight intothe needs of its customer base and be better equipped to developinnovative solutions to help deliver exceptional value. It alsohelps ensure that the diversity is not just at the bottom of thepyramid but at the top as well where the decisions are being made.Rather than just talking about having more women executives, weneed to focus on having a greater balance of diversity andmulticulturalism at all levels of the organization.”