Shanda McKinney's advice for anyone looking to get ahead: Listenand be patient.

The latest Women toWatch honoree's career path began in the unlikely role ofadministrative assistant at a print and promotional marketingmaterials company.

“I had my master's degree in human resource administration andaccepted a position as an administrative assistant,” said the vicepresident of human resources at the $2.8 billion Wright-Patt CreditUnion in Fairborn, Ohio.

She said also made it clear to the hiring manager that sheultimately wanted to be in HR. After six months she went from tempto full-time employee at the Dayton-area firm, then got promoted toHR.

“If I hadn't been patient or if I thought that the role offeredwas beneath me, I probably would not have had that door to HRopened to me,” said McKinney. “It turns out that manager wascommitted to helping me reach that goal. I was promoted five to sixtimes at that organization just by doing the best I could in everyrole while being patient.”

While she moved up in the organization, a corporate environment,where development of talent was not valued, she said, was not onewhere she could be true to herself.

“I’ve always been driven by a desire to serve and help others,yet at the time I was being promoted, in one quarter, 30% of theworkforce was being laid off,” McKinney said. “I got into HRbecause I truly care about people and helping them identify andlive their potential.

Then she made the move to credit unions in 2008. “I was onmaternity leave when the opportunity came up at Wright-Patt andI’ve never looked back. I get to be part of an organization with agroup of people who really care about their members and eachother.”

One of the corporate values at Wright-Patt that particularlyappealed to McKinney was that the credit union doesn't lay offemployees. A transition group works with employees to find them abetter fit and with training and development redeploy their skillsin another role. She added that nothing is better than watchingpeople thrive in what they do best.

“So many people are misplaced and land in a career that maybetheir parents or someone said they should pursue,” McKinney said.“I like helping our employees figure out and follow their passionby being in the right role. “

She said it can also be a challenge to be candid and tell peoplethe truth even if it's not what they may want to hear.

“My job is to remove the barriers,” McKinney said, explainingconstant communication is key. She said she holds daily 15-minuteupdate huddles with her team.

“To me innovation is focusing on creating simple, practicalsolutions to everyday challenges big or small. It's about makingpeople's lives easier. People tell you every day what they need orwant, you just have to stop and listen,” she said.

Listening isparticularly important for HR departments to be heard. McKinneysaid human resources should be a part of strategic planningsessions to help ensure goals are aligned to business objectivesthat ultimately result in the greater good of the organization.

“I’ve learned the hard way that any solution or roll out has tobe about what we are doing for the employee and organization as awhole not to them,” McKinney said. “That inclusiveness in seeinghow it's tied to the bigger picture makes all the difference. Wedon't have to ‘police’, when everyone understands the why behind aninitiative, policy, procedure or training.”

For McKinney, complacency is not an option. To foster anenvironment where people feel valued means taking risks.

“It's a constant work in progress,” she said. “It doesn't happenovernight and requires being consistent in what you say and do. Soif you tell employees you want their opinions and ideas, then therehas to be an environment of open communication, and you have tolive it and show them the change .”

For example, when an employee survey revealed staffers feltWright-Patt wasn't doing a good job of promoting from within, acommitment was made to a 70% internal succession plan. It's adetailed plan to identify and develop leaders and successors acrossthe organization. McKinney said it's a way to help employees seegrowth opportunities as together they work on individual careerprogression plans.

“I always tell my team my role is to help mentor you to take myplace,” she said. “Don't just look to a specific title when lookingfor a mentor because you might miss a great one. I believe mycharacter has been shaped by a lot of good people who really takethe time to invest in my development.”

McKinney added, “Really the most important quality is to findsomeone who will tell you the truth that no one else will say butyou still need to hear. Don't look for someone who just agrees withyou and validates you.”

At a recent quarterly manager meeting when McKinney asked thosewho had been promoted from within to stand up, and 15 to 20 peoplestood.

“What a great visual that we weren't just playing lip service todelivering on our leadership goal,” she said. “We heard them andacknowledged they were right. We could have been doing a better jobso we worked on it. Our employees know that our credit union is onewhere all opinions matter and are valued. It's a safe place toexpress yourself.”

In addition to a renewed drive to developing talent from within,the credit union is focused on the empowerment of employees.McKinney said great workplaces share three common elements: Trustin leadership, pride in the work, and coworkers who genuinely enjoytheir time together.

“To have pride in what you do, you have to feel empowered tomake decisions,” McKinney said. “Our employees have such respectand trust in our CEO that they do their best to live up to thevalues of the organization. We want them to understand they aretruly empowered to make their own decisions.

“At Zappos, employees have a discretionary fund to help anddelight customers. So if someone mentions a family member died,that employee can just use the funds to send flowers withoutasking,” she said. “We want our employees to feel free to dowhatever they need to do to wow our members or their peers on theirown. So we are working on that.”