It's more important than ever for credit unions to start breeding tomorrow's leaders. The reason? Philosophy. With bank conversions, hostile takeovers and other challenges, I know I will feel more comfortable with people who grew up in the credit union industry becoming tomorrow's leaders. If we are stuck recruiting from outside of credit unions, that philosophical learning curve will always be there. There is no guarantee leaders outside of credit unions will jump on board. Of course many do. There are plenty of former bankers-turned-credit union CEOs, like Robert Stuart out in Oregon leading OnPoint Community, who have embraced the credit union philosophy and who bring great skill to the job.

But again, developing talent from within must become a focal point for credit unions. I won't even throw out solutions like a leadership CUSO or a tomorrow's leaders network, etc., because there are lots of good programs out there already from CUES and the trade associations for those things. I believe it starts at home with the credit union. Boards should make career development of the executive team and below a key goal of their CEO. In many cases that might lead to a valuable No. 2 going to another credit union, but that's still good for the industry and what comes around goes around.

Credit unions need to return to the basics when developing tomorrow's leaders. I applaud Texas CU League CEO Dick Ensweiler for emphasizing seven credit union principles that highlight the credit union difference at his recent talk at the CUNA HR/Training & Development meeting. These things seem so basic, but they still get to the heart of what a credit union is. Ensweiler is another good example of a credit union leader who lives and breathes the credit union philosophy. You can find Ensweiler's seven principles on page 42. While they are all terrific, I think he missed one. When explaining what credit unions are to those who don't understand them, I would add this principle: "No outside interests/parties influence the credit union." It is important for people to know that credit unions are controlled by their members–there are no shareholders or other outside investors, etc. that influence the credit union's direction. Isn't that a powerful statement in today's world where everything is about making money? The only people credit unions exist to serve are its own member-owners. Credit unions are designed to reward the people who support them through their business.

Back to the leadership issue. Are credit unions doing enough to promote from within? Are all those stories of yesteryear of tellers working their way up to the corner office going to disappear? Hopefully not, and it's up to credit unions to ensure they aren't. Put a structure in place for employees to advance. Make professional development a priority. Encourage your leadership team to embrace the many networking opportunities this industry offers. I still hear stories about how Stan Hollen churned out so many credit union CEOs back when he was leading The Golden 1 CU. Hollen knew how to develop talent. The industry needs more of that.

On the national level, solid trade association leaders will always be important. Some credit unions rely heavily on the direction they get from CUNA and NAFCU (maybe too much so). If it's not strong, they can suffer. Hopefully the trade associations are also making leadership development a priority.

The worst tragedy is when politics or fear get involved with leadership development. I have always thought good leaders welcome advancement from their employees, that's a reflection on them. Leaders who let fear or politics get in the way of developing talent aren't leaders at all.

If you need any inspiration or proof of what good leadership can do, look at how Tom Glatt's leadership helped Continental FCU stare down one of the most serious challenges to the credit union philosophy ever seen. –Comments? E-mail [email protected]