If Chris Wolgamott had his way, every young professional wouldmake time to shake the hand of their CEO.

“It's an important relationship to develop. I think the lessnervous you can feel around leadership, the more ideas and opinionsyou will feel comfortable sharing,” said the latest Trailblazer 40 Belowhonoree, who is a financial counselor at the $890 million MeritrustCredit Union in Wichita, Kan.

“So many young professionals don't feel they can have a voiceand the easiest way is to get familiar with your leadership team,”he said. “Let them see you, get to know who you are and vice versato build that confidence to speak up next time you have an idea orsuggestion.”

Although naturally gregarious and curious about others,Wolgamott said he understands the fear that meeting others andnetworking presents.

“My approach is to encourage others with the hope that, even insome small way, I leave people better off than I found them,” hesaid. “Just try to see the good in people and don't be afraid tomeet new people. We all have something to contribute. So it's aboutbringing out the best in others and encouraging each other to findour niche.”

He added the most common barrier to effective networking comesfrom the misperception that employees have nothing tocontribute.

“You feel stupid, like everyone else is so much smarter. Whywould they want to meet me,” he said. “But initiating conversationis a skill that only becomes less frightening when you practice andactually make the effort to do it.”

He admits he still struggles with over sharing and sometimesgetting distracted while having a conversation.

“Try to let the other person lead as much as possible. Insteadof asking what they do ask what are they working on,” Wolgamottsaid. “People are always excited to share their plans or projects.It gives them a chance to shine.”

It's something he feels so strongly about, as a member of theleadership committee of the Kansas Credit Union Association's youngprofessional group CUNext, the team has been toying with the ideaof hosting a networking event along the lines of speed datingsessions. It would give each person a chance to practice andprepare for future encounters with senior management, board membersor even peers at conferences.

“What I've learned in working with others is that you don't haveto be good at everything if you have a good team around you,” hesaid. “There are so many people I've met outside the industry andwithin such as The Cooperative Trust, our league's CUNext programand at Meritrust who are so very intelligent and talented. In termsof collaboration, if you can focus on what you're good at and findothers who can fill those talent gaps, where each member of theteam adds their own strengths and specialties, you'd be surprisedat what can be accomplished.”

He added that he wished the industry as a whole would focus ondelivering the basics as far as infrastructure and service.

“For some people innovation means always being different andfirst to market on everything,” Wolgamott said. “That isn'tnecessarily the case and we have to be careful not to forget todeliver the basics well first. Sometimes the danger in talkinginnovation is that you can try hard to be something that yourcredit union just simply is not. We have to be careful as weinnovate that we don't sacrifice the basics needed to be masteredin the now for what we could be in the future.”

That carries over to developing and retaining top talent aswell.

“It's a challenge we're all facing. A lot of young professionalsdon't see credit unions as a career as much as a job to get them totheir next job or career,” he said. “The good news is this is agreat industry. If we can get them in, get them involved, helpprovide opportunities to develop, grow and give them a voice,they'll stay.”

He speaks from experience. Wolgamott fell into credit unionswhile in college. BECU had just given him a car loan and happenedto be in a job fair on campus. He cut class to fill out and returnthe application for an internship within the hour. He didn't getthe internship in accounting he'd applied for, but he said BECU wasso impressed with his speedy application, he got an internship inmarketing instead.

The experience not only made him a credit union lifer butinspired him to switch his major from accounting to marketing. Whenhe moved back to Kansas, he found his niche at Meritrust whilefulfilling his childhood dreams.

“It's funny, I always wanted to be a teacher because I loveinteracting with people, being social and learning something newevery day,” Wolgamott said. “Now in my current role as a financialcounselor I get to do just that, not only on a one-on-one basiswith members but also while teaching financial literacy classes aswell. That win when someone realizes there is a workable solutionor that aha moment of understanding is what drives and inspiresme.”

He said he considers himself fortunate to be part of such agreat team at Meritrust, which recognized and supported early onthe need for launching a financial counseling program. The programhas not only continued to grow to a point where it is now adepartment of two, but he said it has also helped Meritrust buildits member and lending relationships.

“I think our credit union leadership took a risk on creating afinancial counseling role as a way to provide an alternative topayday lending,” Wolgamott said. “We as an industry have to findthose risks worth investing in and not be afraid to try andpossibly fail. Mistakes happen daily, we can only figure out whatwent wrong and learn from them so we don't make the same ones. Forthose pitching ideas, don't be discouraged and don't take the firstno as final. Keep working and refining it and searching for thosepeople in the organization who will listen.”