For Gen Xer Linda Bodie, and perhaps for many of her generationwho are the emerging leaders of the credit union movement,tradition is not as important when it comes to running a creditunion.

“Just because it's always been done that way doesn't mean it'sthe right way,” Bodie said, whose unusual job title is chief +innovator at the $30 million Element Federal Credit Union inCharleston, W. Va. “It's easier to challenge the status quo andcreate things that work better for today's culture than a culturethat existed 30 years ago. It just makes sense.”

Credit union executive recruiters and researchers say Bodie'swillingness to challenge the status quo – to be innovative,creative, collaborative, forward thinking and adapt to a changingfinancial services marketplace – are common traits among GenerationX executives that may prove critical to credit unions' future.

Bodie, 47, may have become one of the first in her generation tobe appointed CEO of a cooperative 17 years ago, when it had $2.3million in assets and three employees cramped in a tiny office.

Since then, the credit union has grown to $30 million in assetswith three offices and 16 employees. In 2012, the cooperativechanged its name to Element Federal Credit Union and unveiled a newlook and brand identity.

Bodie's knowledge of technology enabled the credit union tobegin offering members an iPhone app for remote deposit back in2009. She also transformed branch iPads into kiosks that allowedmembers to complete about 25 different banking transactions.

“I don't have a traditional office anymore,” Bodie said. “Iplant myself in a spot, could be anywhere, and do my work.Sometimes it's in a private conference area, sometimes it's at homeand sometimes it could be in a lobby area. And one time I workedfrom a tree house. I have also adjusted my hours to accommodate mywork/life balance. We do this for employees, too, wheneverpossible.”

Next: How the way Gen Xers were raised explainstheir non-traditional approach to leadership.

These non-traditional ways ofrunning a business most likely originated during Gen Xers'formative years, Keith Hughey, senior consultant for businessstrategies and performance enhancement at JMFA in Baytown, Texas,said. His group delivers services in leadership development,management succession, corporate governance and strategicplanning.

Hughey explained that in the late 1970s and 1980s, when thesocial contract between employer and employee became null and void,Generation X became skeptical about corporate America and itscommand and control culture that grew out of the industrialage.

Instead of continuing that culture, Hughey anticipates Gen Xexecutives will usher in a new, collaborative and collegialcorporate culture.

“Command and control is important during a crisis,” Hugheyremarked. “But when it comes to making important decisions andfinding solutions, the more you can engage people at every leveland create a safe environment for employees to challenge the statusquo to find better ways to do things, you get a holistic, robustsolution instead of a solution that comes out of the C-suite thatmay or may not work. That change is going to be very significant,and I think it is one of the changes that Gen X executives willhelp bring about.”

What's more, the dissolution of the social contract also meantGen Xers had no expectations of staying with one company for theirentire career, and that may have developed a stronger and deeperpool of new leaders for the credit union industry.

“Ithink when you look at the emerging leaders of Generation X, theybring a lot of diversity to the table in terms of experience,” MikeJuratovac, CEO of O'Rourke & Associates, said. His SanFrancisco-based firm works almost exclusively with credit unions inexecutive search and recruitment, succession planning, executivecoaching and leadership development.

He noted that many Gen Xers have worked at three or four creditunion shops with varying degrees of complexities andsophistication, which gave them the opportunity to see differentbusiness models, work under different leadership styles, andoperate within a variety of corporate cultures and geographiclocations.

“I think that the diversity of experiences they are bringing tothe table is really, really valuable and, quite frankly, offers aperspective that you need to be nimble, flexible and adaptable towhat is happening out there in the financial services markets,”O'Rourke said.

Next: Why the Gen X perspective strikes rightbalance.

Indeed, collaboration, adaptability and relationship buildingwere among the 11 positive characteristics and management skillsthat Gen X managers were known for in the workplace, according toresearch from Ernst & Young. The consulting group conducted itsexternal, cross company generations survey of more than 1,200 ofmanagers and non-managers from Gen X, Gen Y and baby boomers.

“Members of Gen X were cited as the best among the generationsin seven out of 11 attributes, including being a revenue generator(58%) as well as possessing traits of adaptability (49%),problem-solving (57%) and collaboration (53%),” according to one ofthe study's conclusions. “However, members of Gen X lag behindboomers in being perceived as best at displaying executive presence(28% vs. 66%) and being cost effective (34% vs. 59%).”

Nonetheless, and perhaps most importantly, most surveyrespondents agreed that Gen X managers best displayed the followingskills: Change management (58%), flexibility (53%), inclusive(50%), motivator (60%), talent development (60%), strategic vision(52%), leadership (49%), decision-making (52%) and communications(52%).

Although Gen Yers are widely considered the first digitalnatives, Gen Xers have extensive experience and a strongunderstanding of the consumer technology lifestyle. Gen Xers werethe first generation exposed to classroom computer technologies,and they were influenced by rapid technological advancementsthroughout grade school, high school and college.

Because of thatbackground in their formative years, George Hofheimer, chiefknowledge officer at Filene Research Institute in Madison, Wis.,said Gen X executives stand firmly in the middle of being verypractical about the use and application of technology in theircredit unions.

And that is a good thing.

“From a Gen Y perspective, they are asking, 'Why can't weautomate everything? Why do we need branches? Why do we need personto person contact when we have these wonderful phones that can doeverything?'” Hofheimer explained. “I would say, generallyspeaking, that the Gen X leaders would probably view that as alittle extreme because they understand there are people in othergenerations who haven't grown up with that technology.”

He added, “The Gen X perspective is a really good asset becausecredit unions need to be very practical about the decisions thatthey make,” he added. “Gen X executives can act as an even keel forthose important technology decisions by not being too exuberant,but not being too conservative as well.”