The CUES Next Top Credit Union Executive competition changes lives

That has been evident as we have watched both Tina Hall and Ronaldo Hardy, both from the 2010 competition, launch themselves into extraordinary careers. They both truly love what they do and they both have said it would have not been possible without the CUES Next Top Credit Union Executive competition.

To say I have gained a lot from being in the CUES Next Top Credit Union competition is an understatement. It has truly opened my world to new opportunities and fantastic new people. 

• Because of NTCUE, I joined Twitter. By joining Twitter, I have been able to connect with many credit union leaders throughout the movement. Because of those connections, I was able to meet a lot of them through various conferences/courses, including my first “Tweet-Up” with the Crash Network at The One Conference in Las Vegas. This also included attending the inaugural ThunderPunch. Awesomeness ensued.
• Because of the NTCUE, I started blogging. After a joint failed attempt in the 2010 NTCUE competition, Bill Clancy came up with the idea of starting a “next gen blog” and approached me and some of the other unsuccessful applicants about participating. While Bill and I were the only ones that carried on with his vision, I am proud to be his partner in the “2CUGuys Blog”. Continually blogging during the completion has also allowed me to be approached with additional opportunities including blogging for the Crash Network and CUinsight.
• Because of the NTCUE, I learned how to create videos. This led me to creating the “Forever Young, Forever WYCUP” video as a way to encourage other credit union young leaders to participate in WOCCU’s WYCUP Program. 
• Because of the NTCUE, (and Twitter and blogging) I was an invited speaker to the Emerging Leaders in Australia at the Abacus AM Institute Conference and at the Credit Union Central of Canada’s Conference for Leaders in partnership with the Canadian National Young Leaders Committee. Both were fantastic experiences and I truly love getting on centre stage to talk credit union.
• Because of the NTCUE, I will partake in the CUES CEO Institute program.  My experience at Wharton was unreal, and I look forward to Cornell in 2013. The CEO Institute will help build the tools and skills needed to reach my goal of being a leader in the credit union system.
• Because of the NTCUE, I have joined the leadership development team in Servus Credit Union. The NTCUE has brought out a passion of building leaders and I am super excited to be a part of that within Servus.

Needless to say, the CUES Next Top Credit Union Executive has contributed in making me what I am today.

I would be remised to say that I would not be who I am today if I had not received the encouragement of a senior leader in our organization. When the competition was first announced, I sought out his advice to get his opinion. He encouraged me to jump in with both feet and take a chance in this fantastic opportunity. Without that slight push, I would have never built the momentum to lead me to write this article for you today.

We, as leaders in the credit union movement, have a responsibility. We have a responsibility to bring out the best in our people when they can’t see that in themselves.

Give your young leaders the momentum they need to start their journey in the CUES Next Top Credit Union Competition.

Show them you believe in them.

Nominate a young leader today. 

Devin

Wharton Wrap Up: Credit Union United Nations

This is a picture of my view from my first two days at Wharton.

To me, it looks a lot like a meeting of the United Nations.

This is what the CUES CEO Institute program means to me.

The United Nations aims at making the world a better place by facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace.

The CUES CEO Institute program is making the world a better place by facilitating cooperation in the credit union movement and building better leaders. Whether you were from Canada or the United States, there was fantastic discussion and collaboration amongst participants in areas of leadership, business ethics, strategic planning, etc. and this was only the in-class sessions. Many of an evening were spent having great food and learning about the credit union worlds we live in. To me this learning opportunity is just as valuable as being in the classroom as I am learning from credit union leaders through their own real life experiences. That. Is. Awesome.

I knew going into this program that I would meet a lot of great people and learn a lot. Mission accomplished. One thing that I didn’t really think about was the opportunity that I had to teach others as well. While I was one of the youngest people in our class, if not the youngest, and didn’t have a CEO, COO, VP type of title, that certainly didn’t exclude me from fitting into the group. I was given the same air time as anyone else in the room and never felt like I was out of place. Titles were left outside the door. That. Is Also. Awesome.

Over the next few months, I look forward to using my learning to help make Servus a better credit union and to support our vision of Building a Better World…. One Member at a Time. This will include ensuring the Servus Young Leaders Network provides value to our members by supporting them on their leadership path.

Most of all, I look forward to staying in touch with my classmates as we countdown the days until attending the CUES CEO Institute II at Cornell University in 2013.

Thank you to everyone including my family, friends, and Servus through this unbelievable journey as the CUES Next Top Credit Union Executive. CUES is building better leaders, and having this program supports the continued success of the credit union movement. I can’t thank them and Currency Marketing enough for this opportunity.

While this is the end of my voyage with you as CUES Next Top Credit Union Executive, my destination as a credit union leader has only just begun.

Sincerely,

Devin

Devin Selte and Tim McAlpine on CUbroadcast talking NTCUE

2011 CUES Next Top Credit Union Exec Devin Selte and Currency Marketing's Tim McAlpine were guests on Mike Lawson's CUbroadcast credit union talk show. Tim talks about some of the changes to this year's competition and Devin chimes in on his experiences during the 2011 competition along with how his year has been wearing the CUES Next Top Credit Union Exec crown.

The CUES Team

2012 CUES Next Top Credit Union Exec is on! Who will you nominate?

Nominate a Stand-Out Future Leader for the 2012 CUES Next Top Credit Union Exec Contest in Partnership with DDJ Myers

The industry’s first competition recognizing the incredible young leaders of the credit union movement is back with some exciting changes, and improved in partnership with DDJ Myers! The search is on for the 2012 CUES Next Top Credit Union Exec. The Credit Union Executives Society’s (CUES^®) program for the industry’s emerging leaders is administered by Currency.

You can download the official press release and read about all of the details. Plus, we've put together an infographic to illustrate the new process.

What are you waiting for? Start nominating!

The CUES Team

Headin' to Wharton

2011 Next Top Credit Union Exec winner Devin Selte gives his thoughts on heading to Wharton.

Devin

Young Leader Sacrifices

Recently my Alma Mater (Lakeland College) featured me in their Alumni magazine about my CUES Next Top Credit Union Executive win with the Servus Young Leaders Network.

A co-worker of mine saw the article and sent me an email asking how I do it all (3 kids under the age of 6, working full time, and working on my degree part-time).

My response… not very well.

I have been going a million miles a minute since my life changing experience at WOCCU/WYCUP in Barcelona, Spain, in August 2009. During that time, the Servus Young Leaders Network went from vision to implementation to a credit union recognized young leader development program. It has allowed me to meet great people, visit great places, and develop relationships that I will cherish forever.

The truth is you can’t do it all without sacrificing something. For me, the sacrifice has been my work/life balance.

I have all the things that I have ever wanted in life. I have a to-die-for wife, absolutely fantastic kids, and an awesome place to work in Servus Credit Union. Through the past few years, I have also discovered that I want to make a difference in the credit union system. Some may say I have done that already. While this may sound egotistical, I don’t want the Servus Young Leaders Network to be what I am most remembered for. I am 33 years old, and believe I have so much more to give to the credit union system who has already given so much to me.

To do that, something has to give, and my wife and kids have been the ones to pay the price. Whether it’s studying for an upcoming exam, planning upcoming events for the SYLN, or travelling to tell the SYLN story, they have been the sacrifice.

Luckily for me, I have a very understanding wife and kids. When I am home with them, I try to give them all my attention, but it is something I still need to work on. While I try to turn off the blackberry from the time I get home at night until the time the kids go to bed, I’ll from time to time take a quick peak to see if I have received any email, BBM message, etc. My name is Devin Selte and I have a Crackberry problem.

I am also lucky that Servus has recognized this. Part of my new position in leadership development also includes having the Servus Young Leaders Network under my job description. This has allowed me to not have to work on the Network off the side of my desk (or on my couch at home).

For those of you getting ready to take the next step in your young leader journey, may I give you some advice? Be sure to have an honest conversation about the time commitment required to take that next step with the ones that will be affected the most.

Devin

Servus Young Leaders Network… Every Day We Shufflin’

I do not like to sit still.

That is no different on how I lead the Servus Young Leaders Network.

While I do appreciate how far we have come in such a short period of time and all that we have accomplished, I always have my eyes to the future. The past few months we have continued providing opportunities and value to the young leaders of Servus Credit Union.

For our Online Site we have added:

• SYLN Executive Alumni Page – Each year when Executive Committee members complete their term on the SYLN Executive Committee, they will be forever recognized on our SYLN Executive Alumni page for their contribution to our group and are available as a source for mentoring new committee members. 
• SYLN Award Winners Page – This page allows us to recognize those that have won various credit union young leader awards during the year, as well as attaching links to those various programs they participated in. Links currently include information on the SYLN National Scholarship Program, WYCUP, CUES Next Top Credit Union Executive Competition, and The Cooperative Trust’s Collider. This allows our young leaders to be aware of what else is out there in the Credit Union World. (P.S. Did you notice that each external award program was won a member of the Servus Young Leaders Network??? Just sayin’.)
• SYLN Regional Group Pages – As you know, Servus Credit Union is a province wide credit union with 100+ locations located throughout Alberta. Regional (Lloydminster, Edmonton, and Red Deer) young leader groups have been forming within Servus to allow for young leader involvement within their communities. The executive committee completed Regional Group Guidelines to assist the groups as they are being formed. We have also allocated some of our budget to the Regional Groups for special events such as lunch and learns, or supporting community events. Each region is provided with a mentor from the executive committee that will support them in their journey. The mentors will also share with the executive committee what great events are being completed in the region. I love the Regional Groups as they will bring greater awareness for the SYLN, but I also see new leaders developing who will soon move into executive positions within the Network.
• Corporate Library Page – Servus Credit Union has a humungous library stacked full of great books. All employees have the ability to borrow books on leadership, management, team building, member service, etc. to assist in their development however; we didn’t feel many of our staff actually knew about it. So we added a page. It includes a spreadsheet showing all the books in stock, as well as instructions on how to sign out, and whom to contact. 
• Drive for 500 Campaign – As a way to bring additional awareness of the Servus Young Leaders Network to Servus, we have implemented the Drive for 500 campaign. Our goal is to reach 500 members (and members of the online network can be of any age) by June 30th. As an added incentive, those that invite new members to the network (with memberships open) will be eligible for prizes when we hit 400, 425, 450, 475, and 500 new members.
• Leadership Group – I opened up a leadership group within the network and have been providing a new leadership blog every two or three days. For the most part, I use blogs from Harvard Business Review and Eric Jacobson. Lots of great reads!

I met with our senior manager, strategic staffing, to begin the process of tracking those young leaders who have participated in our major programs including executive committee members, the annual national scholarship winner, and the 35 under 35 Leadership Retreat participants. For now, it is likely too early to gage the true retention the network is providing to Servus, however, we will monitor participants to track their career progression on an annual basis. We will also compare these results to what the Servus average is for non-SYLN participants, as well as the industry average. For the 2011 year, only 1 out of 45 participants from programs stated above have left Servus.

By chance, I happened to be assisting our learning and development department within Human Resources with their on-boarding PowerPoint presentation. I took this opportunity to see if we could add 4 or 5 slides into the presentation to give new employees a brief explanation of what the Servus Young Leaders Network is, what we do, and a contact for additional information. They agreed, so now each new employee, across all regions, will be introduced to the Servus Young Leaders Network within days of beginning their Credit Union career.

And finally, due to an upcoming banking conversion coming for the Lloydminster region in October, we will be moving our 2nd Annual 35 Under 35 Leadership Retreat from September to June 4th and 5th. Our first point of business is providing our young leaders with an opportunity to recommend what they would like to see presented at the retreat. We have provided them with a survey to select their top 3 answers. With that, I would ask that you also complete the Servus Young Leaders Network 35 Under 35 Leadership Retreat Topic Survey (NTCUE Edition). What is something that would interest you?

So yeah…..we’ve been busy.
 
I would like to end with a common question that I have been getting a lot lately.

“What are you going to do when you are not a “young” leader anymore?”

Simple…..join LMFAO.

Everyday I’m shufflin’………

Devin Selte

My Servus Young Leaders Network Bucket List

Friday is my 33rd birthday. 

While I love celebrating my birthday with my wife and kids, the day that I blow out my 36 candles will mark the end of my participation in the Servus Young Leaders Network. While I will always be available to our future successors in the form of mentorship, my direct involvement in the leadership and guidance will cease.

I could easily take this blog in the direction of sadness and that of letting go for the greater good of the Network, but this is no such column. It’s about having a vision and getting it done before my time is up. To help stay on track, I bought myself a new daily planner for myself with the encryption “Things I want to do before I die.” While this sounds very morbid, it’s not about the end, it’s about the things I want to do before I hit……..36.

So here it is, my Servus Young Leaders Network bucket list: 

• Much like The Cooperative Trust’s (Crash Network) Collider Project, I would love to see us open up the creative genius of our young leaders to bring new innovations to Servus, our members, our communitites, and the credit union system. Bill Clancy of Lake Michigan Credit Union (and my partner in 2CUGuys blog) has spear headed this within his own credit union and I hope to colloborate with him to bring it to the SYLN.
• During the cooperative principle and credit union discussion/debate at our 35 Under 35 Leadership Retreat, it was obvious that we have an opportunity to increase the knowledge of our young leaders in these two areas. I would like to see the Servus Young Leaders Network collaborate with our human resources department to introduce increased onboarding covering these topics. A lot of research has gone into what Gen Y employees are looking for, and if we can increase their knowledge of the social benefit of being a credit union, it will increase the attraction and retention of employees for years to come. 
• Create a foundation for kids. Helping kids has always been near and dear to my heart, and as you know, I have three of my own. I have loved my experiences in coaching minor hockey, teaching Junior Achievement, and helping kids learn how to read at local schools. I have been inspired by the young leaders involved with the Credit Unions for Kids and their contributions to local hospitals.  I know this goal will be tough to reach, but the impact we could create could change lives forever. And that is what makes all the difference.

On my 36th birthday, I hope that I can blow out those candles and celebrate the completion of my Servus Young Leaders Network bucket list.

Devin

Servus Young Leaders Network Blowing Up 2012

The number one priority for the Servus Young Leaders Network Executive Committee is to continually improve our existing programming and to bring new innovations to the network. The beginning of the 2012 year has definitely provided just that. 

The addition of our 3 new executive committee members has brought a new set of experiences, knowledge, and skill sets to our network. Specifically the addition of Kirk Nielsen has provided additional support to Robert Christiansen’s online presence committee. Based on feedback we received from SYLN members, they have constructed a crisper and cleaner look to the online site. Members felt there was too much information on the main page, so Robert and Kirk have made sure the focus stays on any current programming. For this month, we would like to receive feedback on our new look.  

We have also just completed the SYLN National Scholarship program, and I am very excited to congratulate Kirk Nielsen, yep, the same Kirk as mentioned above, as our winner. Kirk will now represent Servus Credit Union in the Credit Union Central of Canada’s National Young Leader Award where 5 finalists across the Canadian Credit Union System will be selected to compete for a $10,000.00 scholarship. 

This year we had exceptional applicants, however, we only had 4.  Servus Credit Union has roughly 800 employees 35 and under. While we aren’t looking for quantity over quanlity, we do want to ensure ALL of our outstanding young leaders are applying. I can ensure you that we have more than just 4. Some of our struggles comes to timing.  Our program announcement coincides with our corporate year end.  Between performance of the past year and preperations for the upcoming, the scholarship is not always a priority for our young leaders.  This is something we hope to change by making our young leaders more aware of the scholarship. While we can’t release until after the Credit Union Central of Canada’s National Young Leader award announcement, most of the main requirements has stayed the same over the past decade allowing for reminders through email, postings on the SYLN Online site, as well as at the 35 Under 35 Leadership Retreat. At our next face to face meeting, the Executive Committee plans to meet with our executive sponsor to discuss areas where we can increase the awareness of this important program. 

The Servus Young Leaders Network has also opened up an account on Twitter. Be sure to watch for us at ServusCU_YLN.

Finally, this past week, we were humbled to be asked to kick off the CUES NextGen Webinar Series. The presentation included the SYLN history, details on our programming, as well as our future plans. 

It was my first time presenting through a webinar and it was pretty tough. As someone that builds energy from the reactions of the crowd, I wasn’t really sure if I was connecting with the audience. I definately enjoyed the experience and thank CUES for the opportunity.      

Through the 2012 year, we will celebrate the international year of cooperatives. I have a feeling that it is also going to be the year of young leader developing throughout the credit union movement. 

Devin

We Are Young. So Let’s Set the World on Fire.

I watched Glee the other night…….

Ok, so that might mean that I will lose my man card for an extended period of time, but hey, when you don’t have control of the remote in your household from time to time, you accept that special someone’s choice in entertainment. 

As with most episodes of Glee, they ended the show with a rousing message through their music, but this time, the song selection, and specifically, these lyrics, struck a chord with me:

Tonight
We are young
So let's set the world on fire
We can burn brighter
Than the sun

While we have been able to celebrate the success of the Servus Young Leaders Network (SYLN) for the 2011 year, I’m all about looking forward. The 2012 year will allow us to continue to expand our wings and gain continued traction within Servus Credit Union. At present we have just over 30% penetration of young leaders within Servus as members of the SYLN Online Site. We are seeing more regional young leader groups being created and the SYLN will be providing them with assistance in objectives as well as providing potential funding for special projects. I believe this will not only increase the participation level in the SYLN Online Site, but I think it will also increase the engagement level of our staff within Servus.

I am totally pumped about our three new executive committee members, Kirk Nielsen, Karina Farr, and Trish Rasmussen. All have jumped right in to joining some of our executive sub-committees to help improve on the programming that was provided in 2011. Kirk has already been hard at work using his tech savvy skill set to provide a new look to the Online Site which should be released in the upcoming year.

The SYLN Spotlight on the Online Site will be shifted to a more formal process where young leaders will be able to nominate their peers for recognition.

As an executive committee, we are continually looking for ways to increase the development of our young leaders. A common message that will be encouraged throughout the year is that if you have unique ideas, suggestions, leadership articles to share, or just have a thought you think can improve you and your peers experience in Servus Credit Union as a young leader, send your ideas to any one of the executive committee members! We want to make the Servus Young Leaders Network is bigger and better year after year after year.

So there it is kids, we are young, so let’s set the world on fire!

To you and yours, a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

Devin