NEW BERLIN, Wis.-Jay Magulski knows he's following in some big footsteps.
The CEO at Landmark CU began his tenure as CEO in January, taking the reins from Ron Kase, who led the 209,000-member, $2.1-billion credit union for nearly four decades.
"When you have that kind of transition it is a significant and very important one for our organization, but we're in such great shape because of everything Ron accomplished and the way he led the organization and the thoughtfulness he and our board did in planning for this eventual transition," said Magulski.
That process began more 10 ten years ago, and Landmark has always put a heavy focus on succession planning at both the management and board level, he said, noting that he and Kase worked together for 18 months before Magulski took over as CEO.
Magulski said he's not big on management philosophies, but he indicated that much of his leadership strategy is based around advice he received from Kase.
"You accomplish things through teams," said Magulski. "If you think as CEO that you're the person who's going to drive all the results of the organization, you're not going to have a very successful organization. You have to hire great people and build a great team, and let that team do what they do well."
Forward Thinking
Beyond the collaborative factor, said Magulski, one of the most important elements of leadership boils down to decision making. "You have to make decisions; it won't always be popular, but make decisions and move on to the next decision."
"In the CEO role you have to make sure you're continuing to be a forward-thinker," he said. "You'll be involved in the day-to-day things going on in the business, but you need to make sure you're taking enough time to make sure you're thinking about where the organization needs to be positioned for [six or seven] years down the road," he said. "You can't be focused on a daily basis on what's happening on that day or you'll lose sight of the bigger picture."
Magulski acknowledged that he's not taking the helm at a time when Landmark is faced with any major challenges regarding safety and soundness or profitability. Rather, he said, the real challenge will be to build upon what Kase leaves behind, while seeking out new opportunities to continue to grow the credit union.
