NORFOLK, Va. - For Lou Gull, having the right attitude, dedication to the credit union, and proper training, are more important traits for new board members than impressive business credentials.
With that philosophy, Gull, board chairman for Chartway FCU and NAFCU’s 2008 Volunteer of the Year for CUs with assets of more than $150 million, helped create a succession planning program to train and cultivate skilled directors. The program enabled Chartway to replace four retiring board members within a 14-month period, and fill those slots with very capable replacements, Gull said.
“I advocate the fact that you grow the person into the position,” said Gull. “You start with the right attitude, desire and interest in the credit union and then move forward with baby steps.”
Those small steps come through Chartway’s Volunteer Advanced Training (VAT) program that helps individuals aspire to be a director, instead of “persuading” them.
“We didn’t use the traditional approach of always taking board members from the supervisory committee, the business community, or creating associate directors,” explained Gull. Candidates for the program often come from the HR or ALM committees or its CUSO, and are selected by the Volunteer Recruitment and Development Committee.
“Instead, we’ve assembled a pool of potential board members and let them compete, making it challenging for them to grow and be positioned to be placed on the ballot for director,” explained Gull. “We found the harder you made it for the individual to become a board member, the more attractive the position becomes to them. It makes people really want to be a part of the credit union. If you make it so easy for a person to be on the board that you are begging them to run, they often don’t have the desire.”
The program has formal training elements, but much of the learning is hands-on. Those in VAT are invited to committee and board meetings and are used as team leaders on projects, “which shows their leadership ability.”
Gull has been a volunteer at the Virginia Beach, Va.-based Chartway for 27 years, helping the credit union grow from several hundred millions of dollars in assets to more than $1.2-billion today. Chartway’s current board chairman got his start on the supervisory committee.
“After graduating with a business degree from Old Dominion, I went to work for the government as an aircraft production superintendent,” Gull explained. “But I wanted to use my business degree, and I saw the credit union as a way to do that.”
Gull took a board seat 12 years ago and thanks his family for their understanding.
“I don’t think anyone can truly be effective as a volunteer without their family’s support,” said Gull, who retired from his government job four year ago. “It’s time away from them and it has to be managed. My wife and two children have been right there with me through this.”
Gull’s “other family,” the credit union, has also stood beside him in his efforts to ensure Chartway has the leadership it needs to continue to grow–something critical to credit union survival, he insisted.
“My concern (with the credit union industry) is that we get tied up with things like taxation, deregulation, and CURIA–the kinds of things that attract a lot of press. But if we don’t cultivate qualified volunteers to watch over our house, where are we going to eventually be? Volunteers are the lifeblood of the credit union and I think we should be paying more attention to developing them.”(c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com
