Jack Houseknecht, CEO, SSA Baltimore Federal Credit Union

Advice for a CEO wanna-be:

Whew! Lots, because there isn’t a CEO school that can teach the skills you need. Here’s a quick list:

1. Volunteer for every assignment you can possibly handle, especially if it’s in a different discipline. I started out as a lender, but at my previous credit union (Andrews Federal Credit Union, Clinton, Md.) I volunteered to run retail, administration, and marketing (for a short while). I ran a systems conversion right before taking the CEO job at SSA Baltimore Federal Credit Union. The only thing I didn’t run was accounting, which my chief financial officer (CFO) would attest to! I did, however, become good friends with the CFO at Andrews Federal and spent many hours in his office asking him to teach me about credit union accounting and investments. All of these experiences helped me understand how a credit union runs.

2. Study management. Read books, go to seminars, and, most important, try to learn the best and worst practices from your current CEO, other CEOs, and other managers you've worked with. I have managed people for more than 25 years, including the last eight as CEO, and I still read several management books each year. I love the people who work for me, and I hope it shows. The first lesson in management is valuing the work everyone does in your organization.

3. Develop mentors and let them know you want to become a CEO. I was blessed to have a number of CEOs and other industry friends I could call for help during my first few years, and even now. I developed these friends through attending conferences, league and professional association meetings, and staying involved. If you’re not developing a network by attending and participating in the credit union movement, you’ll have a harder time when you become a CEO.

One important person who helped me is [Andrews Federal CEO] Michael Hale. When Michael and I had our first private meeting, I told him I would become a CEO. Instead of laughing or feeling threatened, he took me under his wing and almost weekly coached me on things he thought I needed to do or reviewing decisions we had made. It was from him that I learned the importance of board/CEO relations.

4. Believe in yourself and your ideas. I wanted to become a CEO because I believed I had a unique outlook on work. I vowed to implement these ideas when I got the "Big Desk." The best CEOs I know have unique ideas and philosophies, and they believe in themselves. When you start the job, have a plan to implement your ideas and changes, but be adaptable and don’t go too fast.

5. Learn to write policies and become good at strategic planning. A good strategic plan and board policy manual can draw the boundaries and translate into words what your board wants you to do for members. Realize the board has a different frame of reference from you as a professional, and appreciate it and love them for it. That doesn’t mean you won’t disagree and have to compromise from time to time. But if the rules and direction are in writing, life as a CEO will be much easier, and you’ll get more done for the benefit of your members.

6. Ensure your family is behind you. I couldn’t give the time and effort I do without the support of my wife, Dianne, and our kids. When I ran for and won a seat on the league board six years ago, it was my family campaigning at the league meeting. They haven’t stopped.

Your CU’s most creative initiative:

We've opened noncash offices sponsored by community groups called Neighborhood Contact Offices to serve Baltimore’s underserved area in a cost-effective manner. We accomplished this by teaming with community groups and a church that wanted to offer credit union services to people in its area. One of these, called "Our Money Place" by the community group, partners with a check casher. It signed up more than 500 members in its first year.

We have three offices open and two more planned for 2004. These offices are online and open on a part-time basis, but they can do anything a regular branch can do except pass cash across the counter. Two of the offices have automated teller machines. Our work in this area has become well known, and we participate in a national group of banks and credit unions working with the underserved. I also had the honor of speaking at one of National Credit Union Administration Board Member Debbie Matz’s recent PALS [Partnership And Leadership Successes] conferences about this. Our credit union recently was given the Louise Herring Award for Philosophy in Action for this initiative.

Your personal theme song:

The theme from Star Trek (original series). The five-year mission has lasted longer than I thought.

Other interests:

A couple of my kids play sports and I try to attend their games. Dianne and I have six children and four grandchildren. I still find time to play golf about once a week in season. I commute a long way to work and listen to about 40 books on tape a year in addition to reading a dozen more when I have the chance. I also read two newspapers a day.