90 Young Leaders From Manitoba Attend 2019 CUYLM Conference

The 2019 CUYLM Conference (Discovery: Next Generation Leadership) brought together over 90 Young Leaders representing credit unions and system partners from throughout Manitoba for a busy day-and-a-half of learning, self-discovery and networking.

The conference opened with the State of the Manitoba Credit Union System address delivered by Garth Manness of CUCM. Manness touched on the economic picture for Manitoban credit unions, regulatory modernization, the evolving expectations of members, new credit union competitors, and other challenges and opportunities credit unions face going forward. He emphasized that Young Leaders are in a unique position right now to bring new perspectives and mindsets that will be of value to their credit unions as they bridge to the future.

Barry Christiansen introduced Young Leaders to Insights Discovery, a psychometric tool that helped attendees discover their preferred communication styles, strengths and value they bring to a team. Each Young Leader received a personal profile filled with detailed comments about their leadership style and tips for development. After reviewing their profiles, attendees engaged in a series of interactive activities designed to put their new knowledge and awareness into practice.

The conversations continued at Torque Brewery, where Young Leaders had the opportunity to make new friends and connections, take a tour of the brewery, and have some fun.

The Human Library session was an opportunity for Young Leaders to meet with experienced mentors from the credit union system and ask questions. In small groups, attendees took turns conversing with twelve mentors (Executives from the credit union system). The room was filled with lively conversation as learnings and ideas were exchanged.

To wrap up the conference, attendees worked in small groups to tackle some of the challenges facing the credit union system and brainstorm possible approaches to them. Some of the challenges attendees looked at were the changing workforce and necessity of new skillsets, developments in the regulatory environment, new competitors moving into the banking space, and ways credit unions could collaborate even though many are moving in different directions. Afterward, Young Leaders made short presentations about the ideas their groups had generated.

There were many valuable takeaways from the conference. Attendees left with plenty of new ideas and perspectives to consider, a bigger picture of the credit union system and its future, and a deeper understanding of leadership and strengthening relations, and connections to other driven and inspired Young Leaders throughout the system.