Profile: Michelle Hillyard, Steinbach Credit Union

Michelle Hillyard

Manager, Business Sales & Service, Steinbach Credit Union

Career:

Start in the credit union system: 2007

In high school, Michelle’s career aspiration was to become a lawyer. After graduating, she worked as an Accountant and Office Manager with a pharmaceutical group in New Brunswick before entering the credit union system. She joined Steinbach Credit Union as a Credit Analyst in the (at that time) newly formed Credit Adjudication department.

Over the next 10 years, Michelle moved into the role of Credit Adjudicator and then to Senior Credit Adjudicator. She then served as the Manger of the Loss Prevention Department for several years before taking her current role as Manager of Business Sales and Service.

A typical day:

Part of Michelle’s day is spent in meetings with other department heads, reviewing policies and working on projects. She also meets with Account Managers daily to help review applications, helps to structure more complex deals and meets with members. Part of the day is also spent training and mentoring new and existing team members.

Continuous learning & improvement:

Michelle says each day provides an opportunity to learn something new. In recent years, she has been sitting on a variety of boards and steering committees. This has enabled her to learn new things about our community and region, and to consult with other leaders across the country. Michelle says it is always interesting to see how other credit unions tackle similar situations.

Keys to success:

Michelle says building trust in relationships is key to her success. This includes building trust within her team and other departments within the organization. She says it is important to really listen when people talk to you; people appreciate your attention, and you will usually end up learning something important. Michelle says as a leader, you do not always have to have all the answers, but it is important that people trust you to find answers and that you follow up with them.

Recommended reading for young leaders:

  • Becoming - Michelle Obama

  • The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey

Guiding principles:

Some of Michelle’s guiding principles are:

  • Treating others the way you want to be treated – if more people lived this way, what a different world we would live in.

  • Giving back to community.

  • Putting family first.

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