Spotlight: Show Your Leadership - with Brent Budz, CEO Austin Credit Union
By Neil Hamm, CUYLM Committee member:
I had the opportunity to sit down with Brent Budz CEO of Austin Credit Union to talk about leadership and his road to becoming a CEO of a Credit Union.
What advice would you give someone going into a leadership position for the first time?
Be patient but have a plan. Effective communication and team building is essential to your success.
What are a few resources you would recommend to someone looking to gain insight into becoming a better leader?
Build a strong network of peers. This may push you out of your comfort zone however get to know leaders within your community/business associations. Join a service club/ Chamber of Commerce. Ask these people questions and listen. Good leaders have already made the mistakes that you undoubtedly will, so learn from them. Could you describe some of the most impressive traits of someone you identified early in your career as a mentor? The ability to listen and having confidence. Leadership is difficult, so being confident in whatever role you take on is important. My Mentors had these traits.
What was some of the best advice that a mentor provided to you and how have you implemented that on your path to leadership?
A mentor instilled the value of communication and team building. People will understand and embrace organizational change and direction if they can understand how it affects them. Be clear and provide as much information as you can on a regular basis – this has and continues to assist me in my current role.
What specific skill sets / leadership traits or training do you feel would be most important for today’s young leaders to develop into tomorrow’s executives?
There is a lot of info on Gen X, Y, Z, baby boomers etc. however a strong leader today needs to be able to communicate effectively with a broad cross section of employees and members. Each has a unique set of characteristics that make conversing, inspiring, and motivating them very interesting. Having the ability to resonate/speak to this diverse employee/customer base is essential.
As you were one of first committee members of CUYLM, how did this impact your leadership development?
Building a network of peers provides you with an ability to ask questions and learn from people and their individual experiences. There is no way one person can do that on their own.
What are you doing to ensure you continue to grow and develop as a leader?
Community involvement – I have a different role as a Councilor – I am a part of a leadership group of a City. The experiences I encounter assist me in my current role as I am now a “Board Member” and our CAO of the City is effectively me at the CU (CEO). This allows me to completely reverse my view of leadership.
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About Brent’s Path:
Brent attended Red River Community College and received a Business Administration (Honors) degree. His career in banking began in 1996 as a MSR with BMO. He held different positions while with BMO including Investments, Personal Lending and Wealth Management, Personal Account Manager and as a Commercial/Ag-Account Manager. Brent made the switch to the Credit Union system in 2004 as a Senior Account Manager at Austin CU. Fast-forward to 2007 when Brent was named Assistant GM/Chief Operations Officer of Austin CU. He worked closely with the CEO on strategic planning, business/ branch expansion, financial reporting, forecasting, regulation, etc. He was then named CEO in 2015 of Austin CU. With the recently announced amalgamation of Austin CU with Portage CU, Brent will remain CEO of the amalgamated CU.
Giving back to the community:
Brent gives a lot of his time and expertise to the community; here are but a few of his contributions: Deputy Mayor, Finance Chair - City of Portage La Prairie; He has been a Board Member of the Portage Regional Economic Development Corporation, the Portage Regional Recreation Authority and the Portage La Prairie Planning District. He was the Head Coach Portage Minor Hockey and Portage Minor Baseball. He has volunteered his time for organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and the Salvation Army. He is the Past Executive/Founding Member of CUYLM, the Past President and Board Member Portage and District Chamber of Commerce, the Past Chair/Founding Member - Western Canadian Pond Hockey Championship, Past - Executive Member – Big Four Hockey League and Past Member – Special Projects Committee – Trinity United Church