The new chairman of the CUES Board of Directors believes education and sharing ideas with peers have never been more important for the credit union movement.
“It used to be easy to make money. It’s not easy to make money now. I believe CUES can help you with that by providing some high-quality education and training,” says Lary McCants, CCD, CCE.
In regard to the opportunities provided by CUES, McCants is speaking from experience. The long-time president/CEO of $843 million IBM Southeast Employees’ Federal Credit Union in Boca Raton, Fla., has taken advantage of many of CUES’ educational offerings.
“Lary has set a fabulous example for us all through his extensive use of all that CUES offers through membership. He is a true ambassador and champion of CUES–and is quick to explain the value of all of our offerings and products,” says Teresa Y. Freeborn, president/CEO of $746 million Xceed Financial Credit Union, El Segundo, Calif., and vice chairman/chairman-elect of the CUES Board.
The relationship between McCants and CUES started nearly 20 years ago with CEO Institute. “My five vice presidents and I went through that three-year program. At that time, everybody went through the program on a year-to-year basis, much like you would do in college. Now, you can take any part of the program at any time you want.”
Besides CEO Institute, McCants is a graduate of CUES’ Directors Leadership Institute. He says that training has had a major influence on his leadership style.
“Those classes helped me move into a different area of leadership, from less directing to being more encouraging to others to act. That program was an adjustment to my leadership style. It’s a first-class program.”
As a result of his completion of all three segments of CEO Institute and the between-segments projects, McCants is a Certified Chief Executive, or CCE. Because of his completion of Directors Leadership Institute, he also has the Certified Credit Union Director designation, or CCD.
Besides educational opportunities, CUES’ events also give an executive the chance to network with peers, McCants says.
“We can learn what other people are doing in the industry,” he explains. “We share information. If someone has a good idea, you can pick it up.”
Thoughtful Leader
Two of the people McCants met at CEO Institute proved important to his becoming a CUES board member. “Wayne Bunker and Gary Irvin were on the board at the time,” he recalls. “They both encouraged me to get further involved with CUES.”
“Having known Lary both personally and professionally for years, I thought he would be a great fit for the CUES Board so I encouraged him to run,” says Bunker, CCE, president/CEO of Provident Credit Union, Redwood City, Calif.
Irvin, CCE, who retired from being president/CEO of $939 million FORUM Credit Union, Indianapolis, at the end of 2010, says McCants’ election as CUES chairman is “very gratifying for me, as I have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for him.”
McCants was first elected to the CUES Board in 2006 and won re-election in 2009. He served as board secretary in 2009, treasurer in 2010 and vice chairman in 2011.
As for McCants’ new leadership role, Freeborn says, “Lary is, by far, one of the most committed board members I have ever worked with. He brings a very calm, thoughtful voice to our board table and always makes sure that every position gets heard. I am going to enjoy working along side of him over the next year.”
Adds Irvin: “Those who know Lary know he is a strong leader, a promoter in the most positive sense of the word, very approachable and a man of character.”
CUES Past Chairman/Director Dale Schumacher says he has found McCants to be a man of few words. “But, when he weighs into a conversation, his wisdom is evident,” adds Schumacher, president/CEO of $225 million Tampa Bay Federal Credit Union, Tampa, Fla. “His colleagues listen.”
Having been both a CEO and a volunteer director, McCants says there are several keys to a strong working relationship between the board and the top executive.
“First, you have to have open communications. That’s where it all starts. You have to make sure that everyone speaks up and understands where you are coming from. You can’t have hidden agendas in a relationship like that. You all have to be in agreement as to what our mission is and the strategies to get us there.”
CUES 2012
McCants forecasts the coming year as one of the most important ever for CUES. A major goal for the board in 2012, he says, will be to find a successor for Fred Johnson, the association’s president/CEO since 1989.
“We need to make sure we are going to have an orderly and effective change of leadership when Fred retires at the end of my term. We’re going to be searching for a new CEO. That’s going to be a big decision.”
McCants believes a great way for CUES to strengthen its brand is by entering into more collaborations “with other high-visibility organizations.” He says joint projects are especially important now because the CU industry is contracting.
In October, CUES announced a collaboration with the Caribbean Confederation of Credit Unions to provide “an enhanced leadership educational opportunity with a global perspective.” Those attending the CCCU and CUES International Convention next June in Jamaica will have the chance to network with CU executives from 25 different countries.
CUES also unveiled a joint effort with the League of Southeastern Credit Unions to expand education and training for credit unions in Alabama and Florida. The first fruit of the arrangement will be Credit Union
Executive Dialogue for executives of any credit union of $500 million in assets and up, Feb. 2-3 in Bonita Springs, Fla., right after CUES Symposium.
CUs 2012
McCants came to the credit union movement after a lengthy career at IBM, where he began working in 1967. He was a corporation manager at the time he left the computer giant in the late 1980s. As for his exit from IBM, “probably the big thing was that things were happening at IBM that I didn’t like. They were downsizing and I thought it was a good time to change careers,” he recalls.
Having long been a volunteer at IBM Southeast EFCU, McCants had come to appreciate the credit union philosophy of service to the members and the fact that CUs were owned by their members. He preferred CUs to banks because “credit unions were more of a family environment than what I would see in the banking industry.”
McCants was hired as VP/operations with the credit union in 1988. He became president/CEO in 1993.
But when McCants reflects on the future of the credit union movement, he notes that “capital is going to be more important than ever.”
The last three years at IBM Southeast EFCU have been “tough,” he says, but the CU is “starting to make money again.”
A primary reason IBM Southeast EFCU survived, he explains, is that the institution had accumulated a good amount of capital and resisted the suggestion to return that money to the members. “We survived where others didn’t because we had that capital,” McCants says.
The federal government also has made it tougher for credit unions to do business, he adds.
“The federal regulations have taken about $1.5 million out of my operations (at IBM Southeast EFCU) every year. The stabilization of the insurance fund and the corporate credit union failures have caused all credit unions to pay up. We didn’t cause it, but we have to fix it. That’s been costing me about $2 million a year.
I believe it’s going to cost less in 2012, but it’s still a big expense.”
“Lary’s home market of south Florida has been hit hard by the effects of the great recession,” notes CUES Past Chairman/Director Mark Hawkins, CEO of $694 million Altura Credit Union, Riverside, Calif. “I think his experiences of the past few years have added to his perspective and should serve him well as CUES’ new Chairman.”
CUs and Beyond
When he’s not involved in issues relating to credit unions, McCants devotes part of his time to the United Way chapters in south Florida and the Atlanta area. He says he’s seen the positive results of the United Way’s work, and his credit union staff has as well.
“We want [the staff] to understand what those charities are doing and the challenges they face. We try and pass that information on to our membership to encourage their participation in United Way.”
He sits on the board of Florida Credit Union Shared Services and is the marketing committee chairman for the group.
McCants and Patricia, his wife of 42 years, have three children and five grandchildren. “Spoiling” the grandkids, golf and travel are among McCants’ hobbies.
CUES’ new chairman of the board is also a dedicated fan of what’s been called “the greatest rock and roll band in the world,” the Rolling Stones.
“I never miss a Stones concert in South Florida,” McCants confesses. “I’ve seen them perhaps the last 15 times they’ve played here. When I first started going to their concerts, they looked like they were about one-inch high on stage. Now that I’ve started to move down front, they’ve gotten much, much bigger,” he laughs.
Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and company are always within reach for McCants, who has the opening bars of the band’s all-time classic, “Satisfaction,” as his cell-phone ringtone. As for rock and roll survivor Richards, whose fuzz-tone guitar riffs define the band’s most famous song, McCants quips, “What I hear is that when the world ends, they’ll only be cockroaches and Keith Richards left alive.”
Dave Windsheimer is a freelance writer based in Upstate New York.
