Meet carol schumacher of ibew plus credit union
Tell us about yourself and your organization.
I am the CEO/President of IBEW Plus Credit Union in Las Vegas, Nevada, and I have been with the organization for more than eight years. As a credit union, we serve all Nevada’s union members and their families. Our credit union was founded in 1952, when it operated, literally, out of the trunk of a car. Over the past fifty years we have increased our services to serving over 30,000 members, with heart and passion.
During the last twenty-five years, I have been working in the banking industry. I graduated from Cortland State College in Cortland, New York with a Bachelors of Science degree in Mathematics in 1981. After graduation, I started working as a teller at C&S Bank in Athens, Georgia, while my husband attended college to work on his PH.D. Through the years I progressed in banking from being a teller to becoming the CEO of IBEW Plus Credit Union in 2003. I have been married for twenty-six years to my best friend, and we have two beautiful daughters.
How did you and your organization get introduced to Rapport Leadership International?
I was introduced to Rapport Leadership International in 2000 by Mr. Joseph Stafford. Joe and I were talking together at our daughters’ soccer practice, and I told him that I was looking for a class that would help me with my management skills. He talked to me for the next hour about this amazing class that he had taken and said he would have someone call me about the training. After I graduated from Leadership Breakthrough One in 2001, I brought the pride and passion for Rapport back to my company and began sending employees through the training.
How many Rapport graduates does your organization have?
Over the past six years we have sent fifty-one employees through Rapport Leadership International. We are proud to say that we have thirteen Master Graduates and twenty-one Eagle Quest Warriors at IBEW Plus Credit Union to date. We also have had the wonderful experience of having six customized trainings for the entire staff. Our goal for 2008 is to have all our remaining employees of IBEW Plus Credit Union, become graduates of Leadership Breakthrough One.
Tell us about your Rapport experience?
When I look back to 2001 and remember my first experience with Rapport, one word always comes to me…..GIFT. To this day, I cherish the gift I received from my experiences in Rapport. My personal and professional growth has far exceeded any dream I could have imagined. Each time I have had the opportunity and the honor of taking another class, my awareness and vision for my life has been advanced to a new level. Throughout this journey my relationships with my family, my friends and with my co-workers has taken amazing leaps and bounds. Who I have become because of what I learned and continue to learn from Rapport, is a gift that I will always be grateful of receiving.
How has Rapport impacted you personally?
When I went to my first Rapport class in 2001, I was afraid to get up and speak in front of anyone; I would never stand in front of a crowd. That FEAR OF EMBARRASSMENT was so overwhelming that I would have preferred to quit my job rather than to have to speak in front of a roomful of people. The prior CEO at IBEW Plus Credit Union would occasionally ask me to give a presentation at an all-hands meeting, and I would tell him I would walk out if I had to do any kind of public speaking. If you told my staff this story today, they would not believe it. I have changed so much: I have gained so much self confidence, and I attribute this gain to all my family at Rapport Leadership International.
My personal leadership goals have expanded over the past few months to include commitment to help send teens to Rapport. Our organization has started a foundation in the Las Vegas area called “Changing Direction.” With the help of a group of amazing people, we will make a difference in the lives of many teens in Las Vegas and around the country. My involvement in the inception of this foundation has already become some of the most rewarding work I have ever done.
How has Rapport impacted your business?
IBEW Plus Credit Union has advanced so much over the past six years that one would not recognize us as the same organization. When I first introduced Rapport to the employees of IBEW Plus Credit Union, they did not want anything to do with it at all. Now, a day does not pass without an employee wanting to know what they can do to go to Rapport training. Our clients stop me in the lobby to tell me what amazing employees we have and to say how much they appreciate our growth in member service over the years. We are definitely a TEAM FAMILY.
This past November IBEW Plus Credit Union was honored with the “Breakthrough Culture Award” at the Summit Rapport held in Las Vegas. This award recognized clients for significant culture change and substantial business results. Over the past years our organization has learned to work as a family, and we have improved our employee retention over 300%. I will never forget that day and the honor I felt to receive such an amazing award from Michael Saletta.
What is the most surprising benefit you or your organization received from Rapport Training?
The most surprising benefit for us as an organization has been to see how much easier it is for all of us to take personal responsibility for our actions and to accept “what is” and not take happenings personally. It has been so amazing to be able to use the tools from the tool box that Rapport has furnished and to accomplish our vision of making a difference in the emotional and financial lives of our members. Rapport has helped me learn to take the time to listen and really understand what I need to focus on in order to make me and our organization even more successful every single day.
How do you keep Rapport alive in your organization?
We have worked hard over the past years as an organization to keep Rapport alive every day in the credit union. Every year, on Columbus Day, we close the credit union in order to hold a staff corporate training by Rapport. During the six years we have held these customized trainings, we have seen our credit union become a team family. Also, IBEW Plus Credit Union is committed to working with our management staff. Every year we have two day of managers’ training with Rapport. This training enables the management to look at how we can continue to be successful.
With the growth of our team family, we have decided to allow the employees help decide when we will send a staff member to Rapport and who will attend. Every time two of our employees go back on team, they get to decide who goes to Rapport next, and to which class. Allowing the employees to make the decision has increased their dedication to and direction for IBEW Plus Credit Union.
What class had the greatest impact on you and why?
Without a doubt, the class that had the greatest impact on me is Eagle Quest. This is the class that made me find my inner strength to live my dream of a healthy life style. Before I went to Eagle Quest, I was extremely overweight and totally unhappy with who I was. From the moment I soared on the ropes, I made a decision to become more healthy and fit. As of today, I have lost 105 pounds, and I live my life to the fullest with heart, passion and FUN.
When you face a challenge in your organization, what tools from the training do you call on first?
The challenges are now learning experiences that I look forward to and not experiences that I avoid. The tool that has made me more successful at IBEW Plus Credit Union, is the understanding and living of my core values every single day. When something comes up that is a challenge for me and the staff, I remember to make sure that we ask the question, “Does this solution to our challenge fall in line with our core values?” When the core values drive my decision-making I know the answer is right.
We at IBEW Plus Credit union hold Heart, Passion, Integrity, Loyalty, and Team Family as our core values….They are who we are!
