John Bratsakis - Be Authentic (#40)

“Be who you are whether it's your credit union, you as a leader, or as an individual.” - John Bratsakis Welcome to episode 40 of The CUInsight Experience podcast, hosted by Randy Smith, Co-Founder of CUInsight.com. In this episode, Randy has a conversation with John Bratsakis, the President and CEO of the Maryland and DC Credit Union Association.Giving a voice to credit unions with our legislators is something John feels strongly about. He believes that being present, learning, and listening is how credit unions can get ahead in an arena where everything changes daily.John discusses how he started in credit unions, why he wanted to be President and CEO of the Maryland and DC Credit Union Association and how he believes we can bring awareness to the benefits of credit unions to the forefront of the public and legislators minds.John speaks to us about his leadership style and philosophy. He believes that you should listen to and be authentic with your team and everyone else. He gives us many tidbits of great information that will apply to any industry or career. You won’t want to miss this episode, so plugin and enjoy.View full show notes on here.Subscribe on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher How to find John:John Bratsakis, President and CEO of the Maryland and DC Credit Union [email protected] www.mddccua.org Twitter | Linkedin | Facebook | YouTubeIn This Episode:[01:36] - Welcome to the show, John![02:08] - John chats with Randy about how his national position allows him to learn and bring ideas home to the local credit unions.[04:29] - What are the challenges facing credit unions today? What can you do to alleviate the struggles they have?[07:29] - John speaks about how credit unions give back to the communities.[09:57] - Randy asks about John’s favorite team.[11:34] - John believes that credit unions need to more on a personal relationship with members.[14:05] - They discuss how John got a career in credit unions and how he got the position of President and CEO of the Credit Union Association.[17:43] - Has the inspiration changed since he took the job?[18:49] - John says his leadership style is just being who he is. He says everyone fails, but you get up and do it better next time.[20:14] - John tells us about his most memorable failure.[21:28] - Advocate, educate, communicate, and collaborate are words that John’s team hears from him all the time.[22:16] - He feels that young leaders make the mistake of making hard goals instead of focusing on the milestones that are needed to get to that goal.[23:32] - What advice have you been given that you still use today?[25:03] - Did you have mentors that helped you form your leadership style?[27:56] - When they have an issue, they can’t rectify; they call tSend us Fan Mail