Mark Sievewright is president of Fiserv Credit Union Solutions. Below, Mr. Sievewright shares his thoughts on leadership and management as part of CUToday.info’s The Corner.
CUToday.info: What intangible of leadership is most difficult to convey or prepare for?
Sievewright: Self-awareness. This is one of our primary tools for growth and development. Knowing yourself—your strengths and weaknesses—is one of the foundation stones to becoming a highly effective leader.
CUToday.info: Are you a fan of a management book or books? If not, why not? If so, which have resonated with you and why?
Sievewright: Yes, I am, I really enjoyed a book written by Joel Barker called “Paradigms: the Business of Discovering the Future,” which centers around how businesses can be impacted by paradigm shifts. I also just read a book by Scott McKain called “Create Distinction—What to do when ‘Great’ Isn’t Good Enough to Grow Your Business.” Both are very relevant to credit union leaders in today’s environment.
CUToday.info: Innovation: four syllables getting all the attention. Deservedly so? If so can you really drive innovation? Or is it coming at the cost of implementation and delivery?
Sievewright: Innovation is the lifeblood of the business we are in and is absolutely essential to the future of the credit union movement. The digital transformation of the financial services industry (that has fundamentally changed the way financial firms do business) is proof-positive of the power of innovation and the benefits derived from it. Credit union truly can drive innovation through improved processes, the development and delivery of new products for their members and adoption of relevant technology to power their strategies.
CUToday.info: If you could go back and talk to you on the first day on the job, what advice do you share?
Sievewright: Value and enjoy every moment; you are not going to believe how quickly time is going to go by!
CUToday.info: My Keeps-Me-Up-At-Night concern is? Why? And My Let’s-Me-Sleep-At-Night Optimism is?
Sievewright: My ‘What-keeps-me-up-at-night’ response is making certain that we are doing everything we can do at Fiserv to ensure that our credit union clients continue to remain relevant and deliver best-in-class results for their members. Two things drive the “let’s-me-sleep-at-night optimism” is: 1) The quality of my team. I am fortunate to have the best team in the credit union technology business. And, 2), the deep array of world class products we offer our clients.