eNews, Leadership
Translate Credit Management Skills into Leadership Skills
As businesses navigate through dynamic economic landscapes, the significance of credit managers as strategic leaders cannot be overstated. Their role extends far beyond managing credit; they are the guardians of financial stability, charting courses through uncertainties and steering organizations toward sustainable growth.
NACM’s annual Credit Congress & Exposition brings credit professionals together from far and wide for networking and informative educational sessions. Next year’s 128th Credit Congress will be in Las Vegas, NV from June 9-12 with new opportunities to learn. NACM will be offering a NEW Executive Leadership Workshop hosted by Dr. Jeremy Graves, which provides the necessary tools credit leaders need to navigate change successfully.
As someone who has worked with organizations, teams and leaders for nearly 25 years, Dr. Graves said a few main points he wants to focus on are how to grow and develop as a leader, as well as some of the greatest leadership attributes. “Looking at it from a personal point of view, where do you want to grow? How can you develop as a leader to your team and how can you better your organization?” Graves explained. “When I think about leadership, I focus specifically on servant leadership because I feel like it is the model that encompasses all types of leaders. When we show up, we have lots of different ways we engage with our teams, organizations and ourselves as leaders. We must do a deeper dive in knowing ourselves, choosing ourselves and giving ourselves.”
Additional and tailored education opportunities for high-level credit managers are essential because learning never stops in your career. As the world continues to change, operations and processes follow suit. “These types of workshops allow credit managers to challenge themselves to become more efficient at their job,” said Donni Gabbert, office and accounting manager at Kilgore TEC Products, Inc. (Spokane, WA). “It is always better to go upstream to understand the reasoning behind the decision-making process. The employer counts on credit managers to help run the business with effectiveness.”
The Executive Leadership Workshop will also focus on how leaders take that information about their own leadership styles and allow it to influence how they build and work with teams. Wanting to be the change within your organization starts with strong leadership and building the skillset you need to be successful in doing so.
Credit professionals who took last year’s Strategic Leadership Track got to experience personal insight from other high-level credit managers and expand on conversations outside of the conference. But this year, credit leaders are excited to learn even more about how to develop their own leadership style. Sheryl Rasmusson, CCE, president of Kilgore TEC Products Inc. (Spokane, WA) said she is most excited to learn about effective leadership in an ever-changing work and business environment. “With the challenges our industry is currently facing including labor shortages, timely material procurement, construction schedule changes the financial impacts of late payments are all difficult to handle,” Rasmusson said. “It’ll be great to learn how we successfully navigate all of this, while also growing the business through thoughtful, strategic, progressive thinking.”
Gabbert, who just recently moved into a leadership position, is excited to learn more about the practical side of being a leader. “My goal is to be a team leader and build my accounting team to be the best they can be,” she said. “I’m excited to learn all I can in this workshop.”
For more information about Credit Congress, be sure to visit our website. Those attending all segments of the Executive Leadership Workshop will receive a certificate of attendance upon completion. Space is limited to the first 50 registrants.
