As I enter my fifth year since launching a Credit Union Service Organization (CUSO) from the ground up, I find myself reflecting on the journey—its challenges, milestones, and lessons.

If there’s one overarching principle I’ve learned, it’s that leadership matters. It’s the foundation of every successful team, organization, and mission. A good leader doesn’t just set strategy—they create the conditions for others to thrive. They bring out the best in people, ensuring they have the tools, confidence, and clarity to succeed.

Launching my CUSO was no exception. Unlike traditional startups, a CUSO is built to serve credit unions while sustaining itself as an independent entity. It exists in a unique space—designed to enhance financial institutions but also required to operate as a business with its own challenges, risks, and strategic decisions. To build a successful CUSO, the application of leadership principles isn’t just important—it’s everything.

Learning to lead

My personal leadership journey started in the Army, leading an aviation platoon on combat missions in Iraq as a young Lieutenant. However, the journey continued through a career in banking and Treasury Management, where I led teams in highly regulated, high-stakes financial environments. Then, in 2020, I faced my greatest leadership challenge yet: launching a first-of-its-kind CUSO focused on Treasury Management for credit unions.

I was Employee Zero at Tru Treasury, and my first day was March 12, 2020. Three days later, the world shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No staff, no roadmap, and an industry that had just been turned upside down. What followed was a crash course in applied leadership—navigating through uncertainty, making tough decisions with incomplete information, and building a culture with my early hires that would set the foundation for long-term success.

But if there’s one thing I’ve come to appreciate more than ever, it’s that leadership isn’t about having all the answers—it’s about learning, adjusting, and continuously challenging your own assumptions. Here are some of the biggest lessons I’ve taken from the experience.

Lesson 1: vision, grit, and humility are non-negotiable

Every leader must have three core traits: vision, grit, and humility. And when launching a company, they are non-negotiable.

• Vision is what allows one to see beyond short-term obstacles and focus on the bigger picture. It’s the ability to define where a team is going and inspire people to move in that direction. The best leaders don’t just react to circumstances—they shape them.
• Grit is the relentless determination to push forward despite challenges. Every great endeavor will face setbacks, resistance, and uncertainty. The ability to persist, adapt, and rally a team through adversity defines long-term success.
• Humility ensures that vision and grit don’t turn into arrogance. It reminds us that we don’t have all the answers and that the best ideas often come from those around us. The willingness to listen, learn, and admit when we’re wrong is what separates strong leadership from blind stubbornness.

Launching a CUSO in the middle of a global crisis reinforced just how critical these traits are. Without vision, an organization drifts, reacting to external forces instead of driving its own path. Without grit, it crumbles under pressure. Without humility, it becomes rigid and fails to adapt.

One early lesson in humility came when we assumed that credit unions would immediately recognize the value of a specialized Treasury Management CUSO. We quickly learned that many needed education on the topic first. This forced us to refine our messaging, take a consultative approach, and listen more than we spoke.

Lesson 2: servant leadership means checking your own biases

Managing people and leading people are two very different things. Many leadership styles exist, and the right approach depends on the situation. But in my experience, the most effective leaders, whether in the military, finance, or startups, embrace servant leadership.

This means prioritizing the success of others over personal gain. But it also means being willing to challenge our own assumptions. Too often, leaders, especially those with experience, rely on what has worked before. The risk? We stop questioning if it’s still the best approach.

The best leaders I’ve worked with:

• Empower their people – Give others the authority and confidence to make decisions.
• Invest in development – Provide mentorship, training, and opportunities for growth.
• Communicate with clarity – Ensure the mission, goals, and expectations are understood.
• Foster trust and accountability – Build a culture where people own their work, knowing they are supported but also responsible for results.
• Ask more questions – Instead of assuming they know the answer, they listen first and adapt based on what they learn.

This means hiring top talent, giving them ownership over their roles, and fostering a culture of trust, accountability, and problem-solving. It also means being willing to be challenged—allowing others to question, refine, and improve our collective thinking. I’ve lost count of the number of times an idea I was convinced would work was made better by a teammate’s input.

Lesson 3: adaptability requires learning and unlearning

When launching a new company, especially in an uncertain COVID environment, things did not always go as planned. Leadership in this environment required adaptability, not rigid execution of a business plan.

In the military, we had a saying: “Plans are only good until the first bullet is shot.” The same applies to business. When COVID hit days after leaving my secure bank job to start my CUSO, everything changed. The approach, timelines, and even the way we had to engage with credit unions had to shift rapidly.

The most effective leaders don’t just react to change—they anticipate it, embrace it, and find ways to turn challenges into opportunities. But that’s only possible when we’re willing to recognize when our assumptions are wrong. Adaptability isn’t just about shifting strategy, it’s about unlearning outdated ideas, questioning long-held beliefs, and making room for new ways of thinking.

Lesson 4: culture is the ultimate test of leadership

Tru Treasury’s growth has been significant, but I measure success not just in numbers, but in the leadership and team culture we’ve built. At the end of the day, leadership isn’t about the one person—it’s about who they have around them and what they leave behind. The strongest teams don’t wait for orders. They take ownership, solve problems, and drive forward with confidence.

For an early-stage company, this is even more critical. The success of the organization doesn’t just impact its employees—it impacts the credit unions it serves, the businesses they bank, and the communities they serve. Any organization is only as strong as the culture behind it.

From the start, we focused on creating a culture of ownership, where our team felt a deep sense of responsibility for the success of our clients and our company. That culture is now the backbone of our success.

It’s not about you

True leadership isn’t measured in titles or authority—it’s revealed in the hardest moments. It’s about navigating uncertainty, making the tough calls, and building something that endures beyond you.

That’s what my journey has reinforced—whether leading soldiers, banking teams, or a startup. Leadership isn’t about control; it’s about service. It means setting the vision, clearing roadblocks, and having the resilience to keep going when the path forward isn’t clear.

Because when a leader does this well, their team won’t just follow—they’ll step up and lead alongside them. And that’s when real progress happens.