Seeking the magic

Chris Court has a lifelong love for making memories and traveling. One of his favorite destinations is Universal Orlando Resort.

The popular theme park in Orlando, Fla., not only allows guests to experience the sights and sounds but also gives a chance to “look behind the curtain and see the magic,” says Court, the vice president of accounting and operations at $376 million asset Service 1st Federal Credit Union in Danville, Pa.

That behind-the-scenes magic is something that drives Court, whether it’s by being an innovator or pursuing educational opportunities to develop his and his employees’ careers.

“I like to grow and evolve and do what I can do to help others grow,” he says. “I make things happen.”

Court believes individuals—and credit unions—need to innovate and collaborate in order to see change.

At Service 1st, Court leads the i2i (ideas to innovation) team. The team gets together and works through ideas and issues through the eyes of the member and staff.

He says the results of the i2i program include making changes to the incentive program, creating journey and empathy maps to determine what the members are feeling, and revamping technology to offer members a seamless experience.

“It doesn’t sound like a big thing, but getting one person from almost every department on the team really helps us collaborate,” he says. “We get people together and talk about things that are affecting us. Someone might have a solution that we otherwise wouldn’t think about.”

Another component? Continuing to learn.

Court’s done that.

He recently found himself involved in Filene Research Institute’s i³ program, CUNA Management School, and the National Credit Union Foundation’s Credit Union Development Educator (DE) program.

Going through the three programs, Court says he had the opportunity to see three phases of the credit union movement simultaneously: “the mind of credit unions going through CUNA Management School, the heart of credit unions going through DE, and the application of it all going through the i³ program.”

Court passes along his knowledge to others at Service 1st, as well as college students at Keystone College, where he teaches classes in business and leadership.