This week\u2019s UMM Alumni Spotlight shines on Chris Lobley of Unity, formerly of Westbrook, who graduated UMM in 2000 with a degree in Recreation Management. Chris is now the Assistant Vice President, Branch Manager at Bangor Savings Bank in Unity.<\/p>\n
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I work for Bangor Savings Bank and currently manage the two branches in Belfast with a staff of 14 people. \u00a0Belfast is the second largest market in the state for Bangor Savings Bank where we have about 50% of the local market share. \u00a0We do our best to show the community that banking can be a great experience when you have the right partners advocating for you. \u00a0We work extremely hard to deliver our promise that \u201cYou Matter More\u201d and recently have earned the JD Power award for providing the best customer satisfaction with retail banking in the entire New England region for the second time in 3 years (2013,2015). \u00a0I\u2019ve been with BSB for about 4 years and absolutely love working for such a great community minded bank. \u00a0Outside of that I\u2019m on the board of directors for Our Town Belfast (A Main Street Program) and currently serve as a member of the board for the Passy Rail Trail capital campaign with Maine Farmland Trust. \u00a0After graduation in 2000 I married my college sweetheart, Summer (O\u2019Roak) Lobley. \u00a0We have a house in Unity, ME where we live with our two kids Dylan (13) and Andrew (10). \u00a0We are also really excited to have a baby girl on the way \u2013 Ireland Grace Lobley.<\/p>\n
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I learned many valuable lessons in my time at UMM. But the most important thing that I learned is how to successfully manage a group of people. \u00a0The Recreation Management program teaches you great foundational skills on how to lead people safely and successfully to their goal by motivating them to do what you need them to do. \u00a0These skills are useful to everyone from a Maine Guide taking clients into the woods, to a municipal recreation director organizing volunteers or even a bank manager leading a group of bankers to achieve exceptional results.<\/p>\n
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My advice is to take calculated risks in life and don\u2019t be afraid to own up to your mistakes. \u00a0Learning how to gracefully fail at things and accept feedback is the foundation for great experience and personal growth so take some risks, step outside your comfort zone and don\u2019t be afraid to make some mistakes. \u00a0When you get into the \u201creal world\u201d no one is going sugarcoat their feedback for you. \u00a0No one is going to say \u201cgreat job\u201d unless you actually do a better job than they expected. \u00a0The sooner you learn to not make excuses and accept and implement feedback (even if you don\u2019t like or disagree with it), the more successful you will be.<\/p>\n
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I learned that the only way to be a successful leader is to understand your role in motivating people to do what you need them to do. \u00a0Leadership is like a stage production and you are the main character in the show. \u00a0Your audience has to be completely convinced that you know what you\u2019re talking about or they will not believe in you and therefore not trust you. \u00a0People cannot be told what to do \u2013 in order to achieve the best results they have to have a stake in the mission and WANT to help achieve the goal. \u00a0You have to craft your messages carefully thinking three moves ahead like a game of chess. \u00a0At the end of the day you are the one responsible for the outcome\u2026good or bad!<\/p>\n
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Attending UMM was a stepping stone in my life helping me to transition from a young man to an adult. \u00a0I did a lot of things right and a lot of things wrong but looking back I learned something from every decision I made and gained valuable experience every time\u2026 that\u2019s the most important thing. \u00a0I met my amazing wife and some of my closest friends at UMM and I would not trade the experience for anything.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This week\u2019s UMM Alumni Spotlight shines on Chris Lobley of Unity, formerly of Westbrook, who graduated UMM in 2000 with a degree in Recreation Management. Chris is now the Assistant Vice President, Branch Manager at Bangor Savings Bank in Unity. Tell us a little bit about what you are doing now: I work for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":431,"featured_media":12038,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,6],"academic-area":[],"umaine-feed":[876],"region":[],"class_list":["post-4019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-news","umaine-feed-rtm-alumni"],"yoast_head":"\n