Leadership Insights: Midland Credit Management President Ryan Bell Shares Thoughts on Leadership Style, MCM’s Future, and Opportunities to Help Consumers
We recently sat down with Midland Credit Management (MCM) President Ryan Bell to talk about his leadership style, how MCM stands ready to help consumers on their path to financial freedom, and what the future may hold for MCM’s business growth.
How did you get into this industry? What were you interested in doing when you started your career, and how did those interests eventually lead you to MCM?
I’ve been at MCM going on 13 years. Before that, I was at Capital One for 11 years, which is where I started right out of college. Since our primary partners at MCM are our issuers, I feel like my experience at Capital One gave me a deep understanding of issuers’ needs and the challenges they’re trying to solve. What drew me to MCM was the people. I saw they were doing it the right way. They were very consumer focused. They were data-driven. You spend half your life at work, so you want to be surrounded by incredible people.
What personal values do you bring to your leadership role at MCM?
I didn’t grow up with a lot, and my family experienced some serious financial setbacks. That meant I got my first job when I was about 13 years old and kept right on working through high school and college. I drove a forklift in a factory; I worked at a Starbucks; I fielded calls at an IT help desk.
What I learned from those experiences is that you’ve got to work hard and trust yourself. Nothing’s going to be handed to you. Others may have more abilities or advantages, but you can control your effort and how much you believe in yourself.
How would you describe your leadership style? What are some ways you feel like it works well at MCM?
My leadership style is open, honest and collaborative. I don’t make decisions alone. I don’t decree from my office. I like to work as a team. I trust my leaders to do their jobs, but when challenges arise, I’m also ready to roll my sleeves up to help people solve problems.
What I find most rewarding about this approach is the depth of the relationships it helps me develop. I spend four or five hours every day in some sort of one-on-one setting with my team. I offer anyone at the director level or above the opportunity for a monthly one-on-one with me. What I get from these interactions is deeper trust and a clearer, more unfiltered sense of what’s going on in the business.
What traits do you look for in leaders at MCM?
I’m much more likely to bet on the person than the resume. I have a track record of betting on people to succeed in roles that are unlike anything they’ve done before because I believe in them. Hard work is the most important thing. Show up, be there on time, be present, give it your best, and that takes care of about 90% of what you want to accomplish. I’ve always said someone might be smarter or faster than me, but they won’t outwork me. I appreciate those who have a similar mindset.
What are the biggest forces shaping the U.S. consumer credit industry over the next 3-5 years? What challenges and opportunities are ahead for MCM?
Credit card lending in the United States has reached record highs. It’s now well over $1 trillion. That’s bigger than the entire economy of a country like the Netherlands. We also have an unusual situation where unemployment is low, but many people with jobs still can’t afford their credit card bills because of factors like underemployment or inflation.
In this environment, there are going to be more Americans than ever who can’t meet their credit card obligations. This creates a twin challenge. When consumers have debt in default, it can make it hard for them to get credit affordably, if at all, putting that car or house just out of reach. For the consumer lending system, if there’s no accountability at the end of the process, it would make credit scarce and expensive for all of us.
No company is better positioned than MCM to meet these challenges facing U.S. consumers. We help consumers resolve their financial obligations in a caring, collaborative way, giving them the freedom to move forward with their lives. We also enable a healthy consumer credit ecosystem, ensuring credit stays affordable and accessible for those who need it.
How will these market forces shape MCM as a business?
The next couple of years are going to be a period of significant growth for MCM. We’ve worked hard to prepare for this moment, and we’re going to succeed through this time of expansion by staying focused on our Values, our consumers and the quality of our work. Our Values are the magic that make MCM a great place to work and make us a great partner to our consumers. We’re going to stay focused on those Values — we care, we find a better way, we’re inclusive and collaborative — so they remain constant as we grow.
We’re going to stay focused on our consumers because it’s fundamental to who we are. With the explosive growth in credit card lending, we know there will be many consumers unable to meet those obligations who’ve never been in that position before. It’s our job to listen to them, show them we care about their challenges, and help them find ways to solve them.
We’re also going to stay focused on the quality of our work. Our investments in digital and omnichannel are going to make us more efficient and help us connect with consumers in different ways.
What do you think about MCM’s future even beyond the next few years?
Even with the growth we expect to see for our business in the next couple of years, we know that the only constant is change. That’s why we’re always looking ahead. It’s in my DNA to always be thinking about what’s next. I do it at work. I do it with my kids at home. When’s the next test? What’s happening next quarter? This is because I always want us to be as ready as we can for whatever comes our way. You can’t wait to build the future when you get there. The time to build the future is now.
For example, I’m particularly excited about the opportunities to improve how we communicate with consumers using technology. We’ve traditionally been a call-centric business, but that’s not necessarily how consumers, particularly younger ones, want to interact with us. We’re investing in digital and omnichannel so our consumers can engage however they prefer, and we’re going to make sure they have a consistent, high-quality experience no matter how they connect with us. We also want to be prepared to continue innovating as consumers’ communications preferences keep evolving.