A people-first approach to leadership with Juan Ruiz

Phoenix (STN) – Juan Ruiz never describes his leadership journey as linear. It was shaped early by movement, responsibility, and exposure to different worlds, long before he entered a boardroom or led a people strategy.

Ruiz grew up in El Paso, Texas, but attended school across the border in Juárez, Mexico, beginning at age four. Each morning, his mother dropped him off on the U.S. side, and he crossed into Mexico by bus.

The experience, he said, made independence unavoidable and adaptability essential. “Early on, I became really independent. But the benefit of that was being exposed to different cultures, different people, and different perspectives.”

That adaptability followed him through a nearly four-decade career in human resources. What began as a part-time job while he was still in school evolved into work across every facet of HR, including a long stretch in the airline industry where he sharpened his leadership and people-management skills.

Ruiz joined Arizona Financial Credit Union in 2008 after a former leader challenged him to imagine a workplace where service inside the organization aligned with service beyond it. Meeting the credit union’s leadership confirmed that instinct.

“When I met the CEO at the time, I saw leadership coming from a servant perspective,” Ruiz said. “Something told me this was the place I wanted to be.”

As executive vice president and chief people and culture officer, Ruiz oversees talent acquisition, learning and development, employee services, engagement, and facilities. He often describes the work as a relay, with each team passing responsibility to the next to ensure employees are supported from hiring through long-term growth.

“We focus on people-centred leadership,” he said. “You can’t lose sight of people or results. You can’t have one without the other.”

One defining moment reshaped how Ruiz viewed his role entirely. After publicly praising his HR department as “the best team,” a peer quietly pulled him aside.

“They said, ‘Have you ever considered that we’re all your team?’” Ruiz recalled.

The comment reframed his responsibility. “I realized I was responsible for every single person in the organization,” he said. “I take great pride in that because I have the privilege of being of service to each of them at different points in their careers.”

That philosophy extended beyond the workplace. Ruiz believes social transformation requires intention and alignment, not slogans.

“At the core of what I believe is asking, ‘How can I be of service to others?’” he said.

For Ruiz, fulfillment came from working in an organization where purpose, performance, and community impact reinforced one another.

“I don’t look at it as work,” he said. “It’s the place where I get to come and be of service.”