Board of Directors
How Small Credit Unions Can Become Vital
For the past 20+ years, credit unions seeking to grow, have made charter changes to community charters, often from multi-common bond or sole sponsorship charters. The goal was to minimize the perceived barriers to membership. The belief was that if anyone could join my credit union, growth would be unconstrained. In some cases, this was…
Read MoreUnraveling the Differences Between Leadership and Management
As I crisscrossed the nation, meeting hundreds of credit union managers and executives, I learned that leadership and management are often used interchangeably and are “ordained” by the org chart. Let’s erase this mistaken notion that an individual is one or the other and discuss how these roles fit together. Leadership and Management are two…
Read MoreThe Impact of Mandated Return-to-Office (RTO) on Diversity and Job Satisfaction
There has been a lot of noise around return-to-work efforts. The decision that “all” employees need to return to the office three to five days per week is either being driven by: Regardless of the reason, I have yet to see the performance of these companies has deteriorated because of a remote workforce. Where there…
Read More19 Ways an Executive Coach Has Your Back
Executives often live in an isolated world and find themselves, at times, feeling inadequate (imposter syndrome) or unsure of their ability to trust their staff, peers, or bosses. Executive coaching offers a customized approach to help leaders manage the loneliness and anxiety of their role by helping them enhance their skills, overcome challenges, and achieve…
Read MoreCredit Unions, Innovate or Die…
Credit unions have been around for over a century and have played a vital role in providing financial services to consumers. However, the financial services industry has undergone a significant transformation in recent years, and credit unions need to innovate to remain relevant in today’s market. In the late 90s, online banking was an innovation…
Read MoreSECU and OpenAI, What Went Wrong!
An Unbalance Between Board Involvement and Leadership Autonomy Before I discuss this dysfunction between the board of directors and leadership at OpenAI and SECU, we must understand that today, a credit union is a technology company, not just a place to make deposits and take out loans. Almost everything in a credit union is built…
Read MoreBest Practices for Achieving Strategic Alignment
A C-suite executive recently asked me, “One area where we have always struggled is with executives building their comprehensive plans. Have you seen that as a struggle elsewhere, and do you have any suggestions on addressing this? Strategic alignment and coordination are vital in attaining strategic success. Strategic alignment ensures that all aspects of a…
Read MoreApplying the McKinsey 7S Model to Enhance Credit Union Success
The McKinsey 7S was introduced in Tom Peters and Robert Waterman’s book, In Search of Excellence, in the late 70s. The 7S framework changed how leaders viewed organizational effectiveness. Before 7S, executives focused on organization structure, who does what, who reports to whom, and the relative authorities of each tier on the org chart. As organizations…
Read MoreAdapting “Management by Walking Around” for the Hybrid Credit Union
“Management by walking around” (MBWA) has been a management staple for decades. The phrase was popularized in the 1980s. Consultants Tom Peters and Robert Waterman explored the idea in their 1982 book, In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies. It involves leaders physically visiting their staff to observe their engagement and effort to understand…
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