Bad, bad culture…

Corporate culture refers to the values, beliefs, and behaviors that shape a company’s overall work and service environment. A positive corporate culture enhances employee satisfaction, fosters innovation, and promotes productivity. Conversely, a bad corporate culture devastates a company, its employees, and its customers. In this article, I will explore the dangers of bad corporate culture…

Read More

To Lay Off or Not to Lay Off – the big question

The decision to lay off employees is one of the most challenging decisions a company can make. It is often a last resort in response to changing market conditions, financial difficulties, or shifts in the company’s strategic direction. However, while layoffs can be necessary for a company to survive, it is essential to approach the…

Read More

Why a Fractional Executive?

In today’s fast-paced and ever-changing business environment, it’s becoming increasingly important for companies to be flexible and adaptable. One way to achieve this is by hiring a fractional leader or an interim or part-time executive. A fractional leader is an experienced business professional hired to fill a temporary leadership role, typically for a specific project…

Read More

Strategic Planning – Is there a right way?

Strategic planning isn’t: A box to check on your NCUA examination. A one or two-day brainstorming event To plan incremental growth without changing anything Done during budgeting time. Strategic planning should be started in Q1 or Q2 so that when the organization gets to budgeting time, the strategic objectives have been established, and the resource,…

Read More

Air Travel, Leading and Stress: What do these have in common?

Stress is part of our lives. Outside forces can cause us stress, and we can also bring on stress for others and ourselves. Air travel is a source of stress; that makes it a good metaphor for stress management behaviors. Many people find air travel very stressful. The stress surrounding air travel is not unlike…

Read More

So You Want to Be a Leader; a 3 Step Primer

So, let’s define leadership. Leadership IS NOT about title, rank, direct reports, or hierarchal power. Leadership IS about creating change. A person that is not creating change is maybe a satisfactory task and people manager but not a leader. Being a leader requires the individual to have the courage to take risks, use her/his voice…

Read More

Three Things Every Leader Must Know

Leadership is not for sissies. Leadership is not about you. Leadership has a price. Let’s diagnose each of these requirements. Leadership is not for sissies – To be an authentic leader takes courage. This courage is realized in many ways. Sometimes it is the courage to do what you don’t want to do, to do…

Read More

Five Strategic Questions for the Board and Senior Management

It’s a strange time for credit unions. Credit unions face unprecedented pressures from regulators and examiners and capital pressures for net interest margins and fee income. Often they don’t benefit from “economies of scale” or the resources, people, and capital, to invest in the infrastructure demands of vendor due diligence, regulatory compliance, or technology demands…

Read More

Moving From Incremental to Transformational Growth

Too often, I see organizations that keep getting in their way. They celebrate mediocre performance, average results, and incremental growth. Occasionally I find an organization that is satisfied in just cruising slowly into obsolescence, unwilling to admit what is happening to the company. Today’s competitive, fast-paced business climate does not tolerate mediocracy for long. Companies…

Read More