Musings from the CU Suite

Written by Anthony Demangone

This week, I've been lucky enough to attend and speak at NAFCU's Management Development Institute.   Roughly 70 credit union leaders have been working on improving their leadership, finance, marketing, board, risk management and other skills. 

It's been fantastic.  Here are some of the interesting things that I've heard.

• 88 percent of employees leave their job, not because of pay, or hours, but because of poor leadership from above.  That lack of leadership leads to frustration, and that frustration leads to a revolving door.
• Attendees were forced to write their own desired leadership style.  When they were read aloud, certain trends appeared.  Honesty and integrity.  Being a visionary.  Holding yourself and others accountable. Clear communication.  Turning ideas into concrete results.  Supporting life-long learning.  Inspiring passion and energy. Empowering those in the organization.   That's a pretty darn good list.  With that in mind, do you know what you want your style of leadership to be?
• Common problems were talked about as well.  The key issues?  Poorly communicating the plan.  Not holding others accountable.  Accepting mediocre performance. 
• Do you have a network of people you can turn to for advice and encouragement?  If the answer is no, start building that network today. 
• Here's a gem from John Spence: Find the poorest performing person within your organization. They set the standard for the lowest acceptable performance.  Do you want 10 more of them on your team?  If not, why do you have one?

I've heard a few people talk about the upcoming retirement of many credit union CEOs.  I've heard even a few wonder if there are folks ready to pick up torch and carry it forward.  If this group of credit union leaders is any indication...we'll be just fine. 

What a great group!  Have a great weekend, everyone!