With A Little Help from My Friends…

By Patsy Van Ouwerkerk, Consultant, Mitchell, Stankovic & Associates

A few months ago, I was delighted to spend some quality time with several retired credit union CEOs. My lunch companions had all enjoyed rewarding careers in the credit union industry. These ladies balanced managing their credit unions effectively along with meeting the demands of their families and raising children. And they still found time to give back by volunteering in their communities and the credit union industry.

Over lunch I posed a question to the group, stating that their answers would likely end up in a blog I’d be writing for the Underground. The question is one I’ve thought about a lot since I retired as a credit union CEO more than four years ago. “If you had it to do over again, what would you do differently?”

Not surprisingly there was only a short pause before one of the ladies responded: “I’d take action quicker to get everyone moving in the same direction.” She went on to talk about the time it takes to change the culture of an organization. It doesn’t happen overnight. It takes deliberate planning and thoughtful execution. After all we’re talking about people - people who I personally believe are our industry’s greatest asset. The people that report to us expect us to lead, to communicate direction and purpose, to champion the corporate culture, and to protect it at all cost.

Mulligan! The Underground believes credit unions could use a makeover for a brighter future. We’d love for you to join us!

Culture is at the heart of our credit unions but all too often it’s forgotten when we draft our corporate strategies. Management guru Peter Drucker is often attributed as saying, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Having the right people in the right positions and having those people exemplify the organization’s culture is the message this CEO was communicating to the rest of us. Making a change in the management team is difficult, especially for a new CEO. We often prolong letting someone go, but in the long run, we can’t afford to send mixed messages to our employees. We shouldn’t tolerate behavior that is contrary to the culture we’re working so hard to advance.

Another retired CEO shared that she often thinks “about how well her personal values aligned with the credit union movement” and that she couldn’t imagine a career that could have been a better fit for her. Her regret was not spending more time with her new employees early in their careers to make sure they understood the role they played in delivering on the credit union philosophy of people helping people. She emphasized that making sure employees understood helping each other succeed was critical to the credit union’s success and that she had worked hard to break down barriers between branch and back-office employees.

The conversation quickly turned to the role of the CEO as mentor. While the group agreed that women could, and should, be strong mentors, we acknowledged that we hadn’t done enough to advance the women in our credit unions - that we could have done a better job of identifying talent and developing the skills needed to assume higher level management positions. Since becoming a founding member of the Global Women’s Leadership Network 10 years ago, I’ve recommitted to helping women globally while emphasizing the impact we can make locally though the GWLN’s Sister Societies.

The future leadership of credit unions, diversity and modern governance and oversight are just a few of the issues the Underground is tackling. Would you please join us?

“Looking outside the credit union for resources you can rely on” was expressed as another do-over opportunity. Focusing inward at times is critical, especially when a significant project is looming, like a conversion, but the role of the CEO is to be forward and outward thinking, to be strategic and visionary. Individually most of our credit unions lack sufficient resources to focus on innovation and disruption, but fortunately our think tank, the Filene Research Institute, has helped fill that gap for us. Years ago, COOP Financial Services introduced the first of its kind, THINK Conference. Speakers came from outside our industry and challenged us to look beyond financial services to learn what the future holds. There were so many takeaways that years later have come to fruition.

An example where a knowledgeable and trusted resource was needed was mentioned by one of the CEOs. As she explained “I wish I’d been a better negotiator, especially when it came to my salary and benefits;” several of the executives nodded in agreement. She went on to say that she could have done a better job communicating what was important to her and should have relied on others to help the board understand the competitive nature of the marketplace. Boards of directors have a responsibility to ensure their CEO’s total compensation is commensurate with their experience and performance and it’s often in the CEO’s interest to have someone else help the board understand just what that entails.

“Planning earlier for retirement, especially understanding the tax implications of doing so,” was a regret expressed by several of the CEOs. Playing catch up to fund a 457f Plan has a financial impact on the credit union and the individual and may result in unnecessary scrutiny (and unwanted attention) being paid to the executive compensation data included in our annual reports and on the 990 forms. Asking the board to provide retirement planning as part of the total compensation package might be advantageous to the credit union and the CEO. Retirement should be seen as a happy, well-deserved occasion – not one fraught with apprehension because planning fell short.

Having lunch with these retired CEOs, all longtime colleagues and friends, was so much fun and a great opportunity for us to reconnect. It was also good to talk about our careers and what we’d do differently if we had the chance. I appreciate their input and wisdom in writing this blog and the chance to share some of their perspectives.

I’ve written before about the importance of talking about what didn’t work, where we fell short, and lessons learned. Wisdom comes from experience, from learning from our successes and out shortcomings. Reflection shouldn’t wait until retirement. It should be an ongoing part of our day, week, month and year.