Musings from the CU Suite

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Dec 05, 2013

Dinner, with a lesson

Written by Anthony Demangone

Last evening, I had the pleasure of dining with a number of successful credit union CEOs.  As much as I could, I sat back and listened.

At one point, one of the CEOs joked that his job really boiled down to showing up at parades and kissing babies.  We all laughed.  But then I had to ask him this...

What really is your job?

The question really seem to hit home, and one-by-one, all the CEO took a minute and discussed how they saw their work. No one gave exactly the same answer, but they all spoke about similar things.

Focus.  They spent time and effort making sure their teams focused on what mattered most.  One CEO said that when she started, she boiled the list of things to focus on down to only three. If what you were doing didn't fit into one of the three things, you stopped doing it.  Now that's focus. 

Strategy. Each CEO said that they had to build a strategic vision. Some worked with their boards.  Others were delegated with that task.

Communication. This was universal. Every CEO said that much of their job was continuous communication - both giving information and listening.  Communicate the vision.  The strategic plan. Priorities. Over and over.  And all of them championed the idea that good leaders had to get out of their office and visit with their colleagues. 

Shepherding. If the credit union, or a particular executive was getting away from priorities, each CEO said a good part of their job was diplomatically getting things back on track. 

Stewardship. Finally, each CEO spoke of stewardship. Protecting and empowering employees.  The credit union's brand. The credit union's membership. Its vision. You could see the ownership and care that each leader had in his or her voice.

That's a good list. And it was a great dinner.  And the food wasn't bad either. 

Have a great weekend, guys. 

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