Moving Forward
Written by Anthony Demangone, Powered by NAFCU
It was a wonderful week in Seattle for NAFCU's Annual Conference.
The information was phenomenal. The weather was fantastic. The networking was grand.
All of that was wonderful - but one of my highlights came from a 15-second video.
As you can imagine, when you have a room filled with 1,200 people, it can be hard to get folks to quiet down before a session starts. So we use "eye-openers." They are short, and fairly loud, videos that signal that the show is about to start.
In these videos, we use quotes that we think fit the day. Here was the quote that caught my eye.
If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward. - Martin Luther King, Jr.
I can't tell you why, but I thought a lot about that quote.
History sometimes makes things look simple after the fact. Great people accomplish great things. They change the world.
But my gut tells me the process was anything but simple. And Dr. King's quote gets to that difficulty.
No one skates their way to changing the world. Many block their path. Or even fight their progress.
Dr. King's quote is powerful. If you have to get down on your hands and knees and crawl, then do it. Just keep working the problem.
Grit is so very underrated.
About the Author
Anthony Demangone, Executive Vice President and COO, NAFCU
Anthony Demangone, NCCO is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at NAFCU, where he oversees day-to-day operations and manages the association's education, marketing, membership, human resources, building facilities, finance and information technology functions. He also authors NAFCU's executive blog, Musings from the CU Suite and co-authored "Managing and Leading Well," a book for credit union leaders, with NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger.