Taking your Credit Union from “Good to Great” with Jim Collins (CONTEST)
Jim Collins
One of the things I love most about my job is getting to travel around the country to the schools and conferences I develop. Not only has this given me the opportunity to meet so many amazing members, but I’ve also had the chance to see some really great presentations. One theme that stood out to me - so many of our speakers have shared things they’ve learned from Jim Collins and his book – Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap. . . and Other’s Don’t - so naturally after finally reading the book myself and working on The 1 Credit Union Conference, I was very excited to hear that we booked Jim Collins to keynote the conference! Collins will cast his expertise within a framework for credit unions and detail how to sustain great results so credit unions can continue to capitalize on the historic opportunity for growth that the financial crisis has presented.
In his most recent book, How the Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In, Collins examines the causes behind how the mighty fall and shares how leaders can stave off decline. His insights will help empower credit union leaders to make it through the most challenging times and come out stronger than ever.
(And in case you haven’t heard, the 1 Credit Union Conference is a joint CUNA/WOCCU collaborative conference in Las Vegas this July – a big deal this year with 2500 attendees expected from over 60 countries coming together.)
More Information on the 1 Credit Union Conference
One of the most interesting insights I’ve taken away from Good to Great is the “Hedgehog Concept.” It’s your organization’s “one big thing” – the intersection between the three circles below:
Source: The Coach Toolkit
What’s credit unions’ “one big thing?”
Answer that question in a comment below and we’ll do a random drawing on June 1st of all commenters to give away a copy of Collins’ most recent book!
Or if you’ve read Good to Great, tell us what you thought or how your credit union has benefited in the comments to be entered to win as well.
Wanted to share that CUNA has another contest currently running for The 1 CU Conference. Check it out for a chance to win the Grand Prize -FREE registration to the conference as well as other great prizes. http://www.vegas2010.org/vegas_attendees/vegas_contest Contest ends Monday, May 10th!
Hi Meghann, Our entire leadsrship team received a copy of “Good to Great” in early 2009. With the help of a great consultant we are following many of the concepts Jim outlines in the book. I will admit it has been challenging early on but we are beginning to see progress in sharpening our focus and getting our “Flywheel” momentum moving.
Best take-away in Good to Great is to have the strength to get the right people on the bus…..which means some people should get off it.
A former management team I worked with all read the book and the greatest challenge is getting not only the right people on the bus but in the right seats. The first is hard on who should be on and who shouldn’t, but then the strategy of organizing the people comes next with lots of forethought of where you want to be in 3-5 years.
Hi Tim! Great to hear your leadership team is working with a consultant to help you apply some of the concepts from the book. It’s always challenging for me to take great ideas from a book and translate that into actions that improve my own job. Would love to hear about some of your team’s successes as you go forward. I’m excited to hear Jim Collins ideas at The 1 for ways CUs can use his concepts.
Michelle & Yvonne – I agree with you both. Having the right people on the bus and in the right seats is so important for an organization. I’ve heard some great stories of employees who were failing in a certain position but had a great manager who recognized that they were just in the wrong role. Switching them to a role that was the right fit made such a huge difference. Thanks for your comments!
Hello! I am extremely new to the CU; in fact, I have been here one month! I am the training coordinator. Although I have training experience, I am lacking in CU experience! I am in full swing of learning all about how things work.
I have just began reading this book and find it truly facinating. I look forward to finishing it. With that said, I can’t comment too much on it’s contents just quite yet! I can’t wait to read about the bus though!
With the question above, “What’s CU’s one big thing?” I would have to say that our big thing is customer service. Banks offer all the things that credit unions do; however, we do it with style!
Welcome to the CU movement Stacey! I wish you the best of luck in your new position and can’t wait to hear more from you. I totally agree that CUs do what they do with style! Thanks for your post – enjoy the book.
Our (CUs) one big thing is this: We not only say our philosophy is “People Helping People”…we LIVE IT each and every day.
The CU Difference is a lot like Coca Cola. “It’s the Real Thing!”
CU’s One Big Thing is “Ownership” member’s own the credit union! Credit Union’s are Cooperatives where everyone has a voice by voting for the volunteer Board of Directors.
Thanks Deb and Karen! Great suggestions for credit unions “one big thing”.
It gets even better! If you have a chance, read Jim’s appendix called “Good to Great for the Social Sectors.” It speaks directly to the non-profit economic engine, and fills in a missing link for credit unions since we rely on our volunteers and the loyalty of/promotion by our members!
Thanks for the suggestion Bonnie! I haven’t read the appendix yet, but will definitely check it out now.
I just posted a separate comment about hiring Bill Cheney as an insider to be the CEO of CUNA is a good to great lesson from Jim Collins’ research. What’s applicable is that laggard organizations hired CEOs from the outside, as could have occurred again. The organizations that went from good to great, promoted to the CEO position internally. I am grateful that CUNA’s executive search team, hired Cheney instead of a DC politician. This is a big step in the right direction to move CUNA from troubled times, of still being good, to being an innovator that carries the movement forward in a return to its greatness. I was delighted to see this blog posting about Jim Collin’s headlining the One Conference. Way to go CUNA on both accounts.
Thanks for all of your feedback Jamie. I too am excited about our new CEO and look forward to having the chance to work at CUNA under his direction. Glad to hear that you’re also delighted about Jim Collins, with Bill starting as CEO just prior to the conference should be a very exciting event!
The “one big thing” that credit unions offer is trust in a financial world of general distrust. Even in good times, consumers don’t trust the bank. The past few years have only reinforced the favorable trust factor with credit unions.
So true Greg! I think the Move Your Money Campaign is doing a great job of highlighting that lack of trust with the big banks and really shining a light on the fact that this really is Credit Unions’ “One Big Thing”. Great comment!
Our management team has also been through Good to Great and has adopted our “one big thing.” At MaPS Credit Union it’s “recognizing and meeting our members’ changing needs through innovation.” It’s a great way to keep us from sticking to doing the same old things the way we’ve always done them, and it helps us to remember that we can never become complacent in our service to members.
The ability to flex and meet member needs because you are always in tune with your members and aware they are the reason for your existence is a big advantage credit unions can use.
Thanks for sharing Jill! Sounds like your credit union is on to something that’s definitely “one big thing” for your members. Great to hear you are working so hard to continue to meet their needs.