CUNA Management School Class of 2008

After spending almost three years working at CUNA and marketing CUNA Management School, I was asked to go through the program as an attendee in 2006.  I remember arriving on a hot, steamy July Sunday to gather my materials and check in to my dorm room.  That wasn’t a typo, I stayed in a dorm room for two weeks, and actually enjoyed it.  Unlike my college days at the same UW-Madison, this school offered a completely different experience.

After attending the evening mixer, I began to notice quickly the diversity amongst the group.  Though we were all from the credit union movement, there were CEOs, marketers, branch managers, lending officers, business development managers, compliance officers and many others.  Plus, there were veterans of the movement, new hires, young parents, grandparents, and even one woman who was pregnant.  All in different stages of our careers and lives, we embarked on this experience to…? That was the question I wanted to answer.  After all, I promote this program to credit union professionals each year.  What were they hoping to gain or learn during these two weeks, and what would bring them back for the following two summers?

Needless to say, I certainly got an education at CUNA Management School.  Not only was I educated about what people gained and learned at the program, I experienced it.

I learned about and experienced idea sharing.  Unbeknownst to me at the time, I sat next to 3 other marketers during my first day of class, and sat next to the same 3 my last day.  We loved learning from each other, and discussing the concepts presented in class as they related to marketing.

I learned about and experienced leadership and teamwork.  Sure, at first I thought it was hokey to have a class motto and chant.  But sure enough, after serving as our class treasurer, fundraising for the scholarship fund, assisting with the welcome committee and planning our class celebration, I felt the credit union philosophy come alive along with a camaraderie that continued long after the day we headed home.

I learned about and experienced credit unions.  I knew business concepts before I attended CUNA Management School.  In fact, many of my class members already had masters in business.  However, we learned about the credit union way of doing business as we sifted through ALM, ratios, human resources, marketing, innovation and crisis management.  Not just how to do it, but how a credit union should do it.

As the day approaches that a whole new CUNA Management School class begins, I remember my last day of the program.  I was the pregnant woman (with only two weeks until my due date, now that’s dedication) and others were now CEOs and COOs. We all took something a little different away from the program, yet we were all taking away something just the same: We learned about and experienced people helping people.

Angela Prestil

From Angela Prestil:

I recently had the pleasure of being one of the two co-instructors at CUNA’s Sales and Service Culture Institute. One of the questions asked by the majority of the attendees was regarding incentive programs. Should we implement them? How do we implement them? What’s the best way to implement them? How do we make them fair? I guess that’s lots of questions, but you get the idea. My first realization: We’re confused about incentives.

My first question if you’re seriously thinking about implementing incentives is “Why?” Why are you thinking about paying staff to do something that should be in their job descriptions? Recommending the right products at the right time to the right members is in your job descriptions, isn’t it? Maybe? Maybe not? My second realization: We’re confused about what’s in staff job descriptions.

We are quite positive that all supervisors and managers are coaching all staff on the processes taught for recommending products, right? What’s that you say? Branch managers can’t possibly be expected to coach with everything else on their plates? And you don’t really have a process for recommending products, unless we count that little pop-up window that keeps recommending the same credit card to the same members? My third realization: We’re confused about coaching and the processes we use.

Here’s my thought: Before you start throwing money at your staff like clowns throwing candy at a parade, get your ducks in a row:

1. Be sure the whole credit union is supporting efforts to exceed your members’ needs. There are entire books and classes on creating organizational alignment around goals, so take your time and get some help if necessary.
2. Figure out what you’d like your member experience to be for every delivery channel and touch-point. Then, make it happen consistently. Not sure what a member experience looks like? Check out a free webinar from CUNA’s Creating Member Loyalty™ for a quick look.
3. Ensure managers have a repeatable, consistent process for creating a positive employee experience. Clear managers’ plates so they can provide timely coaching to each employee to deliver your desired member experience.

Got all of that done? And done well? If not, I’ll give you about 18-24 months to get that in place. Don’t worry, I’ll wait! I’ve heard that posts like these live forever. Come back when you’re done, and then we can talk more about incentives.

Back so soon? I’m not trying to be flippant. I know this takes a lot of work and a lot of concentrated effort by lots of people in the credit union. And I’d encourage you to do some homework and think about what you’re not seeing now that you’d like to see. Will incentives really get you there? If you’re not sure, drop me a line and we can talk about how to get you there. What have you got to lose? Perhaps we’ll both be confused at a higher level!

Angela Prestil is the Sales Culture Development Director for the Credit Union National Association.

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.

CONTEST DETAILS: Contest begins today and ends on Mon., May 31st at 11:59PM (ct). No purchase necessary to win.  Make sure you leave an email address where you can be contacted.  The winner will be notified via e-mail and will also be announced on the blog.  Multiple comments are allowed as long as you have a valid idea in each comment. (No duplicate comments) The odds of winning depend on the number of entrants received.  Void where prohibited. 

UPDATE (6/1): THIS CONTEST HAS ENDED – CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNER, GREG OLMSTED, WHO WON A COPY OF JIM COLLINS’ BOOK HOW THE MIGHTY FALL.  THANKS TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED!