MADISON, Wis. A new study issued by the Filene Research Institute indicates that while executive ability is a major determinant for credit union success, a CEO’s personality may be more important.
The study, “Leading for Credit Union Success: The Roles of Personality and Practices in CEOs,” concluded: CEO personality matters, even more than ability; CEOs can change abilities and temper personality; it is important to engage employees but more critical to have a good CEO; high-performance work practices are not as important as you think.
The study, conducted by Dr. Murray Barrick, a professor at Texas A&M University, used for major indicators to gauge CEO success: return on assets, net worth to total assets, delinquent loans to total loans, and net charge-offs to average loans.
Barrick surveyed a cross section of employees ranging from entry level to C-suite at 84 credit unions across the United States and Canada. Each survey participant evaluated the CEO’s personality, critical executive competencies, leadership behaviors and performance. The non-CEO participants also were asked to rate their level of work engagement at their credit union.
