I have good news: you're not alone with ridiculous compliance demands. A little-known department within NCUA enforces federal law-obliging journalists to provide pithy mid-year observations during June.
Eager to check off that box, and fortunate examiners with accounting backgrounds have low standards for what passes for pithy, I hereby offer what 99.9% of folks would ID as the top 3 stories so far in 2014: 1) Risk, 2) Based, 3) Capital. After all, several-thousand comment letters can't be wrong, can they?
But even though it may get flagged on my column exam report, I'm going to be the .10% and suggest there remains a bigger story and it's this: of all the amazing things said about CUs in the first half of this year, perhaps the most amazing thing remains that CU folks are often the last to find anything amazing about their business at all.
Sign, Sign, Everywhere A Sign
That "news" isn't exactly limited to the first six months of 2014; I'd narrow it down to the last 25 years or so. And yet what remains amazing to me is just how many credit union "leaders" keep running away from the model. A million people join every year? Whoopity do. An outsider evangelizes on behalf of CUs urging Americans to "transfer" their money? Whatever. Consumer surveys rank CUs in top three on "trustworthiness?" Aaa, who trusts surveys, anyway? Consumers, and especially Millennials, really identify with the cooperative model? Young people; whadda they know?
It's amazing. But here's why I bring this up. The first-half angle here is that over the past six months I've heard different people at different events all but shout this point again and again to CU audiences.
"People like the idea of a social mission," observed Randi Zuckerberg, CEO of Zuckerberg Media and the sister of Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, noting CUs were just the sort of "mission" she was referencing.
"I feel there is this big call out there," said Welby Altidor of Cirque du Soleil "Of course, we need to understand the needs and desires of people, but I think there is something bigger. People are banging at the door. It's becoming more and more irrelevant to try to create only on your own. This notion of co-creation is really important."
"Share your backstory with pride and exuberance," urged Debbie Millman, president of the Design Division at Sterling Brands. "If ever there was an organization that should be doing this, it's you. You should be thrilled to be a part of this and you should telegraph this."
"I believe in the four P's: Process, Product, People and Purpose," said John Foley, who previously led the Blue Angels. "The first three are operational, but the fourth is absolutely critical and I suggest a purpose larger than yourself. What I think is beautiful about credit unions is you have this greater purpose."
The first-half of this year has led me to conclude that probably the best thing every long-time CU insider could do would be to quit your job, work in another industry, spend some time looking in at CUs rather than out, and then get hired back. You'll be amazed how your perspective will change.
John MacDonald has that perspective. The former CU exec worked in real estate for seven years and now is back consulting for CUs. "Be confident about what you're selling," said McDonald. "You have the greatest product in the world."
My forecast for the story of the second half of the year? Most people in credit unions still won't believe him.
Some credit needs to go to the League of Southeastern Credit Unions, which mixed some New School ambitions with some Old School values at its recent meeting.
The LSCU, which represents the merged Alabama and Florida leagues, has greater ambitions, with CEO Patrick La Pine saying it is reaching out to other leagues about holding their annuals in conjunction with the meeting. It drew just over 1,000 this year, including 20 folks from outside the two states.
But for all the talk of the future, the meeting reached way back for its theme, "The 7 Cooperative Principles," which have their basis in the mid-19th century. There was extensive signage highlighting each of the principles and, let's fact it, it was probably the first time many had really ever encountered these bricks in the CU foundation.
But isn't all that just a bunch of antique "Kumbaya" stuff?
Never More Relevant
"Are the seven cooperative principles still relevant?" asked La Pine. "They've never been more relevant. But I would encourage credit unions to look back and think about the seven principles and really try to build those into the core mission of the credit union. It's just as vital that credit unions live the principles every day. There's a hunger in society for businesses and organizations grounded in values. Many CUs are developing principle-centered initiatives that generate positive economic results for their members and communities. Don't be afraid to toot your horn; we are doing great things. Leveraging the CU difference can help generate growth and financial success. It's good business."
Frank J. Diekmann can be reached at frank.diekmann@sourcemedia.com.
