Insider or outsider? It's the wrong question.
And so the speculation begins. With
Until the cooperative white smoke finally wafts into the air from CUNA Washington announcing to the world a new CEO has been chosen (where it will compete with all the other smoke being blown about in the capital), there will be a vault full of speculation over who will get the job and the resume that person needs to bring with them.
The chief question underpinning all the conjecture is whether the next CEO's CV should show credit union/CU association experience, or is it better to get a brand-name former politician? In other words, insider or outsider? Someone who understands CUs vs. someone who understands Washington? Someone like former congressman Dan Mica (which is funny, since I still recall sharing the news of Mica's hiring with numerous people, all of whom responded, "Who's Dan Mica?"), who has "access" and can "work the hallways?" Or someone like Bill Cheney, who has led a CU and a league?
Step Back For A Moment
But before the new hire is made, now is a good time for every CUNA affiliate to take a bigger picture view. When CUNA moved its headquarters to D.C. from Madison it was more than just a change in address, it marked a change in culture for the organization and, by default, credit unions. The gains since then in Washington have been high-profile. Credit Union House. Inclusion on lists of the "Top 10 Most Powerful" lobbies. Bold name members of Congress as speakers at meetings. But what many have missed are the losses to credit unions from that move 846 miles to the east that are far less obvious, but every bit as impactful. Maybe more so.
The new CUNA CEO will inherit a CU community that needs less Washington and more Madison Middle America. Yes, CUs won an historic legislative victory with HR 1151, but that big win came 16 years ago, and since that time? And yes, there are still threats in DC, where the tax exemption will remain in the crosshairs as long as the bankers need a target and Congress needs revenue.
Bill Clinton's signature on the CU Membership Access Act in 1998 capped the CU fight for the bill, but it launched a big momentum and focus shift for CUNA that continues today. The new CUNA CEO is going to have an equally big challenge in reversing some of that tide, but it needs to be done. Credit unions have never been about making the A List or inside-the-beltway cocktail parties. They have always instead been about the over-the-desk, heart-to-hearts with members, especially those considered "D List' by other financial services providers. Too often that's forgotten.
And there's something else in play. You know the numbers. A couple of hundred credit unions disappear every year, lost to mismanagement, to being too small to ever really be viable, and to mergers in the absence of succession plans or the endless search for the Holy Grail of efficiencies. What's sad is I've heard from many who never wanted to merge, from CEOs and managers who loved their work and their credit unions, but who in the end found the help available from the trade association to be disappointing and the regulatory load to be just plain crushing.
The new CUNA CEO needs to start there, taking that "Unite for Good" slogan that's aimed at Congress and apply it internally.
So it isn't about inside or outside. What's needed in the new CUNA CEO is inside and outside. Inside, a burning passion for the cooperative model and how it can be leveraged to help CUs outside the beltway to grow and serve members. Outside, a passion for the co-op model and its resonance inside the beltway. CUNA already has a SVP-Political Affairs; maybe a new chief can shuffle things to create a SVP-Internal Collaboration.
I haven't spoken to Bill Cheney yet about his departure, but I'm guessing it comes with a fair amount of relief. First, the job requires "working" with Congress (words typically followed by "LOL"). Second, given the polarized demands of its membership, the CUNA CEO job is in many ways a no-win position. I recall former CEO Ralph Swoboda once remarking that CUNA CEOs generally last about seven years. Cheney made it to four.
Who Needs It?
Whomever CUNA's board selects, that person is going to wake up on plenty of mornings wondering what hotel they are in and questioning, "Do I really need this &*%$?" (I'm wagering the near seven-figure salary should help with the &*%$.) That's just the nature of a large, diverse, democratic association. It won't happen, but it would help if the "affiliates" would remember that.
Insider vs. outsider? That debate misses the point. There are people inside CUs who could become a Magellan — or steer the ship right into the iceberg. There are people outside CUs who could build the New England Patriots — or the Cleveland Browns.
The direction CUNA sails and whether credit unions act as a cohesive team isn't about where someone comes from, it's about where everyone intends to be headed.
Frank J. Diekmann can be reached at
