I have a New Year's Resolution for America's credit unions: Take your own advice. It could be the single-biggest difference-maker in decades.
This resolution applies to federal and state charters, large and small, communitybased and traditional single sponsors. And the news gets even better, as it also applies to CUSOs and state and national associations and even suppliers. Incredibly, it's even applicable to regulators.
So what is this 2014 resolution for credit unions that is so powerful it could unite groups that can't even agree that they agree to disagree? It's this: Take your own advice and unite for good!
Wait just a minute, you're saying. We're already doing that. In fact, that's so 2012. You're thinking "Our credit union has gone all in on this CUNA-created slogan and cause," and now you're wondering if you shouldn't move on, maybe see what's on page 5. You're thinking, "Hey, Frank, that's just what we're doing. We're sending out press releases, dialing our reps, and tweeting like teenage girls at a One Direction concert."
Should Be Job #1, But...
All that's great except, that it's not. Let it be hereby resolved that in 2014 credit unions Unite for Good internally. It should be Job No. 1; instead it's the job no one is doing, because what so needs to be done is going to make a lot of people uncomfortable.
In any organization or cause, anytime there is an internal divide that no one wants to deal with, the easiest thing to do is to get everyone focused on some external threat, real or imagined. That's exactly the role credit unions play, for instance, for the ABA.
Credit union folks spent 2013 standing on their collective front porch shouting the CU story for all to hear. But like the doctor who needs to heal thyself first, the best thing credit unions could do this year is get off that porch for a while and go back in the house for a family sit-down. It's going to mean some nervous fidgeting around the dining room table, but like a family intervention, what a difference practicing the "unite for good" preaching will make.
CUNA CEO Bill Cheney has explained that Unite for Good is a strategic, shared vision in which "Americans choose credit unions as their best financial partner." It's a fine message. But for 2014, I'd recommend a slight twist: "Credit unions choose credit unions as their best financial partner." If you're wondering what I mean by that, you're not paying attention to what's going on behind all those rosy numbers being reported.
Late last year, then-brand new NCUA board member Rick Metsger traveled to the California and Nevada leagues' annual meeting to introduce himself. NCUA board members typically offer some canned, good news remarks about lending or asset growth and, indeed, Metsger quoted from the playbook. But then he changed the play, pointing out that the numbers are "industry" numbers and don't reflect the whole story.
"The smallest credit unions are struggling," said Metsger, who in the past served on a CU board. "As a cooperative movement, we need to tackle that." Those struggles he said, can be seen in the fact the agency is approving a merger once every 12 business hours.
Hate To Brag, But...
I don't like to brag-after all, that's what Facebook is for-but I attended around two dozen state league meetings in 2013 plus another half-dozen national conferences. That's right: two-dozen state league meetings! I heard humorists who had audiences LOLing, inspiring stories of personal triumph (including a woman who spoke for 10 minutes on stage before informing everyone she was actually blind), futurists (best gig ever), and enough "experts" on social media for a 140-million character tweet.
Here's what I almost never heard: peergroup-leading credit unions sitting down with fellow cooperatives in their respective states saying, "Here's what we did; how we did it; and how you can do it, too."
Frankly, with the exception of the brandname keynoter needed to get folks to pay up and register for meetings, that's all that should be on the agenda at any league confab. Every state has CUs that are success stories in all asset categories, although it's usually the largest. They need to be sharing their stories and teaching others, especially smaller CUs (this is exactly what CU Journal seeks to do with our annual Grow Show).
The Uncomfortable Part
And that's where the uncomfortable part of this intervention arrives, as many of you are thinking, "But some of our larger credit unions don't want to share strategies with 'competitors.' " That's wrong on so many levels. Philosophically, it's wrong (People Helping People applies first to the preachers of that message); pragmatically it's wrong (the small CUs that make up 75% of the "movement" are the primary protectors of the tax exemption); and practically it's wrong (there's a whole lotta marketshare left for everyone).
Many 2014 conference agendas are being planned right now. Put the cooperate in cooperative, and let it be hereby resolved that in the new year credit unions will Unite for Good with each other-or be divided forever.
Frank J. Diekmann can be reached at
