PayThink

A home is invaded, the homeowner murdered and the entire house ransacked. This is an unfortunate tragedy that is all too familiar.

The concept of "best practices" is routinely used when discussing benchmarking operational approaches. Establishing benchmark best practices are reliable methods that over time prove to have desirable outcomes.

Feel it's time for you to hear my side of the story on "the little scuffle" that broke out between Hubert Hoosman and me at the GAC back in February. The "dust up" occurred downstairs around the exhibit area near the Washington Hilton coffee shop. Evidently, several of you who witnessed the brouhaha assumed it was a "racial incident" and, knowing Hubert Hoosman to be a fine gentleman, readily assumed that I had provoked the whole thing! Well, you're right, it was my fault. But, just perhaps, you may have reached the right conclusion for entirely the wrong reasons. Let me explain.

They may be secretive, but at least they're consistent.

Since its inception in 1967, NAFCU has led the charge to ensure a solid voice for federal credit unions and to protect challenges to their interests and those of their members.

A credit union's brand is the place it holds in the minds of its members. In the same way, its internal brand, or culture, resides in the minds of its employees. Culture amounts to the written and unwritten rules that govern how employees behave, think and feel. The external and internal brand must be aligned because it's very difficult to deliver an exceptional member experience, without an exceptional staff experience.

If you're the CEO or manager of a credit union, then you are likely also a published author. Whether you're a best seller or not may seem to be determined by the size of the credit union's membership, but lots of books that get big advance print runs end up heading to the discount table or being boxed up and returned to the publisher for a credit.

I read with interest your facilities feature articles (CUJ May 14). Good information.

For some reason in Credit Union Land we've decided to pick this moment in time to all figure out what we want to be when we grow up. I know here in the Richmond, Va. area, most, if not all, the credit unions have or are in the process of rebranding. It seems to be our magic eraser, a chance to start over, and make our old, stale brands fresh and new in the minds of our members and potential members.

It was like a Gen Y focus group on steroids everywhere you looked. High schoolers by the hundreds-one person said there were more than a thousand-a glued-together-by-acne-cream mass of iPods and cell phones and chattering girls and voice-breaking boys divided into cliques of six to eight as if they were all connected by a Slinky, snapping back anyone who strayed too far away.