DALLAS—Kathy Garner is CEO of Catalyst Corporate Federal Credit Union. Below, Garner offers her thoughts in response to five questions posed by CUToday.info as part of “The Corner,” which offers different perspectives on leadership and management.
CUToday.info: What intangible of leadership is most difficult to convey or prepare for?
Garner: Communication, communication, communication. You can’t tell stakeholders too much information too often; it’s a constant work-in-progress. I often feel I’m conveying our strategy and progress in meeting our goals, but find out that the message is not being heard clearly or frequently enough. Because everyone processes information in a different manner, it’s important to communicate in multiple ways like in physical print, electronically, and verbally in person. The ability to get a message across and understood to all the stakeholders takes effort and patience, but in the end it is worth all the work.
CUToday.info: Are you a fan of a management book or books? If not, why not? If, which have resonated with you and why?
Garner: Yes, to a degree, because there is so much to learn from real-life experiences.
I’ve recently heard and read a couple of Simon Sinek’s books. He has a non-nonsense approach to leadership that I find very useful. Both Good to Great and Blue Ocean Strategy by Jim Collins are excellent leadership books. I also recently read Lean-In by Sheryl Sandberg and I can’t believe it took me so long to get to it.
CUToday.info: Innovation: four syllables getting all the attention. Deservedly so? If so, can you really drive innovation? Or is it coming at the cost of implementation and delivery?
Garner: Yes, I think innovation is critical to the future of the credit union industry. It has to be a part of both strategic and tactical business planning and management to survive. Of course, there’s always a balance between taking risks when creating new products, implementing new process, upgrading to new systems, etc. and managing solid on-going operations, but you have to find a way in order to grow and serve members. It’s not an either-or, but both.
CUToday.info: If you could go back and talk to You On The First Day On The Job, what advice do you share?
Garner: Stay focused and diligent on the solid strategy of providing high quality products and services to member credit unions no matter what. Listen closely to member credit unions on their future strategies to ensure Catalyst Corporate continues to provide value to their organizations. Getting out of the office and visiting with member credit unions, which I really enjoy the most, allows me to keeping listening.
CUToday.info: My Keeps-Me-Up-At-Night concern is? Why? And My-Let’s-Me-Sleep-At-Night optimism is?
Garner: My Keeps-Me-Up-At-Night concern is cyber security, because it’s out of our control and even though Catalyst Corporate’s systems are very secure and we dedicate significant resources to security, it’s still a concern.
My-Let’s—Me-Sleep-At-Night optimism comes from two places. First, Catalyst Corporate’s fantastic team of volunteers, management and staff that have made the organization so successful. Second, the amazing things our member credit unions are doing to serve their members regardless of all the obstacles they face.