By Frank J. Diekmann
I’m about to share three words with you (technically, it’s two) and kindly ask that you give me a minute and not immediately stop reading just because you’ve heard them before: people helping people.
I know, I know. You’re thinking, “I’m good on the philosophy, Frank.” Or, “Thanks, but I just rolled up my sleeping bag from Kamp Kumbaya.” Or, most likely, “Check, please.”
But if you’re still here, there were a couple of very good observations made about this credit union motto (that is used by numerous other causes, as well) during last week’s NACUSO Network meeting in Orlando, and it had to do with one word: Helping. Credit unions leaders and speakers and the common folk in the pews sing the refrain from the CU Hymnal like they’re beads on a rosary, but what does people helping people really mean?
During a discussion by a panel that included three CEOs, Chad Miller, president and CEO of the $172-million Southwest Louisiana CU, told the meeting “We have been thinking about what does that ‘help’ mean in people helping people and how can you be a catalyst for that? So, really, everything that we dive into or that we're getting into has that purpose in mind. It's the community impact and it's how can we really be embedded into our communities.”
What if We Left?
Miller posed a question I’ve heard some other credit unions and boards ask themselves, and it’s one that requires some frankness and humility.
“If we left Lake Charles (La.) or went away for whatever reason, would our community to feel it?” Miller asked.
In the case of his $172-million credit union, Miller said, “I can resoundingly say yes, because of all the work that we're able to do. We’ve partnered with a local nonprofit health center. We’ve created a true partnership where no one had access to financial services and now we have a full-time employee there. We’ve started a food pantry in a few of our branches.”
People Asking Why?
Brandon Michaels, the CEO of OneAZ Credit Union in Arizona, who was also on the panel, said his CU has tackled that question in a different way.
“It all starts with the mission and why we get up every day. I came to OneAZ and they were very successful, but they were lacking something, which was the ‘why’,” he shared. “We came up with the inspiration to be a trailblazer and to inspire dreams. We are trying to make a difference in parts of the community that are underserved.”
Were you and I sitting at some roundtables right now as part of a chapter meeting or a larger conference and someone posed this question about what “helping” means, you can go ahead and bet your salary and all your vacation and sick days that the whiteboard will quickly fill as those around us eagerly shout out the usual stuff about “dreams” and “first cars” and “financial education” and the like.
It's Not Always About the Good News
But Tansley Stearns, CEO of Community Financial CU in Michigan, reminded that behind all the rose petals you often find thorns—and that’s when members really need help.
“We have been listening a lot...We want to be in members’ magnificent moments, but also in moments that are very dark, such as divorce or death or cancer. Those all have financial implications,” she said. “We have been working to figure out the underpinnings of those moments and meeting people in those times. We think that can be a differentiator…We invite people to think about those joyful moments and how we can create that and have real pride in who we are as an organization…We also feel we can make a difference in the darkest moment in someone's life.”
Three More Words
Here are three more words heard almost as often as those above: “credit union story.” Nearly everyone has heard that they need to do a better job of telling their stories. Member stories. Stories drawn from data. Even employee stories.
How good are you at telling the story?
During the NACUSO meeting, Aston, Penn.-based Woop Insurance set up unique booth in the exhibit hall in which people could sit down and be video-recorded as they shared their “credit union story.”
Ed Liberati of Aston, Penn.-based Woop Insurance, said the company will review all of the entries—it is seeking stories that “resonate”--and select a winner within the next week of two. The winning CU will then receive a $100,000 share certificate deposit for at least a year, he told CUToday.info
“Liquidity is an issue, and this is a good way to meet them where they are,” Liberati said.
I regret to say that while there were participants, attendees were not lined up to tell their stories, perhaps because they don’t believe they have a good story to tell or don’t know how to tell it.
Who Will Tell It?
That’s pretty basic stuff to know, and it would be an interesting experiment inside any credit union to ask the employees how they would tell your credit union’s story.
Let's never forget this chapter and verse: if credit unions don’t tell their stories, you know who will. And it won't end with a "happlly ever after.".
Frank J. Diekmann is Cooperator in Chief of CUToday.info and can be reached at Frank@CUToday.info. Mr. Diekmann is also author of several new book, including the brand new “The Last Lyric,” a humorous satire about a murder investigation at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in which every line of dialogue is either a classic pop/rock song title or lyric. Available on Amazon, Apple iBook, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords. Mr. Diekmann is also author of a non-fiction compilation of the very best & worst he has seen and heard in covering more than 500 CU meetings and conferences, “501 Name Tags: How Everything You Need to Know About Business Can Be Learned at a Conference & Forgotten in the Trade Show.” It is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Lulu, and Smashwords.