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The Critical Connection Between Culture and Strategy

Friday, December 3rd, 2010

The connection between a credit union’s strategy and its culture is a critical component of its strategic success.  If the culture is strong, then words and actions are aligned.

When you are able to combine that alignment with a well-defined long-term strategy that is clearly communicated to the team and used to guide day-to-day actions, you greatly increase the chances of achieving your long-term vision.

The diagram above summarizes the inherent interconnectedness of strategy and culture.  The opportunity for today’s credit union leaders is to assess where they are in the diagram and then define an action plan that moves them toward the lower right quadrant where the credit union thrives.

ACTION ADVICE: Take a serious look at the culture in your credit union and its alignment with your overall strategy.  Which of the four quadrants in the diagram best describes where you are today?  Which of the quadrant descriptions best fits you credit union?  What is keeping you from moving into the Thriving quadrant?  Define your 2011 action plan with a goal of moving away from your current position and toward your desired position.

Posted in Credit Union Strategy, High Performance Culture Building, Strategic Planning, Strategic Thinking | No Comments »

Leadership Development: Who Are You Going to Thank Today?

Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010

It’s an easy thing to do, and few actions that a credit union leader can take will have a bigger impact.

But it’s also easy not to do, and that’s why it often doesn’t get done.

Yet no act of leadership is more powerful than personal appreciation–the simple act of extending your genuine thanks to an individual employee for something specific that they have done.

For the best impact, follow these three guidelines (and make time to do this every day for at least one member of your credit union team):

1. Deliver the thank you either in person, via a handwritten note, via a letter sent to the employee’s family, or in a public setting at an appropriate time.

2. Make the thank you specific by tying it to something that the person has done versus just saying something like “we appreciate all that you do for the credit union.”

3. Don’t wait for a special occasion or event, but rather deliver the thank you as close as possible to the performance of the act so that you are connecting the behavior to the recognition.

ACTION ADVICE: Identify someone on your credit union team who deserves a thank you and deliver it before you do the next thing on your to do list for the day.  Don’t wait.  Just take action and do it.  Repeat it tomorrow and the next day and the next until you develop the habit.  You’ll be amazed at the difference it will make for your team if every day they see you taking the time to show your appreciation for the specific things that team members do.  And over time the focus of activity will be directed toward doing the things that you are appreciating…which are the things that you need the team to do and the things that will grow your credit union.

Posted in Creative Ideas, High Performance Culture Building, Improving Communication, Leadership Development | No Comments »

It’s Time to Bury the Hatchet

Thursday, November 4th, 2010

Today’s post is a bit different from the norm, but I hope that it will resonate with blog readers, and that they will pass it along to others.  If we all remind our elected leaders of these realities, perhaps we can motivate them to act on the challenging issues that we face today and stop constantly running for the offices they now hold.

It’s been two days since the election, and in my home county that means it’s Return Day.

For the uninitiated, Return Day is an old-time tradition where the citizens journey to the county seat to hear the results of the election.  It dates to the days when we didn’t have the technological capacity to project winners within minutes of the polls closing or know the results before the late night news on election day.

Here’s roughly how it works in Sussex County Delaware.

Around mid-day today the people will gather along a parade route (even though it’s raining today) to watch the candidates, both the winners and the losers, parade past waving at the crowd and thanking them for voting.  Symbolically they will ride side-by-side in horse drawn carriages representing the fact that the people have spoken and the winner now must fulfill the responsibilities of the office.

Once all the candidates have paraded past the citizenry, the town crier will appear on the courthouse steps to announce the results of the election to those who have gathered.  Then comes a powerful and symbolic gesture that we can all learn from and apply in our lives every day.

A representative of each party is called forward and the two grasp a ceremonial hatchet and bury it in a box of sand that is sealed and remains that way until the next election.  The burying of the hatchet represents the end of the election cycle and reminds the newly elected leaders that their job now is to serve the people and put the party politics away until the next election.

It’s a powerful tradition and one that reminds everyone why the election was actually held–to elect those who would fulfill the duties of the respective offices until the next election.  And it’s something that I personally wish every elected official would spend some time thinking about and acting upon.

NOTE:  You can learn more about Return Day by clicking here and visiting the website.

Posted in Creative Ideas, High Performance Culture Building, Improving Organizational Effectiveness, Leadership Development | 1 Comment »

What Can You Improve Today?

Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010

OK, we all know it.  Times are challenging, the economy is not what we wish it was, and just about everyone I know has had it beyond ‘up to here’ with all the negative political ads.

But today is a new day and so is tomorrow and so is the next day.  And on each of those days, and the ones that follow, you have a choice.  You can either join the whiners, complainers, and worriers, OR you can decide to be the one who swims against the tide.

Here’s an easy way to do just that.

Every day make a commitment to ask and answer this question: What Can I Improve Today?

Long-term success is seldom the result of huge changes or massive programs.  It comes more from small steps taken every day and repeated over time.

When you commit to improving something every day, you will develop a powerful habit, a winning perspective, and you will begin to slowly but surely improve your credit union.  And that is what will lead to long term success for you and your team.

ACTION ADVICE: Start today by asking and answering the question: What Can I Improve Today?  Teach everyone on your team to do the same.  Focus on making the small incremental improvements that require no approvals, no discussion, no debate, and no committees.  Try it for 21 days and you’ll see a dramatic impact–one that will encourage you to continue the process and make it part of your routine.

Ideas to get you started…No doubt as you think about this you find yourself wondering where to start.  Here are five quick ideas you might consider:

1. Improve the attitude of an employee by catching them doing something right and letting them know you appreciate it.

2. Improve your personal efficiency by taking five minutes to set up the files you need in your e-mail system that will make it easier for you to file and track communications about specific subjects.

3. Move that trash can, file cabinet, table, desk, or whatever it is that you have been thinking about moving for a long time, but just never get around to moving.

4. Create a new spreadsheet where you track the little things that need to be improved so that you always have a place to capture your ideas and a place to go to find one to tackle when nothing comes to mind on a given day.

5. Fix something that is broken or call someone in to fix it.  There are often lots of little things around the office or the branch that need minor fixes that everyone knows about, but no one owns.  Be the one who takes ownership and takes care of it.

Posted in Creative Ideas, High Performance Culture Building, Improving Organizational Effectiveness, Increasing Efficiency | No Comments »

RECOMMENDED READING: Rules of Thumb for Improving Leadership

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

Leadership is not easy.  Everything changes from day to day, the environment is never certain, and the time to celebrate successes is often eclipsed by the next crisis.

For credit union leaders the recent past has been a challenge to say the least.  And at times like this its helpful to have a few simple guidelines that can help you navigate the waters.

In Rules of Thumb, author Alan M. Webber provides 52 such rules that credit union leaders can learn from.  Though Webber writes from the perspective of small business and entrepreneurship, his insights can easily be adapted to the very small-business like world of credit unions. (more…)

Posted in High Performance Culture Building, Improving Communication, Improving Organizational Effectiveness, Leadership Development, Recommended Reading | No Comments »

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