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Create, Test, & Adjust–Your New Mantra for Change

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

One of the inherent challenges in leading your credit union is finding a way to change things when things need to be changed.  Volumes have been written about the natural momentum in organizations that gets in the way of implementing even the best ideas.

But my point is not to lament those problems, nor to suggest magical solutions to them.  Instead my goal is to suggest that there is one critical step that needs to be taken before you even consider changing anything the you do in your credit union: Change the way you think about change.

The reality is that change is a part of any growth process.  More important, change always happens incrementally. (more…)

Posted in Creative Ideas, Improving Organizational Effectiveness, Increasing Efficiency, Leadership Development, Strategic Thinking | No Comments »

Evaluating Social Media: Are You Measuring the Right Stuff?

Friday, October 15th, 2010

Chances are you’ve heard this statement before:  If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.

When it comes to tracking results from your social media efforts, this concept creates a bit of a conundrum for credit unions. After all, how do you really measure the impacts of being part of an ongoing conversation?

It’s a bit like leaving a business meet-n-greet, and trying to evaluate your success.  You can count business cards or recall conversations, but it is virtually impossible to know what the longer-term outcomes will be from your participation in the event.

The same is generally true for your credit union’s social media efforts.  You can celebrate the number of friends and followers you attract, count your total posts and tweets, track comments and retweets, and perhaps measure responses to specific offers you make via follow-up questions or tracking codes.  But generally speaking it is not going to be easy to measure the impacts of your efforts in the short-term. (more…)

Posted in Credit Union Strategy, Effective Marketing Strategies, Improving Organizational Effectiveness | 2 Comments »

RECOMMENDED READING: The Back of the Napkin

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

Credit Union leaders spend spend much of their time thinking about ways to grow their credit unions and solve the problems they are experiencing.

Their conversations often take place on the run, at a conference table between meetings, or sometimes over lunch (when they have time to grab a bite to eat).

It’s not uncommon at some point in these conversations for someone to grab a pen and a napkin, business card, or tablet to sketch out their thoughts and explore solutions.

That’s the core premise behind Dan Roam’s book The Back of the Napkin. (more…)

Posted in Creative Ideas, Improving Organizational Effectiveness, Recommended Reading, Strategic Thinking | 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 »

Why Bookmarks Are a Great Tool in Leadership Development

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

If you’ve ever read a book that you didn’t have time to finish in a single sitting, then you know the value of a bookmark.

It’s an ingenious, though simple, invention.  Not only does it mark your place without harming your book, but it saves you time when you return and allows you to pick up right where you left off without missing a sentence.

So what does the bookmark have to do with leadership development in your credit union?  Much more than you might think.  Let me explain. (more…)

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

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