5 Tips for Credit Unions to Make Collaborations Thrive

Fred Johnson, President/CEO, CUESby: Fred Johnson, President/CEO, CUES

Credit union leaders have been moved to tears by their attendance at CUES’ CEO Institute.

Why?

They cry because the program, held over three years at top business schools, exceeds their expectations for what professional development can mean to them. Participating in the three segments, these executives learn a great deal about themselves as people and as leaders. They consider the risks they are willing to take to grow in their abilities—and to grow their credit unions. And the overall impact is enormous.

In my mind, CEO Institute is a shining example of the good fruit that can grow when collaboration is successful—when two or more partners work together to create something new.

The three segments of CUES’ CEO Institute have been held each spring at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, Cornell University’s Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, and the University of Virginia’s Darden Business School for more than a decade. In that time, I’ve learned five ways to make collaborations thrive:

1. Begin with the end in mind. Stealing from Stephen Covey, one of the most important things you can do to foster collaboration is to have a good understanding of expectations up front. Having a formal written contract can be helpful in this. One of the things that was important to CUES in working with our university partners was a year-to-year contract that included having a say in which professors taught the institutes. If things don’t work out, a contract provides guidance about how to end the collaboration smoothly.

2. Know your partners well. Even before you sign up, vet your partners. Find out their financial standing. Make sure their approach to what you want to accomplish complements yours. When we were developing the CEO Institute program, we looked at a few universities with great business schools that just didn’t yet understand executive education. For example, we knew our attendees would expect executive-style accommodations, not dorm rooms with showers down the hall.

3. Look for partners who share your vision. When we were starting CEO Institute back in the 1990s, I wanted to give credit union executives access to the finest universities in this country. Some credit union leaders started working for their credit unions when they were 18 years old. Not having formal education was cutting them out when they wanted to become CEO. Because our partners were on board, CEO Institute has provided opportunities to close that gap—and now helps even highly educated executives make next steps in their careers.

4. Look for individuals who “get it.” As an example, our lead faculty member at Cornell, Beta Mannix, keeps the program there on a really good keel. Her solid work brings our program a lot of legitimacy.

5. Make sure both parties are engaged. Collaboration shouldn’t be competitive.  Collaboration doesn’t mean competing; it means compromising. You can get anything done that you want to, so long as you don’t care who gets the credit.

Fred Johnson is president/CEO of CUES, a Madison, Wisconsin-based, independent, not-for-profit, international membership association for credit union executives. CUES’ mission is to educate and develop credit union CEOs, directors and future leaders. www.cues.org

Fred Johnson

Fred Johnson

Fred Johnson is president/CEO of CUES, a Madison, Wisconsin-based, independent, not-for-profit, international membership association for credit union executives. CUES’ mission is to educate and develop credit union CEOs, directors ... Web: www.cues.org Details