We are living in a hurry up world. People move faster than conversation, faster than thought, faster than care. December is perhaps the greatest example. It arrives softly and then evaporates. We blink and suddenly half the month is gone, and we ask ourselves how time passed without our permission. Members feel it. Employees feel it. Leaders feel it. I feel it too.
Members come to us seeking answers and support and often hope. What they truly ask is simple. Help me quickly. Respect my time. Make this less complicated than the rest of my life. They may not speak those words aloud, yet the message remains clear. Please do not slow me down. I am doing my best to hold the pieces of this month together.
But members are not the only ones rushing. So are we. Our employees, our teams, and the person writing these words. In that hurry things slip. A detail is missed. A step forgotten. A document is sent to the wrong individual who instantly catches it. Not out of carelessness but because the pace is unforgiving and the work is human.
I wish I could tell you I have solved this. In truth I have not. I have stumbled through the same rush and felt the pressure to move faster even when my heart knew slow would be wiser. Sometimes I wonder if the passion I carry for this movement resonates the way it once did. I ask myself if newer employees feel the calling as deeply as I do. Has the generation changed or have we? Reflection must begin with me. If I cannot name the question, then I cannot lead us toward the answer.
I was taught that when a member walks into the credit union, we should greet them as an honored guest. In my mind I hear Be Our Guest playing softly with the red carpet unfurled across the lobby floor. It was never about the song or the carpet. It was about the feeling. The member should feel seen and valued. This is something I will never apologize for. It is the spirit this movement was built on.
Yet it is harder to teach that spirit today. Work has quickened. Demands have multiplied. Efficiency is essential and yet efficiency without warmth is simply a transaction. And I believe we were called to something greater than transactions. Our work is stewardship. It is opportunity. It is the chance to place our credit unions in a position to help the people Louise Herring dedicated her life to protect. When we hurry so much that we forget why we serve, we lose what makes us different.
I know this is something we must get right if we expect our mission to endure. We do not have to choose between speed and care. Or between innovation and humanity. Or between digital strength and personal connection. The future requires both. Our systems must support our employees, so they do not have to rush to survive. Our members must feel known even as we move with efficiency. The experience should be smooth and comforting like that first sip of morning Diet Coke that offers steadiness in a chaotic world.
Hurry is the enemy, not speed itself. Hurry creates stress and mistakes and frustration for all involved. But where efficiency meets humanity, credit unions shine. When we master that balance, particularly in this fleeting month, we do more than keep pace.
We lead with purpose. We serve with heart. We honor our roots. We become the credit unions we were created to be.
And it begins with us slowing down long enough to remember why.
