Leadership should come from every level of your organization.
by: Jeff Rendel, CSP
Several years ago, I was speaking for a credit union at its all staff in-service day. Before the activities began, I was going about the meeting room visiting with staff. I introduced myself to a young lady and asked what role she served at the credit union. “Oh, I’m just a teller,” she replied, with a sinking tone that focused on the word “just.”
Swiftly, I pointed out the credit union’s CEO, who was chatting with colleagues. “Do you see your CEO?” I asked the teller. She responded with an affirmative nod. “I’ll bet that you see and serve more members in one day than your CEO sees and serves in one month, maybe one year,” I continued. “In your members’ eyes and experience, you are the CEO of the moment and transaction.”
A credit union CEO friend of mine backed up my “from-the-hip” claim and analyzed the number of member interactions among five staff member levels over one month. In a month, the credit union conducted 19,564 member interactions. Of those interactions, the CEO interacted with members five times; front-line leaders interacted with members 17,548 times. A member was 3,510 times more likely to interact with a front-line employee leader than the chief executive.
