Be nice or leave

Teamwork makes life do-able. You need it to make loads lighter and celebrations more joyful. But wanting it and having it are two different things. What one trait can help build a better team at your credit union? An annual training session? Maybe for the day. A fun team building exercise? Sorta kinda, for a few weeks. What if I told you that building ongoing synergy is as easy as being nice?

The most common problem we tackle at our credit unions is buy-in from the front line. This is the place where teamwork—or the lack thereof—appears first. The root of this problem is often as simple as a culture that is not bad, but not intentionally cultivated or vision-centered.

Being nice isn’t a new concept in promoting positive culture in the workplace. Stephen Covey says this in his 1989 book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:  “Members of productive teams take the effort to understand each other, find a way to relate to each other, and then try to make themselves understood.”

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