Coaching has taught me something I wish more leaders understood: people are often not resisting change itself, they are resisting the fear that comes with change when no safety net feels visible.
That lesson has shaped how I think about leadership, financial wellness, and the work credit unions do every day within their communities. Scarcity mindset is about far more than money. It influences trust, decision-making, confidence, and a person’s ability to imagine a different future.
And meaningful change rarely happens quickly.
One of the phrases that has always frustrated me is: “People just need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.” The assumption embedded in that statement is that everyone has boots to begin with.
What about those wearing worn-out sneakers, stilettos, or no shoes at all?
One of the most profound leadership lessons I learned as a league president came from a credit union CEO who had invested deeply in serving a Native community through a mobile branch focused on improving financial wellness. I remember asking him how the initiative was progressing, and he admitted that progress was slower than anticipated.
What they discovered was illuminating.
Community members appreciated having a credit union present and accessible, but what they needed first were transactions, not financial education. Before conversations about wealth-building or budgeting could truly take root, trust had to be established. People needed stability. They needed safety. They needed to believe there was a net beneath them before they could begin climbing.
It took years to build those relationships.
As I reflected on that conversation, I found myself thinking about Abraham Maslow and his Hierarchy of Needs. What that CEO described made perfect sense. The credit union had entered the community with a self-actualization lens, while many community members were still navigating fundamental safety and security needs.
We often say we want to “meet people where they are,” but that becomes much harder when our worldview is filtered through abundance.
Even when I was fresh out of college and living paycheck to paycheck, I still understood, somewhere deep down, that a safety net existed. If everything fell apart, I could call my mother for help. Truthfully, I know that I still can.
That changes a person’s mindset.
Generational stability and wealth reshape how people experience risk, possibility, and decision-making. People operating from abundance are often less consumed by immediate survival, which frees emotional and mental capacity to focus outward, toward growth, contribution, and community.
Mindset shifts, especially those tied to scarcity, are rarely quick.
This is not a one-and-done approach. We cannot offer one seminar, two workshops, or even twenty financial education sessions and expect transformational change overnight. Real change happens slowly, through consistency, trust, repetition, and small wins accumulated over time.
The question becomes: Do we have the staying power to remain committed to that work?
When I first began my own coaching journey years ago, I didn’t realize how slow and uncomfortable meaningful change could feel. Patience has never exactly been my natural operating system. I tend to move quickly, decide quickly, act quickly.
What I’ve come to understand, however, is that slow and steady changes are often the ones that last.
Permanent shifts in thinking and behavior rarely arrive like fireworks. More often, they arrive like sunrise. Quietly. Gradually. Almost imperceptibly until one day you realize the landscape looks entirely different.
Perhaps that is why people are not truly resistant to change itself. More often, we resist change when we cannot see a safety net.
Mindset shifts can unsettle us at our very core. They challenge identity, assumptions, and survival instincts formed over generations.
And yet, growth asks us to explore anyway.
Eleanor Roosevelt famously said, “Do one thing every day that scares you.”
So, I’ll leave you with this:
What have you done recently that scared you?
And, are you willing to keep exploring what’s possible on the other side of that fear?
If you’re curious about how coaching might be a benefit to you or your team, please reach out.
