Highlights from the CUNA CFO Council Conference

The 535 credit union finance professionals attending the 22nd annual CUNA CFO Council Conference in Anaheim, Calif., learned about the power of communication, the dangers of information security breaches, the challenge of onerous regulations, and the revolution occurring in big data.

The conference concluded Wednesday with a presentation by culture expert Jim Knight, who believes many leaders underestimate the impact of messages from the top, either formally through mission statements and memos, or informally through casual conversation.

“They don’t realize the power of what they can do to inspire, motivate, reward, recognize achievement,” Knight said.

His challenge for credit union leaders: What could you say that would warrant people coming to work every day and being proud of it, not just complying?

Kicking off the conference was a presentation by retired naval commander Mike Abrashoff, who transformed an underperforming ship by instilling ownership among the crew.

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