Don’t you just love all of this change and uncertainty? Coming to work every single day and you have no idea what is coming at you.
Just think about the world we live in today—constanthc_temp_spacedisruption—geopolitical tensions, rising inflation, and oh yes let’s not forget the divisiveness and social discourse. Then there is the world of credit unions—you have to deal with regulations, advancements in technology, and just trying to find people to work and fill leadership positions is a constant battle.
There ishc_temp_spaceso much uncertainty and we have not even gotten to your personal lives yet. Imagine if you are feeling this level of discomfort with uncertainty what your employees must be going through? And imagine how much their inability to navigate so much change is impacting your ability to grow?
How is uncertainty impacting your credit union?
Well you don’t have to imagine because the statistics tell the story.
183%—that is how much the pace of change has increased in the last four years.
33%—that is how much change will increase this year—proving the pace is not slowing down.
86%—that is the percent of employees report being overwhelmed and burned out—AND feeling their leaders are not giving them tools or training to help them.
$300 Billion—that is how much the constant pressure and stress is costing US based companies in terms of bottom-line results.
If you want to succeed in this fast paced and constantly shifting marketplace then you need to embrace uncertainty and build a team that is mentally fit, powerfully resilient and captively strong. As a leader, managing change is just not enough, you need to help your teams learn to embrace it, plan for it, and literally control it.
5 strategies to build a team that is powerfully resilient and competitively strong
- Lead with vision: With so much change and uncertainty in the marketplace you need to help your team focus, focus on what is possible. A leader with a strong vision gives their team a critical component of success—hope. And when teams have hope they find belief—and with belief they will create action. And action is how you turn uncertainty to competitive advantage.
- Condition your team for change: If you want a team that embraces change, then as a leader you need to get them in shape for change. In other words use the time that you have now to build your team’s comfort with change, their resilience and their skills to deal with the shifts that are coming. Change can be your teams greatest opportunity if you and they see it coming and plan for it.
- Lean on values: Being clear on who you are, what you want and how you lead is critical if you want to build a competitively strong team. Being in alignment helps your team understand what is important, what you prioritize, and creates trust. When team members understand the values, believe you as a leader lead to your values, then they believe you can get them through uncertainty, and they will engage at a much deeper level. hc_temp_space
- Strengthen engagement: The one thing your team wants in the face of uncertainty is the one thing you cannot give them—certainty.hc_temp_spaceAnd while you cannot give them that, you can give them the next best thing—engagement. Engagement comes by shifting your leadership style from one of “tell direct” to “ask direct”. In other words, learning to lead through the power of the question. When you ask people for their ideas and opinions they feel valued, important, and as if they have some level of control.
- Focus on productivity: And last but not least you need to lead your team to be productive and lead them away from settling for busy. In other words, understand that some of the things they are doing right now will not work a year from now because the marketplace is changing. Lead your team to focus on priorities, revenue producing tasks, and those strategies that move your credit union forward.
I get it, it is challenging out there. And like you, I am trying to grow a business in the face of so much uncertainty and change. Add to that, I live in Asheville, North Carolina, an area ravaged by Hurricane Helene. And in the last month I have seen the worst of weather and the best of humanity—and from this experience I have learned a few things about becoming powerfully resilient and competitively strong.
- Be prepared: To succeed you need to be prepared, even for what you think may never happen. Tough times are coming your way at some point, and the more you invest in preparing yourself and your team, the more successful you will be.
We all laughed at the preppers. Those people who had two years worth of food, enough gas to fill up every car, and ham radios for communication. Then we woke up to no water, no food, no gas, now power, no internet—not for a day, not for a week, but for close to a month. We all relied on the preppers to get us through, thankful they prepared. - Drive with purpose: If this is nothing more than a job for you or your team, it will not be enough to get you through change and uncertainty—you need more. That more is purpose, a reason, the “why” you are doing what you do.
If you came to Asheville right now you would not believe it has been a month since the hurricane hit. It looks like a bomb went off. You would think the challenge in front of us is too hard, and you would be right. But the residents of Western North Carolina, my community, are driven by something so much bigger than clean-up, we are driven by purpose. Driven to get our lives, our community, our economy, our way of life back. We are driven by what we love and value that will ensure we accomplish the impossible. - Invest In community: Last but not least, the greatest asset you have is the network you have built. No technology, no strategy is more valuable when it comes to getting through change and uncertainty. The more connected you are, the more connected your team is, the easier navigating change will be.
In the face of this disaster, survival came down to one thing—neighbor helping neighbor, people giving and supporting one another, and our dedication to our connection and community.
We are living in unprecedented times—the pace of change is almost unmanageable. But if you invest in the strategies in this article, if you stop managing change and start leading it, you will not only build a team that is powerfully resilient and mentally strong, but you will turn all of this uncertainty to your competitive advantage.
