Part 1: New rules for CUs – Is your board aligned and ready?

Brace yourself. Data, one of the biggest influencers of our time, has a few lessons for us that may be bitter to taste and even harder to swallow. Nonetheless, we hope the lessons stimulate your appetite for action.

A few dynamics are becoming more critically important as we reconsider processes in response to  COVID-19. Something has to change drastically in the conversations regarding board composition and succession.

Everything needs to be reevaluated to construct a sustainable new normal. Some credit unions have to make the difficult choice of closing branches and furloughing staff; one CEO plainly said, “It sucks … and we’re embracing the suck.” This situation is requiring credit unions to innovate new ways of doing the basics. Some of these new practices will stick, such as metered remote workforces, and some new practices will likely not stick, halting expansion plans.

One thing is clear, the organization will emerge a different shape. That should encourage require boards, like the organizations they oversee, to put every topic on the table. A board chair recently said to us, “A wrecking ball hit our boardroom. We’re being forced to rethink everything.”

 

continue reading »