Onsite: CUES Symposium Day 2

It’s day 2 of CUES Symposium and we are still sitting in our orange desks, and while it might be a bit uncomfortable at times (by forcing us to think outside the box, or face realities we’d rather ignore), it’s also refreshing and liberating. No single credit union is facing change alone, and while all of our struggles might be slightly differently, it’s empowering to know there’s a support system in place.

Today’s discussion revolves around keeping that support team focused on the goals. Your team will never feel inspired or motivated unless you have set clear and precise goals for yourself. It’s time for us to wake up and get focused. The best way to approach this is to work from the outside in, think of a funnel, and we are going to get more and more specific as we go.

Big picture: In one word, what is success? Ask yourself, ask your team, and ask your family. Do you all picture success in a similar way? If so, great! If not, find out about the discrepancies so that everyone can be on the same page moving forward. There’s nothing more frustrating than to get halfway into something and realize that the team had completely different takes on what the outcome was meant to look like; so save yourself time, energy and headaches, by investing a little more upfront.

Now it’s time to set the goals, and while I can’t give you a specific formula of how your individual credit union should do that, and where the focus should be I can tell you how to point your compass in the right direction. Have your leadership team answer the following questions with one or two words:

In the next 90 days what do I want to become? Better listener? More open minded? Take more risks?

In the next 90 days what do I want to experience? Collaborative planning session? The launch of a new idea?

In the next 90 days what do I want to contribute? Do you have a particular skill set that could be useful to accomplishing an experience?

In the next 90 days what connections do I want to make? Who are the key players to helping you do the first 3?

Once you’ve answered these, you’ve headed the right direction. These 4 questions help you determine your values, and when it comes to accomplishing goals, and staying focused if they don’t align with what we truly care about and value then success will be a challenge.

Opportunities for your credit union to succeed are every where, you just have to have enough focus to see them.