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The CUInsight Experience: Expecting the best (#202)

“Recognize your own humanity and give yourself the resources you need to cultivate optimism.” - Jill Nowacki

Jill and Randy WP Post

Welcome to episode 202 of The CUInsight Experience podcast with your hosts, Randy Smith, co-founder of CUInsight.com, and Jill Nowacki, President and CEO of Humanidei.

This episode is sponsored by Trellance. Trellance is a leading technology partner for credit unions, delivering innovative technology solutions to help credit unions achieve more. With a comprehensive suite of analytics, cloud and talent solutions, the Trellance team ensures credit unions increase efficiency, manage risk, and improve member experience.

In this season Jill and I will have conversations centered around leadership, credit unions, and living our best lives. We will have some of the most respected leaders from around credit unions who we are grateful to call friends join us in the discussion from time to time too.

In this episode, you will hear us discuss the importance of optimism, especially as a leader. We unpack the differences (as well as similarities) between being optimistic and being realistic and Jill stresses why it’s so incredibly important that leaders set an example of optimism for their teams.

Not everyone is naturally inclined toward optimism, so we discuss some ways to cultivate it, and Jill highlights the importance of understanding that even though it’s crucial for leaders to model optimism, it’s important to understand that leaders are humans who have bad days as well, and we describe ways to match optimism with pessimism and find a happy medium. 

Whether you naturally lean more toward pessimism or toward optimism, this episode is one that you won’t want to miss!



Shout-out: Nav Khanna
Shout-out: First City Credit Union
Place mentioned: Pasadena, CA
Place mentioned: Altadena, CA
Shout-out: The National Credit Union Foundation
Shout-out: CUAid
Shout-out: Brad Bergmooser
Shout-out: Apple
Shout-out: Amazon
Shout-out: American Airlines
Shout-out: Facebook
Book mentioned: The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday & Stephen Hanselman
Resource mentioned: Ryan Holiday’s newsletter
Book mentioned: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Shout-out: Tansley Stearns
Shout-out: Danielle Frawley
Shout-out: Jamie Marks
Book mentioned: Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect by Will Guidara
Shout-out: Audible
Shout-out: Google
Previous guests mentioned in this episode: Rachel Pross (episode 56), Tansley Stearns (episodes 36 & 146)

[01:20] – We are talking today about optimism – excellent leadership requires optimism.
[04:21] – Jill touches upon the idea of pronoia – the opposite of paranoia.
[06:21] – Pausing to consider if a stressor will matter in a year can help shift perspective.
[08:12] – How do we cultivate optimism if it doesn’t come naturally?
[10:07] – Leaders should guide negative team members toward focusing on solutions.
[13:46] – Effective leaders look past obstacles, focusing on consistent progress while avoiding unchecked optimism.
[15:09] – Jill points out that staying optimistic, planning thoughtfully, and considering different viewpoints boosts your chances of success.
[16:55] – Randy discusses how recognizing the ebbs and flows of optimism can help leaders maintain balance in difficult situations.
[18:46] – Optimism helps build resilience by reflecting on past challenges and surrounding yourself with positive influences.
[20:49] – Randy argues that leaders must remain empathetic while managing outrage fueled by social media algorithms.
[22:58] – Jill believes that optimism cultivates belief in meaningful work.
[25:13] – Effective optimism balances values and realistic goals to create solutions.
[27:01] – Celebrating small wins helps leaders cultivate optimism and inspire progress during challenging times.
[29:05] – We offer our key takeaways from the episode.