Skip to main content

The place for all things credit union™
Log in
The CUInsight Experience

The CUInsight Experience podcast: Curiosity with Caroline Willard (#221)

“Failure’s mistakes teach us so much more than our successes ever do.” – Caroline Willard

CUIE 221 Site PostEmail

Welcome to episode 221 of The CUInsight Experience podcast with your hosts, Randy Smith, co-founder of CUInsight, and Jill Nowacki, President and CEO of Humanidei.

This episode is sponsored by The Sheeter Group - a leading executive benefits firm that meets your retention and succession needs. This includes non-qualified benefit plans, short and long-term incentive plans, compensation studies, scorecard design, performance evaluation, and more. Learn more at sheetergroup.com.

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, we have Caroline Willard returning to the podcast. Caroline is the President and CEO of Cornerstone League, and she joins us for this episode to discuss the importance of embracing curiosity as a leader. Curiosity is an essential leadership trait that pushes us out of familiar thinking and opens new worlds of possibility, but it also goes hand-in-hand with vulnerability, showing that leaders don't have all the answers and are open to and welcoming of new ideas.

Curious leaders are constantly learning, reading across diverse genres, and are fascinated by the creative processes of others—whether business leaders or rock stars. However, as we discuss, it does not always come naturally. After all, doing things by rote is easier, and leaders may fear failure.

We also talk about the tendency to get comfortable with the status quo, even if new tools or technologies could drive greater efficiency, and we discuss how curiosity requires vulnerability, resilience in the face of challenges and setbacks, and a willingness to pause and reflect to truly understand the root causes behind said challenges.

Curiosity is ultimately a choice and a practice and is truly one of the simplest ways for leaders to model openness, adaptability, and creative problem-solving for their teams. By remaining curious, leaders can uncover new possibilities, make better-informed decisions, and lead their teams to greater success! We hope that you enjoy our conversation with Caroline Willard!

How to find Caroline

Caroline Willard

Caroline Willard

Cornerstone League

Caroline Willard is president and CEO of Cornerstone League, one of the largest and most influential trade associations in the United States. She took the helm of the association – which represents credit unions in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas – and its subsidiaries, Cornerstone Resources and Cornerstone Foundation in April 2017. As president and CEO of Cornerstone, she is responsible for growing both the for-profit and not-for-profit sides of the association and strengthening its value proposition through relevant services and support at the state level and in Washington, D.C. ...

Willard serves as vice chair on the Credit Union National Association board and serves on the Credit Unions for Kids and Plexcity boards of directors. She is also the chair of CUNA’s Advocacy committee for 2023.

Prior to joining Cornerstone, Willard worked for CO-OP Financial Services (now Co-op Solutions) as executive vice president, markets and strategy. During her tenure, she also handled mergers and acquisitions, relationship management, marketing, product development, and strategic planning. Willard has worked at financial institutions, as well: Downey Savings in Newport Beach, Calif., and American First Credit Union in La Habra, Calif.

Willard earned a Bachelor of Arts at California State University, Fullerton, and a Master of Business Administration at Pepperdine University.

Want to hear more from Caroline? Click here.
Shout-out: Audible
Book mentioned: Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen
Shout-out: Jane Goodall
Place mentioned: Uganda
Shout-out: Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary
Shout-out: Dian Fossey
Shout-out: Zest AI
Shout-out: Gary Vaynerchuk
Shout-out: Peace Corps
Shout-out: The Credit Union League of Connecticut
Shout-out: Delta
Shout-out: Don’t Tax My Credit Union
Place mentioned: Greenville, SC
Place mentioned: West Hartford, CT
Shout-out: AARP
Shout-out: Albert Einstein
Previous guests mentioned in this episode: Caroline Willard (episodes 20 & 147); George Hofheimer (episode 33); David Miller (episode 119)

[1:46] – Caroline believes that curiosity and vulnerability go hand-in-hand for leaders.
[2:52] – Using Bruce Springsteen as an example, Caroline argues that successful leaders are lifelong learners who draw insight from different creative processes.
[3:56] – Jill agrees and highlights Jane Goodall’s journey.
[5:35] – Hear how Caroline felt personally moved by Jane Goodall’s death after visiting her chimp sanctuary in Uganda.
[7:27] – Caroline regards AI as a tool for creativity, efficiency, and solving unfulfilling workplace tasks.
[9:53] – Failing to innovate can leave businesses obsolete like horses after automobiles.
[10:58] – Jill notes how curiosity fuels deep listening, an important trait of effective leadership.
[12:29] – Caroline touches on the importance of understanding an organization’s history before changing systems.
[13:00] – Jill illustrates the danger of ignoring context with a story about Peace Corps volunteers and hippos.
[16:30] – Doing things by rote feels easier, but true growth requires vulnerability and learning from mistakes.
[18:05] – Jill observes how habit and haste prevent organizations from reevaluating processes.
[20:01] – Pausing to find root causes creates faster long-term progress and smarter hiring decisions.
[21:13] – Jill encourages leaders to update roles for AI integration instead of clinging to outdated models.
[23:29] – Audiences now expect fully personalized, interest-based content.
[26:40] – Has too much personalization and algorithms weakened humanity’s curiosity and open-mindedness?
[29:51] – Caroline explains why AI should identify “relevant adjacencies.”
[33:16] – Caroline values authenticity in leadership and embraces evolving perspectives.
[34:10] – Curiosity drives deeper problem-solving by focusing on defining root causes before trying to find solutions.
[36:57] – Randy, Jill, and Caroline all give closing remarks regarding curiosity.

Recommended for you