The CUInsight Experience podcast: Bo McDonald – Accidental leadership (#149)

Thank you for tuning in to episode 149 of The CUInsight Experience podcast with your host, Randy Smith, co-founder of CUInsight.com. This episode is brought to you by Elan Credit Card. Elan partners with more than 250 credit unions to provide an outsourced credit card program, and offers merchant and mortgage services for credit union members and business owners.

My guest on today’s show is Bo McDonald, Founder, President, and CEO at Your Marketing Co. Bo shares how his passion for credit unions evolved through his career journey from radio to marketing, and his newest venture, hosting a podcast. He gives powerful advice to encourage credit unions to redefine marketing and focus on relevancy and authenticity to stay ahead in this ever-changing industry. 

During our conversation, Bo shares the one concept that is both a challenge for credit unions and one that he is most excited about seeing in the future of the movement. Bo tells us about his new podcast called, The Accidental Leader where he shares insights based on his experiences to help others grow in their leadership role and build a positive culture. He discusses the key to being a good leader is having a vision, looking forward, and being able to communicate the vision effectively to your team.

Bo and I chat about building and growing a team. He emphasizes the importance of empathy and maintaining the culture, especially when adding new members to the team. We discuss the future of work and the best ways to maintain a team’s culture in a hybrid or fully remote work environment. He shares the greatest investment made in his career and advises listeners who are working towards becoming a CEO to, “Invest in yourself.”

As we wrap up the show, Bo talks about an emotional yet uniting moment within a business setting. He shares how he accidentally got into real estate, the leadership books he enjoys most, and advises listeners to, “go to the concert.” Enjoy my conversation with Bo McDonald!

Subscribe on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher 

Books mentioned on The CUInsight Experience podcast: Book List 

How to find Bo:
Bo McDonald, Founder, President, and CEO at Your Marketing Co.
bo@yourmarketingco.com
https://yourmarketing.co/
Bo: LinkedIn | Twitter
Your Marketing Co.: LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Podcast: The Accidental Leader

Show notes from this episode:
A big shout-out to our friends at Elan Credit Card, an amazing sponsor of The CUInsight Experience podcast. Thank you!
Want to hear more from Bo? Click here.
Shout-out: uncommn
Place mentioned: Greeneville, SC
Shout-out: Bo’s dad
Place mentioned: Midland, MI
Shout-out: SoFi
Shout-out: Podcast Solutions
Place mentioned: Oregon
Podcast mentioned: The Accidental Leader
Shout-out: Sony
Shout-out David Miller
Shout-out: Lauren Culp
Shout-out: Climb Africa to Benefit The ACCOSCA Academy
Shout-out: George Yashon Ombado
Shout-out: Mark Myer
Shout-out: Future Leaders of YMC (FLY) program
Shout-out: Warren Buffet
Shout-out: Dale Carnegie
Shout-out: Robbie Vitrano
Shout-out: CUNA GAC
Shout-out: Slack
Shout-out: Robbie Young
Shout-out: Zoom
Shout-out: Linda Lafortune 
Shout-out: Robbie’s husband
Shout-out: Ash Davis
Shout-out: Jill Nowacki
Shout-out: Todd Harper
Shout-out: Jack Nicholson
Shout-out: The Black Keys
Shout-out: Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival
Place mentioned: Nashville, TN
Book mentioned: How to Kill Your Company: 50 Ways You’re Bleeding Your Organization and Damaging Your Career by Ken Kirsh
Book mentioned: A Life Through Letters: An Aging Father’s Legacy, a Son’s Revelation, the Birth of a Movement by Ashley Davis 
Book mentioned: The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday
Book mentioned: Ego Is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday
Previous guests mentioned: Bo McDonald, Lauren Culp, Jill Nowacki (episodes 4, 18, 37, 64, 82, 101, 113, 126, 138, & 148), Todd Harper

In This Episode:
[01:53] – Bo shares how he started his career in pursuing his dreams as a radio DJ.
[04:25] – Bo discusses challenges that credit unions are facing when it comes to member experience.
[6:43] – Redefine marketing to stay relevant
[8:54] – How do you stay relevant?
[10:58] – How to continue growing as a mature company, don’t get “comfortable.”
[12:10] – Bo tells us about his new podcast, “The Accidental Leader.”
[13:48] – Bo shares his experiences in his new podcast to help others understand and learn how to be a better leader and all that goes into it.
[15:30] – Bo shares what makes a good leader.
[16:17] – Bo talks about the importance of looking forward when it comes to leadership.
[18:35] – Time and quality communication are the keys to creating and following a shared vision.
[20:37] – Bo talks about the Future Leaders of YMC (FLY) program
[21:44] – The benefits of having a team that cares about what they do.
[24:00] – Invest in yourself.
[24:57] – Bo shares the greatest investment made in his career was hiring a business coach.
[26:37] – Reach out and don’t be afraid to ask questions, but be prepared.
[28:28] – Bo talks about what work looks like going forward.
[31:04] – Bo discusses how to maintain culture in a fully remote work environment.
[34:11] – Bo shares the last time he was truly amazed
[35:49] – Bo shares how real estate has become a hobby of his, accidentally.
[37:32] – Bo shares what he is most frugal with.
[38:22] – Who would play Bo in a biopic?
[39:20] – Go to the concert.
[40:45] – What band is Bo listening to lately?
[41:24] – Think, be relevant, redefine your credit union.