The CUInsight Experience podcast: Randy Salser – Creating momentum (#92)

Thank you for tuning in to episode 92 of The CUInsight Experience podcast with your host, Randy Smith, co-founder of CUInsight.com. This episode is brought to you by our friends at PSCU. As the nation’s premier payments CUSO, PSCU proudly supports the success of more than 1,500 credit unions.

My guest today is Randy Salser, the President of NAFCU Services Corporation. Listen as we talk about credit unions, leadership lessons learned, and life. Randy shares some great stuff on remote work, keeping teams connected, moving fast, and failing fast. 

Randy discusses how his team at NAFCU Services is holding up during this pandemic, how he has grown as a leader while leading through a global health crisis, and the changes he has seen credit unions makeover the last six months. They are having success with virtual conferences, but he is ready for in-person conferences to resume human interaction.

In the leadership and life hacks section, we learn what inspired Randy to take the position at NAFCU Services and how the inspiration has changed over the years. Momentum is something his team has heard him say often, and Randy shares that he always could make hard decisions; he thinks he does it better now though. When he has a day off, he hangs out with his kids and travels around in their RV to his son’s laCrosse tournaments.

We learned that Randy wanted to be a professional football player as a child during the rapid-fire questions, but in high school, that changed to an archeologist. Exercise and reading have become his daily routines, and time has become more important. I think you will enjoy this conversation. Stay well and enjoy!

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Books mentioned on The CUInsight Experience podcast: Book List 

How to find Randy:
Randy Salser, President of NAFCU Services
rsalser@nafcu.org
www.nafcu.org/nafcuservices
LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram  

Show notes from this episode:
A big shout-out to our friends at PSCU, an amazing sponsor of The CUInsight Experience podcast. Thank you!
Check out all the outstanding work that Randy and his team at NAFCU Services are doing here.
Event mentioned: NAFCU Innovation Spotlight
Shout-out: Daniel Weickenand
Shout-out: Lisa Schlehuber
Shout-out: Debra Schwartz
Shout-out: Pete Hilger and his team at Allied Solutions
Shout-out: Dan Berger
Shout-out: Carrie Hunt
Shout-out: Anthony Demangone
Shout-out: Randy’s wife Amy and their children
Shout-out: Jill Nowacki
Album mentioned: Greatest Hits by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Album mentioned: Straight outta Compton
Album mentioned: The Chronic
Shout-out: John Spence
Book mentioned: Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S.C. Gwynne
Book mentioned: Awesomely Simple by John Spence
Previous guests mentioned in this episode: Pete Hilger, Dan Berger, Carrie Hunt, John Spence, Jill Nowacki (episodes 4, 18, 37, 64 & 82) 

This Episode:
[01:56] – Welcome to the show, Randy!
[02:10] – Randy shares how everyone is holding up at NAFCU Services.
[03:35] – How have you grown as a leader with the pandemic?
[05:22] – Randy discusses the changes he has seen over the last few months.
[07:42] – Randy hopes that in-person conferences will continue soon, but for now, they still have them virtually, but in the future, they may become hybrid.
[10:42] – They speak about staying in touch with the new technology when there are no trade shows to go to.
[12:26] – What will you be the proudest of your team’s accomplishments in the next year?
[13:34] – Randy shares what inspired him to take the position at NAFCU Services.
[15:03] – Listen as Randy speaks about how the inspiration has changed over the last seven years.
[16:00] – Randy says that momentum is something his team has heard him say over and over.
[16:41] – Have you always had the ability to make hard decisions?
[17:42] – Not listening to your team is a mistake he made and believes that today’s young leaders.
[18:39] – A common myth that Randy wants to debunk is work smarter, not harder.
[19:27] – Fail fast and move on is something they taught him early in his career.
[20:35] – How have mentors and advice overall been beneficial in your career?
[22:12] – Randy discusses what he likes to do to recharge when he has a day off.
[23:55] – Randy was a jock in high school, and he got into fights a lot.
[24:35] – When he was young, he wanted to be a professional football player, but he wanted to be an archeologist when he got into high school.
[25:31] – Since the pandemic, exercise and reading have been his daily routine.
[27:05] – What is the best album of all time?
[28:26] – Is there a book you think everyone should read?
[29:41] – Time has become more important, and negative energy has become less important.
[30:31] – When you hear the word success, which is the first person to come to mind?
[31:04] – Randy shares some final thoughts for the listeners.
[31:43] – Thank you so much for being on the show!