The Five things I’ve learned from the Olympics

by: Henry Meier, Associate General Counsel, Credit Union Association of New York

First, a caveat:  I hate the Olympics.  It’s a sporting event for the non-sports fan. You show me someone who dedicates her life to synchronized swimming or the luge and I’ll show you someone who didn’t make the swim team or was cut from JV basketball.

That being said, with 4.7 billion people tuning in to watch the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, there are lessons that credit unions can take out of the Olympics:

Specialization matters – We all idolize the superhuman freaks of nature like Michael Phelps, who can compete for gold in just about any competition they, enter precisely because they are so unusual.  The vast majority of people who win gold in the Olympics recognized what they were good at; developed a passion for doing it well and are constantly trying to do it even better.  No credit union can be all things to all people.  One of the primary responsibilities of the Board of Directors is to identify what it is the credit union does best and to ensure that resources are adequately allocated to reflect that commitment.

The media really is the message: Marketing is King – The first thing anyone talks about after winning a gold medal is “what an honor it is to win for their country.”  The cynic in me says that the second thing they say is “show me the money.”  Of the thousands of athletes who compete, only a relative handful will become synonymous with attributes that we all admire, which will make them potent millionaire selling machines.

This will not happen because of athletic prowess alone.  It will happen because intelligent people will develop a media plan which shapes the athlete’s image.  Marketing is more than simply making your advertisements look good:  it is how you define yourself to your potential and existing members.  Have you taken time to ask yourself what you want people to think of when they think of your credit union?  How does your marketing strategy further that goal?

Diversity Matters – We get so fired up debating how diversity should be achieved that we lose sight of the fact that ultimately it is in every employer’s interest to ensure that as wide a group of people as possible gets to compete on as level a playing field as possible. This Olympics has featured a track star with two prosthetic limbs competing for South Africa and an African-American teenager winning the gold medal for the individual competition in gymnastics.  We live in the most diverse nation in the world and we have among the most talented group of potential employees, but if you don’t make efforts to reach out to all potential hires you are decreasing the chances of recruiting the best and the brightest.  Cast as wide a net as possible and you’d be surprised what you can catch.

Times change and you must change with them – The popularity of Beach Volleyball is a real eye opener in more ways than one. The idea that something people do for fun on summer vacation would be transformed into one of the most popular sports to watch  in the Olympics after swimming and gymnastics demonstrates just how quickly times change.  NBC is making big money because it embraces this trend. The credit union industry is changing radically and, I guarantee you, it will change radically again over the next 20 years.  You can either embrace these trends and maximize your value to members or become obsolete and watch them go to a competitor who stayed up to speed with changing tastes and expectations.

Viewers and members expect what they want, when they want it – With my trusty iPad app I can conveniently watch live coverage of virtually every event at my desk (not that I would ever watch TV during work hours).  If you don’t provide your members with the means to do their banking the way they want to when they want to you might as well start thinking about what you’re going to do when your credit union shuts down.  On the bright side, the Internet exposure doesn’t seem to be hurting television ratings.  I think there’s a lesson in this, too. Technology isn’t necessarily competing with your more traditional banking services so much as complementing them. The more you provide people with access to your services the more likely they are to be interested in being part of your credit union and in finding out about the other services and benefits you provide.

Henry Meier, Associate General Counsel, Credit Union Association of New York
As associate general counsel for the Credit Union Association of New York, Henry is actively involved in all legislative, regulatory and legal issues impacting New York credit unions.  Whether he’s joining in the Association’s advocacy efforts, lending his legal expertise to the Association and its affiliate companies or arguing before the New York State Appellate Division, his voice is unique and influential. Before joining the Association in 2006, Henry served as a counsel to the New York State Assembly Republican Conference for seven years. Henry is a graduate of American University in Washington, D.C., and Hofstra University’s School of Law in New York.  New York’s State of Mind Blog  www.cuany.org