The leading reasons credit union CEOs fail as leaders

Weak leadership is commonplace among CEO’s across all industries and credit unions are no exception. The financial and emotional impact on the credit union, its stakeholders (members) and the community that relies upon the credit union is problematic to quantify; however, the costs must include reputation risk, high-staff turnover, inability to accomplish approved strategies and low morale. All drain limited resources and hit the bottom-line.

Reputation risk displays itself in declining membership growth, increased scrutiny by the local press and examiners, and staff turnover costs are estimated to be in a range of 25% to 200% of annual salary. As the credit union fails to grow loyal members, productivity ratios decline and so begin a downward spiral placing undue stress on staff, the board of directors and you, the CEO.

In my 29 years as a credit union executive, here is what I observed as common causes of poor leadership and how you can avoid them:

1. Be passionate about your role awareness and self direction as a leader. What does that look like?

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