Without passion, is your credit union just a bank?

Are you passionate about your Credit Union? “Yes” you say? Would the people you work with agree with you? Can you think of 3-4 ways that your passion comes through? If you are uniquely wired and passionate about the credit union movement as a whole, this should be easy!

But in the end, does “passion” really matter? Is this one of those feel-good words that motivational speakers like to cram down our throats to make us feel good? Yuck. Of all things, I don’t want to have feelings or opinions … and definitely not strong ones. It is better to keep your head down and do as you are told, right? Many feel this way.

I say passion matters! It is everything! It is extremely difficult (sometimes impossible) to lead people if you don’t have a clear impassioned feeling about your mission, your work and the future. I submit to you that a passionless credit union is like a sleepwalker, able to do the job, but without any sense of a higher call, purpose or emotion. Handling tasks and transactions are done almost robotically.

Sounds like a bank…

It is said that the secret to success in sales is the ability to transfer your own strongly held beliefs to the person you are selling to. How does this happen? First you have to truly believe that what you are providing is special and of great and unique value. Then you must bring your passion to the party so that your excitement is felt by the person you are talking to. There is almost an arc of electric current that moves from one person to the other when passion is involved. In real life, so few people speak with passion that when you find one who is – then you, me and everyone else – is drawn to them. Whether you sell a product to a member, or an idea to management or your staff, if you don’t believe it in your gut, you can’t bring the passion. Conversely, if you know you are right and believe it to your core, let your passion do the talking for you.

Personally, I am passionate about helping couples who seek domestic and/or international adoption. I work tirelessly in my off-hours helping as I can to assist them. It comes easy to me. You see, I am an adoptive parent. I have a passion for it. As a company, MARQUIS is just as passionate about delivering provable marketing results. When you believe something in your heart with such urgency, it is easy to find the passion. When you deliver provable marketing results to your management, you will feel the pride and excitement and it will carry the day. Results matter!

But passion only comes from a deeply held personal belief in something special, something extremely rare and unique. What makes your credit union different enough that you see it, feel it, and believe it to your core? Without this, it is impossible to manufacture passion. That said, you can be passionate about doing a good job and others will know this about you. But this doesn’t enable you to lead the charge – it only means that you can be counted on to complete a task.

Why are you passionate about your credit union? The answer to this question is the key to your success and the success of your credit union in 2016 and beyond.

Without passion, is your credit union just a bank?

Jay Kassing

Jay Kassing

Jay Kassing is President of MARQUIS, a Texas based provider of marketing analytics solutions including MCIF/CRM software, MCIF services, profitability, compliance, consulting and direct mail creative/fulfillment. Jay has ... Web: www.gomarquis.com Details