Boo!

Are you scared? No.

Your membership numbers are dwindling. Now that's scary.

Your credit union must make changes to survive. Terrified. Can. Not. Move.

When faced with change, managers tend to go into fight or flight mode. When a new CEO enters a credit union, some people flee because if they're going to have to change, it might as well be somewhere else because it just won't feel the same. Some will go head-to-head in a battle to maintain the status quo. All of the scenarios are stressful. Why? Fear. In his fight to help credit unions prevent unnecessary mergers, Your Marketing Co. CEO Bo McDonald sees two key factors:

1.    Selfishness/Ego

2.    Fear of change

Back to the original question.

So, are credit union leaders asking freaking questions?

Many times, we just don't want to know the answers because that would require change to solve the issue, placing the burden on leaders to figure out how to make it happen. The only explanation for not changing is fear of failure, or even success sometimes. It's all about the root system, which Bo explains in detail in his podcast, The Accidental Leader.

Sometimes, even those who want to change aren't getting to the actual things that need to change. In addition to asking freaking questions, we must ask the right questions. Bo provides the perfect example in the video: Credit unions come to marketers all the time stating they need to grow loans. We need marketing.

That’s not always the case as Bo points out. When leaders dig deeper by asking questions, sometimes it’s the credit union’s own processes that get in the way. He gives the example of a credit union that had been getting plenty of loan applications in the door, but it was taking three or four days to respond to applicants. Marketing on its own would have compounded the problem without digging into the heart of the matter to find an actual solution.

That’s what elevating your marketing to a strategic level can do for your credit union. For more, check out the video!

Show Notes

0:00 DJ Jazzy Bo

1:24 2 things to lose so credit unions can win

3:08 A turnaround story credit unions can make their own

@Bridgeton Onized @Tamara Ciccioli

4:38 Elevating marketing to a strategic role

7:19 Getting back to credit union leaders’ roots

10:12 Asking (YMC) a freaking question – 15th Anniversary

13:19 Business lessons from Dr. Seuss: What was I scared of?

13:58 Why aren’t we actually solving problems

15:12 Bo’s fave smaller credit union survival story: @HopeSouth Credit Union

17:30 What is a freaking ideal member? And how to identify them

19:12 Staring down risk for ROA

21:17 Profit is good

22:15 Credit union survival is dependent upon educating, engaging and retaining the next generation of credit union members