Over 400 credit union innovators and collaborators met at the Encore at Wynn in Las Vegas, April 4th – 7th for the 2016 NACUSO Network conference. Network being the central theme, this year we welcomed attendees with the “network lounge” experience with over 40 exhibitors, fabulous food and adult beverages to kick off the event.
Recognizing that CUSOs come in many shapes and sizes we try to cover the majority of disciplines by bringing in industry leaders. This year’s topics included investment, insurance and mortgage services as well as member business lending, operations and technology. The debut of Partner Connection Sessions was a hit as over 100 credit unions attended
Our opening keynote speaker was one-of-a-kind. Erik Wahl used music, videos and painting to convey a beautiful message of creativity, risk, failure and fear. His first onstage painting was of Abraham Lincoln, one of the truly courageous leaders of our time. As Erik continued his presentation, he tossed a ball into the audience and as a reflex an audience member caught it. Erik said “Thank you for volunteering.” And then he jumped down into the audience to “take our pulse.” How many of us were relieved we didn’t catch that ball? Why? What did we fear?
And so he offered the ball catcher an exit. He gave him an envelope that said FEAR FACTOR. He could pass this envelope along to anyone to take his place on stage. Needless to say it was passed along. So this new “volunteer” took to the stage, opened the envelope and read aloud that he now owned the Abraham Lincoln painting – which is priceless. What an amazing lesson on taking risks and it paying off. He then revealed his definition of FEAR – False Evidence Appearing Real. “Comfort and the next big idea cannot co-exist,” he explained. What a perfect opening message. Thank you to MasterCard’s generosity for making it happen.
The afternoon brought us another great mind, John Spence, courtesy of Platinum partner PSCU.
He is the author of “Awesomely Simple” and shared his equation for success:
(T + C + EMF) X DE = BE
It’s that simple! (Talent + Culture + Extreme Member Focus) X Disciplined Execution = Business Excellence. Or put another way…
The main focus really needs to be on talent. We are in the business of managing moments of truth. Our product is service, and it’s manufactured with the member present. You never get a second chance at a first impression. The member’s experience will never exceed the employee’s experience. That’s why recruiting the best people is so important.
What does it take to attract the best talent? Spence asked over 10,000 employees why they work where they work. The answers are not what you’d expect. Sure, they want to be paid fairly – 10% above or below what they would get somewhere else. But he found out that “Top talent is not greedy. Greedy people are greedy.”
Top talent thrives on meaningful, challenging and purposeful work. They want cool co-workers, a winning culture and a leader that they can respect and admire. They also want the chance for personal and professional growth.
And then it comes down to the secret sauce that is culture. Peter Drucker said “Culture eats strategy for lunch.” Spence believes there are 9 key factors to a winning culture:
- Fun place to work
- Family atmosphere
- Friends
- Fair
- Freedom
- Pride
- Praise
- Meaning
- Results (this is huge for Millennials)
Employees want to feel a sense of ownership. Kind of like our members and CUSOs! When you own something you take pride in it. Have you ever taken a rental car to a car wash? Think about it.
