Another publisher from our company was visiting our Washington office from New York, a gentleman I'd only met once before in passing. We are in the middle of reforecasting, so financial reporting was top of mind. CU Times is performing well, and this publisher asked me to what did I attribute to our success. I opened with a line about how our foundation is the credibility our editorial team has with our audience … and the publisher interrupted me. “Yeah, yeah, we have that, too.” I continued on to describe the sophistication of our sales team, how they sell integrated marketing packages, and so on.
I later realized why this publisher interrupted me. To him, I was babbling the same meaningless corporate tripe that everyone spouts. I stopped to think about the drivel that had spewed forth from me. I was dismayed. Am I becoming one of them? Those fake MBA types who have the most perfectly contrived lines of crap in place, to the point where it's meaningless to elevator speech-ifiers who throw words like strategy around incorrectly and use the term verticals all too freely.
The truth is, I do believe in what CU Times does to support credit unions' future. I believe firmly in the first amendment. I believe in what credit unions were founded to do: Provide those within their field of membership, particularly those of modest means, the services they need. I do believe in the value of independent journalism and the reputation CU Times has built. But who's going to get revved up with my garbage about new corporate synergies? (OK, maybe the CFO.)
Similarly, credit unions cannot excite employees and members by being the third institution to offer the latest mobile widget.
Vision is what gets people excited to come to work in the morning, to volunteer on the board in their precious little free time, or join a credit union because they believe in those who believe in them. Think about Richard Branson, who's built the great Virgin empire. What makes him so iconic and successful? By all accounts I've seen, he's affable, and he believes in constant improvement and the employees who are helping to make that vision a reality. From airlines to music to banking, he's looking for ways to do it better and excitedly and consistently communicating that vision. He's not doing anything terribly innovative; he's just making consumers' lives better.
Credit unions are the better option when it comes to the business of banking. Why? Not because their goals are to own 70% of your mortgage market or whatever arbitrary statistic, but because they help members fulfill their dreams. Goals must be born of philosophy and not the other way around.
Carolyn Yang is a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania with whom I recently spoke. She worked at UPenn Student FCU as a teller for a semester and is now starting a summer internship as a marketing manager. She felt the opportunity to generate ideas and actually implement them at the $6.8 million credit union would be an ideal way to help her figure out what she would eventually like to do professionally, which is quite possibly true.
Like most of us who landed in credit unions, Yang stumbled upon them completely by accident. Prior to working at the credit union, her only banking relationship was with Wells Fargo, which was where her parents banked, and she had no idea what a credit union was. She explained all that she's learning about the credit unions' operations, and it was a good way to round out her activities. She described a unique program UPenn Student FCU offers that helps differentiate the credit union: A risk-free credit builder program to help members build or improve their credit. This is all very practical, but not terribly inspiring.
As a marketing manager, her job is to attract new members and reach more students and alums. And while she's been educated a bit on the difference between a bank and a credit union, just from our brief conversation she didn't seem to have a good grasp on credit unions' vision and their historical significance or the cooperative nature.
This left me with the following question: Is the next generation being taught to manage the operations of a financial institution, or to lead credit unions into the future with a vision backed by 100 years of history?
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