Maybe you've heard others talk about a certain credit union president's accomplishments. Or perhaps you saw their financial reports and were dazzled by the numbers, or saw their marketing materials and marveled at their image.

Image? Is there a chance you formed a favorable opinion of one or more credit union presidents simply by perception? We all do that very thing all the time, often subconsciously. If I name six cities, most people will feel positive or negative vibes from the mere mention of the name. Here goes: San Francisco, Cincinnati, Orlando, Fargo, Scottsdale and Birmingham.

You probably have good feelings about three of the cities mentioned. Why? Perhaps it's perception, the kind that makes it possible to have an opinion of a city never visited, or an individual never met. How many of us have been to Bagdad or met Saddam Hussein? It's almost certain we have an opinion of both. Even if we've never met any of the best credit union CEOs we probably have a notion of whom we think is best.

A couple years ago, I spent a fascinating couple of hours after a long day of meetings in Napa, Calif., informally networking with some credit union presidents. We didn't have an agenda, but early on the spontaneous and lively conversation got around to trying to get consensus among our group on who we thought were the 10 best CEOs in the country.

The same names kept coming up. We rejected far more than we accepted. Several names were immediately unanimous. Others we argued over long and loud. We ignored age, sex, geography, length of  service, background and type of credit union.

Eventually we established criteria to support our choices. Here are some I recall:

• The credit union had to be squeaky clean, sound as the dollar used to be, and have a solid balance sheet. It had to be a credit union both the members and the regulators loved.

• Although bigness didn't immediately translate into best, CEOs of credit unions that stayed the same size in assets and members for years were quickly cast aside, even if the CEO was highly visible on the national scene.

• Visibility, however, was an important measure to us to determine best. Our best CEOs had to be at least passable as speakers, able to author articles or write letters to the editor and had something new to say, or at least had a new twist on an old topic. He or she had to be able to carry on an impromptu hallway conversation on almost any credit union subject.

• Being a people person ranked high on our expanding list of must qualifications. We had little use for tyrants, loners and non-team players. 

• Positive attitude was a given. We decided there was no room on our list for anyone who constantly complained about his or her board of directors. To be best, we all agreed, it was essential to mater the unique skills of working with and for a volunteer board year after year.

• Departing senior management staff who went on to become candidates for the best list at another credit union ranked high with us armchair experts. The best CEOs take pride in developing managerial talent. They seek out and don't fear people smarter than they are.

• Ability to see unfulfilled needs and find ways to satisfy them, whether a new service for members (yes all of choices managed "full service" credit unions), or a supportive effort for a troubled employee or struggling board member.

• They must be intellectual sponges, able to absorb an incredible volume of detail, but not drown in it or let it blur their vision.

What else did we find ourselves in agreement on when it came to traits all occupants of our best list must possess? Although there were many more, here are a few I remember: Delegator, prioritizer, innovator, risk taker, ethical, high energy level, not a workaholic, but close, open minded, member of "the big picture" club, communicator, politician and whatever it is that makes it possible for the very best credit union presidents/CEOs to walk in another person's shoes, whether it be a credit union chairman, member, employee, consultant, supplier or sponsor.

By the time we tired of the exercise, we still hadn't come up with a "10 best" list we could all agree on completely. But we did reach a consensus that the only way to pick the best credit union presidents/CEOs was to have the largest possible group of "experts" get involved in the selection process.

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