Looking in the Mirror With Candor & Trust

During a storm, you can either take cover in the basement or lean into the weather by understanding the storm and its approaching consequences. Leaning into learning implies that you understand there is an existing storm today, and know that continuous learning is what’s going to enable you to grow, thrive and respond to changing conditions, both personally and professionally. When you keep your eyes on the storm, you can see the road clearly, respond intelligently, avoid accidents and establish a productive path forward.

The smart and successful leaders today know that in order to create and execute strategies, attract and retain the best talent, and establish an organizational culture based on values, you need to share and learn, form trusting relationships with ongoing strategic communication and strengthen the boards that are serving our organizations.

Whether you are a large or smaller credit union, staying focused on members and your culture requires relentless work and a focus on values with honest conversations and the establishment of a shared vision for the future. A recent article featuring the founder and CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, who recently reassumed the position of CEO, reiterated the challenges of leadership today. The breadth of changes are occurring at every level of business through organizations. CEOs who have historically enjoyed a privileged life are now being challenged more aggressively by organized labor, which implies a significant challenge to existing cultures.

Boards are increasingly being challenged in their role of helping the CEO and management team with ideas, providing oversight to the development of the strategic plan, keeping the company safe and successfully navigating today’s global environment. Asking directors to do a write up on what they bring to the board will provide an overview of the skills and relevance they contribute to the boards on which the serve. Having directors serve on a committee for 10 years does not in itself provide independence.

Having thoughtful and meaningful discussions about the implications of diversity and how to get it right is the opposite of having a check-the-box mentality. Finding women who are not “over boarded” is important. Placing the same woman on three to four boards is not the right answer either. Even though every Fortune 500 company now has a woman serving on its board, only 28% of all companies now have a female director and this number is over 50% in Scandinavia. Taking a chance on high potential candidates who have never served on boards to date is something to consider. With Gen Z becoming your new members, they are clearly the most diversified and educated generation and will eventually become your board members. Putting these individuals in positions of power, where they can learn and be mentored, will serve your organizations well. This implies completing an annual independent assessment of board members’ performance.

Electing a person to the board with technology expertise versus requiring all directors to up their game in understanding technology is a current issue. Directors should be able to ask the right questions of experts to understand how technology will impact their organization’s strategies. Often, hiring a technology expert to present learning opportunities to board members, or even providing ongoing technology discussions and education at each meeting, could be helpful. It is certainly the role of directors to understand the risks and opportunities ahead to make educated decisions. Directors who are responsible for overseeing the CEO, and advising and monitoring strategy, certainly need to have a healthy respect for what they know and acknowledge any deficiencies.

Directors have never been more challenged. When you add ESG requirements into board agendas, it also increases the number of committee meetings and deeper dives that are required. Board meeting agendas are tightly scheduled as it is, and ESG was never even on these agendas a few years ago. The issue of climate change is creating an existential crisis for humans who typically fail at focusing on long-term problems. Shockingly, the younger generation would rather work at an organization that was focused on these challenges than a company that paid them a higher salary. Certainly, this is something for senior management and boards to think about in terms of creating the right culture and green strategies for attracting the best talent.

The moment of truth has arrived for credit union boards to look in the mirror with candor and conduct independent assessments of their strengths and opportunities going forward.

Stuart R. Levine is Chairman and CEO of Stuart Levine & Associates in Miami Beach, Fla.