Again, Now is the Time to Do Something!

Sorry for my absence during the past couple of weeks (have you missed me?) It's amazing what happens when our professional lives get busy and then you look up and realize you've missed your last two scheduled posts!

Thought I would share my blog post for the Credit Union Times after the big credit union Governmental Affairs Conference that happened in late February / early March. Embedded in this blog are my thoughts on how the credit union industry needs to keep moving forward and do something today. There's a message even for those not in the credit union or financial services industry. Like many businesses, it's easy for us to hope things get back to normal in financial services. The reality from my perspective is that we are in the new normal and our ability to succeed is dependent on our ability to navigate the waters of change while keeping our focus on the vision.

http://www.cutimes.com/2011/03/15/again-now-is-the-time-to-re-evaluate-product-poten

Happy reading and stay focused on the future, even as the forces of change can continue to push us all off of the vision.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It is truly time to have perspective

Printed in the Business Record, December 31, 2020 [ Link ] A video has been making its way around social media  putting the current coronavirus pandemic into perspective . It shows the world from the perspective of a person born in 1900. It calls out the hardship of four wars with millions killed, the loss of life from the flu pandemic, smallpox and polio, and the suffering of the Great Depression. At the end, the video states that we don’t have much to complain about today when our biggest challenge in this pandemic is watching Netflix from our couch and ordering from Amazon Prime. The message is to be grateful for what we have even in this time – a good message, for sure. But the video caused me to think about perspective a bit in the last few weeks. I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes from Pat Summitt, one of the all-time winningest coaches in women’s basketball. She said, "It is what it is, but it becomes what we make of it." While the video focused on the negativ
Read more

Are We Having Fun Yet?

Image
Summers are mostly consumed with baseball for my family. Both of my sons play Little League and also on local tournament teams. I have helped coach with several of their teams over the years. Baseball is an interesting game to me – it is a team sport and an individual sport at the same time. No teammate can really help the pitcher or batter, but yet defense is clearly dependent on a team. And when you are 10 or 12 years old it is pretty easy to put pressure on yourself on the pitcher’s mound or in the batter’s box. One of my favorite encouragements from coaches (of which I have done as well) is, "Have fun out there, kid." During one game this year I wondered what that actually meant. There is the pitcher, usually struggling, out there on the mound alone. The pressure of the moment has usually caused the player to over-think, aim the ball and most often, not have the best result. Moving from that point to “fun” is a hard place to get (if you don't think so, trying &qu
Read more

It’s About More than Following the “Blue Line”

Image
28 Second Takeaway:   While the GPS is an extremely efficient tool in helping us get to where we are going, a good old paper map allows us to see the big picture. This is true in business as well. If we only rely on the technology and management tools, we’ll stay focused on the “blue line” rather than looking at the bigger opportunities that might be out there. On our driving trip across the country I have found myself in places I have never driven through – eastern Ohio, upstate New York and western Massachusetts. In these situations, I have found that Google Maps on my phone is an invaluable tool. No more squinting at a map, trying to understand if I should take I-77 or Ohio 8 to get to Canton (FYI: we are on the Russell family Hall of Fame tour – pro football in Canton, basketball in Springfield, MA, the Patriots HOF for Ben in Foxboro, and the Baseball HOF in Cooperstown). But there are situations where I have questioned the information I am getting from my phone. &q
Read more