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Resources Double Your Fun: Tracking Strategic Planning For a Brighter Future Read More Finding Balance in Board Meetings Efficiency vs. Engagement Read More What Key Factor May Be Working Against Your Interest in Raising Board Engagement and Accountability Discover the hidden factor sabotaging your board's engagement and accountability, and learn how to address it effectively. Read More In Search Of The Strategic Board Discover how credit union boards can become agile strategic partners and lead their institutions to future success. Read More Who Needs A Shadow Board? Add younger employees and members directly to your C-suite and board to benefit from their skills and knowledge today. Read More The Need for Evolution: One of Today’s Central Governance Challenges If your credit union has grown have you re-considered the balance of authority between your board and CEO? Read More Hope for Gen Z Comes in the Shape of Credit Unions Generation Z has the potential to be the greatest credit union generation, so why are so many credit unions struggling to get their attention? Read More Make Your Voice Heard Speaking up can be scary, especially if you’re the only woman in the room, but it’s important to call attention to problematic behavior in the workplace. Read More Gender Equity In The Boardroom: We're Not Done Yet Boards still have work to do to support their female directors and wider DEI&B efforts. Read More Leadership Matters: Choosing Humility Acknowledge your power in the workplace and strive to have open and humble conversations that encourage other voices to be heard. Read More Dealing with Divisive Directors Honor the principle of democratic member control even when you need to remove a board member. Read More Does A Divided Vote Make You A Divided Board? A divided vote makes you a human board. And it’s what you do afterward that matters most. Read More A Cautionary Tale of Risk Management in This Time of Bank Failures Defining roles and responsibilities and continuing education help ensure appropriate coverage. Read More Know When It’s Time To Go Holding onto your board position may be best for you, but what’s best for your credit union? Read More The Sophisticated Art of Ensuring Your Board Grows Alongside Your Credit Union Four areas to focus on. Read More Is Your Organizational Success An Accident? New study suggests where to look for the answer. Read More Defining Consensus 'Five finger consensus' allows all directors to weigh in on key decisions. Read More On Being the Female Chair Leading a Predominately Male Board Two female board leaders share their experiences and advice for promoting good governance—especially, but not only, as representatives of a minority demographic. Read More How Using a Recruiter Can Boost Board Succession Planning Efforts Approaching director searches like executive searches can produce great results. Read More More Listening, Less Mansplaining In the boardroom and everywhere, it's important to hear all voices. Read More The Playground Bully Grows Up Who are the workplace bullies, and what can we do about them? Read More A Continuously Bigger and Better Box Like a nautilus, Hudson Valley Credit Union’s board evolves beautifully into its next stage of governance. Read More Hudson Valley Credit Union’s Call for Board Candidates Refresh As part of its board recruitment renewal project, Hudson Valley CU developed a call for candidates that outlined specific attributes that matched its changing governance needs and values. Read More Key Outcomes And Lessons Learned From A Board Renewal Effort An analysis of Hudson Valley CU’s work to revise key governance processes. Read More Why Directors Are Chess Pieces, Not Checkers Every director should be ‘chair material’—even if they wouldn’t make a good chair. Read More Mentoring … Because If We Don’t, Who Will? Supporting other women as they advance is important. Read More Are Women Better Leaders? They are when they act with humility, self-awareness, self-control, moral sensitivity and kindness. Read More Serving Members’ Best Interests Benefits From A Constructive Partnership When directors, supervisory committee members and executives collaborate effectively, members benefit. Read More Parity In The Boardroom Takes Patience, Planning And Process But putting in the effort can definitely make a difference. Read More Building Your Associate Board Member Program, From The Philosophy Up The groundwork for success includes commitment from the start. Read More Women In Football, Politics And Credit Union Boardrooms It’s important to prioritize and value diversity. Read More Transitions of Power A perfect time to re-evaluate your organization and its direction is when a key leadership shift is on the horizon. Read More Reimagining Your Board Meetings To make your gatherings more effective and engaging, first look at the real reasons boards meet. Read More RIP RBG: The Thin, Strong String That Ties Women Together Our foremothers paved the way for us; now we pave the way for the women now coming of age. Read More Taking Action On Credit Unions’ No. 1 Director Recruitment Priority: Diversity. The credit union and women’s movements are clearly doing something right. But we still have a long way to go. Read More Some New Remote 'Norms' Are Here To Stay Five tips for a successful pivot to virtual board meetings Read More Weaving a Single Garment of Destiny The key threads include equity, diversity and inclusion. All three are needed for the best leadership and governance for your credit union. Read More Embracing our New (Virtual) Reality The new virtual reality is changing the way we do business. Read More Governance Committee – If You Don’t Have One, Get One! Governance Committees can help ensure boards are running smoothly. Read More Into the COVID-19 Fire to Make Things Better for Members and Staff A strong alignment of the CEO, senior leaders and the board enabled early, effective action. Read More The State Of Credit Union Governance 2020: A Summary Read More Did You Dust Off Your Old Pandemic Plan? Key ideas about response oversight and future strategy Read More The Importance Of A Truly Independent Supervisory Committee If you’re shifting to an ‘audit’ committee instead, be careful not to sacrifice independent oversight at the altar of efficiency. Read More The Concept of ‘Constructive Partnership’ Collaboration, more than control, fuels today’s high-performing boards. Read More Coming Together for the Common Good Consider multiple perspectives and build consensus— not unanimity—to ensure your CU is making good decisions. Read More An Antidote For Shifting Sands Your strategic planning process is as important as the plan and should be ongoing. Read More Being Chair Is More Challenging Than You Think In addition to playing an important role in managing the CEO, the chairman also plays a key role in managing the board itself. Read More Board Liaisons Direct Directors and Staff Toward Good Governance Generally keeping things organized and on track is no small feat—and it’s an important one. Read More The Board And The CEO Should Play Doubles Tennis The constructive partnership between directors and the chief executive is a lot like teammates on one side of the court. Read More Balancing Impartiality With Voting A best practice for chairs is to help the board look at the big picture while still having a specific opinion. Read More Advice from My Hero Six key responsibilities of every board, gleaned from my conversation with world-renowned expert Ram Charan. Read More What to Do When Communication Styles Clash: Embrace It Building a culture of inclusivity helps ensure each voice on your board is heard. Read More Effective Communications in the Board Room Key Findings for Communication Read More Many Board Problems Boil Down to Communications Challenges Directors need to ask good, hard questions—to ‘trust but verify’ in a respectful and professional manner—all toward the good of the credit union. Read More Two Of The Five Top Questions Board Chairs Have 1. Should chairs vote? 2. What’s the best way to ask a director to move on? Read More A New Credit Union Model with Classic Principles Focuses on Social Purpose Reclaim the ‘why’ of credit unions by deeply embedding social purpose in all your activities. Read More Get Your House in Order—Now, If Need Be There is no ‘wrong’ time to deal with fundamental governance issues. Read More Closing the Board/Management Trust Gap 5 ways to unite staff and volunteers for good governance Read More Millennials Are Many Things, Including Your Future Board Leaders Getting to know them can aid your recruiting. Read More Tell Me Something I Don’t Know: What You Need to Know About Assessments Solid financials aren’t necessarily a sign of a high-performance board. Read More Who's on Your Board Today? Tomorrow? The State of Credit Union Governance, 2018 report finds credit unions are more certain of their current mix of directors than they are about the future composition of their boards. Here’s what this means for board renewal. Read More 5 Data-Driven Recommendations for Governance Success Core Recommendations from a New Report Read More The State of Credit Union Governance, 2018: Six Key Findings Use them to increase your board’s focus and effectiveness. Read More Understanding the Importance of Ethics Principled leadership is a vital part of any cooperative’s DNA. Read More A Case for Reaching Higher Musings on the Federal Reserve’s proposed guidance on supervisory expectation for boards Read More Assessing Staff's Strategic Planning Path The challenge is helping front-line credit union folks see the big picture. Read More Great Things from the Great North Three overarching Canadian principles that can be applied universally Read More Help Your New Chair Move Up Here's what a top board leader needs to know to be successful—and what you need to know to help. Read More ERM Is Everyone's Responsibility 10 steps to take to ensure your leadership is doing all it can to identify and manage risk Read More The Ever-Elusive Millennial Director Tailor your message and medium in recruiting younger board members. Read More Resolutions for a New Year Taking the Opportunity to Make Changes Read More The Benefits of Board Committees Get the most out of them by applying these bright ideas. Read More Moving Beyond The Strategic 'Moment' Incorporate strategic planning and thinking into your routine discourse. Read More A Quality CEO-Board Relationship Fostering A Healthy Balance Read More Un-Cage Your Thinking Good Credit Union Performance Doesn't Equal Good Governance Read More Charting a New Direction The roles of leadership in today’s credit unions are changing; specifically, there’s an important new way to think about key board leaders. Read More The Origin Of Civility Be sure to disagree in an agreeable way. Read More Supporting Healthy Board Rejuvenation A healthy amount of board rejuvenation is important—but not too much and not too fast. Read More Director Onboarding Post-Election 9 steps to take to help new directors serve well Read More Start Onboarding Pre-Election Eight steps supporting new board members' success Read More To Pay or Not To Pay Deciding whether to compensate credit union and CUSO directors is a hard question. Read More Board Size There's no one-size-fits-all answer to how many directors you need. Read More Assess for Success 8 surefire times you need to evaluate your board’s performance Read More A Deep Definition of Governance How does your board use its formal and informal authority for the good of the credit union? Read More Supervisory Committees Function Well, But... Just like CUs and their boards, supervisory committees must change with the times. Read More A Matter of Leadership CUs need to pave a new road to ensure a strong, high-performing board over time. Read More Nine Leadership Challenges The board of the future will need the strength to overcome these. Read More When It Comes to Board Meetings... We can do better. Read More No Higher Calling The challenge of effective CEO evaluation Read More The Learning Board Three key building blocks Read More Creating a 'Wow' Credit Union Board Meeting How to Take Your Meetings to the Next Level Read More 'Quantum' Board Engagement Six questions to help you more fully get your board engaged Read More Board Engagement Needs A Boost Strategies to use in your monthly meetings Read More A Matter of Culture What drives yours? Here are 10 elements to shoot for in your board room. Read More Surfacing Assumptions Knowing what you're assuming can boost board strategic thinking. Read More Fiduciary AND Strategic Thought Needed Finding the right balance between operational oversight and visionary dialogue in your boardroom is worth the struggle. Read More

Meet Our Team Jennie Boden Managing Principal & Lead Consultant Read More Shannon Zayas VP of Operations & Senior Consultant Read More Paul Dionne VP of Strategy & Lead Consultant Read More Gisèle Manole VP of Marketing & Senior Consultant Read More Michael Daigneault Founder & Lead Consultant Read More Arlene Reuss Governance Administrator Read More

< Back When It Comes to Board Meetings... Michael Daigneault Jan 27, 2015 We can do better. For more years than I sometimes care to admit, I’ve traveled the country consulting with credit union boards of directors and CEOs. One of the questions that frequently arises in our discussions is: How can we make our board meetings better? Better is certainly an aspirational – but also amazingly ambiguous – term. I’ve learned it can mean remarkably different things to different credit union leaders. For example, in the context of board meetings, I have been told better means: more strategic discussions, shorter meetings, a more engaging experience, an opportunity to hear everyone’s voice, more efficient meetings, fewer – but longer – meetings, meetings that produce more effective decisions, a more robust accountability culture, meetings giving clearer direction to staff and meetings producing greater consensus. These are all well intended, but also all over the map! It makes me wonder what’s really happening at many monthly credit union board meetings? Is this what the agenda looks like at your credit union’s board meeting? The chair calls the meeting to order and offers a brief set of general remarks or report. There’s then a CEO report, often followed by financial, staff and committee reports. There’s little time for genuine dialogue or discussion. Indeed, the agenda is often centered on telling the board various types of information – reinforcing the board’s role as overseers or fiduciaries. Old School Meetings Historically, most credit union board meetings have largely emphasized the board’s formal role. A routine (even rote) agenda has been frequently use to move efficiently (often thought of as “quickly”) from one report, informational item or policy issue to another. Board members were on hand to receive information or data, provide the required fiduciary oversight and make quick or final decisions when necessary. Many such decisions tended to be made immediately or even in advance of the board meeting. Tough questions – or even meaningful dialogue – were often viewed as hindering or even obstructing the meeting. In today’s credit union environment, however, this board meeting paradigm does not work particularly well. I often wonder if a critical mass of credit union boards even know they’re likely stuck in an outdated way of conducting their meetings? Why do I ask? Because the board meeting of the future looks remarkably different from the board meeting of the past. New School Meetings Yes, the chair still opens the meeting and offers some remarks, but now he or she notes unique elements for the meeting’s success. It’s the chair’s responsibility to help his or her colleagues focus, and set a tone that invites meaningful exchange. Such items as routine reports, informational items, administrative changes, minor alterations to policy and the like can often be included in a “ consent agenda ” and approved with a simple vote. Likewise, a thoughtful dashboard presented by the CEO can be used to efficiently and effectively highlight the critical indicators of your credit union’s efforts. After asking any needed clarification questions of the CEO or senior team, you and your director colleagues are then able to transition to the other central agenda items for the day: one or more strategic or educational discussions designed to help your credit union move forward. What would the members of your board do if, aside from the chair’s remarks, a consent agenda and an effective dashboard review, there was a significant strategic question posed for consideration and discussion, and you had more than an hour in which to really discuss it? How do you think your board colleagues would respond to such an experiment? Would they be open to the possibility or change? I strongly suggest you consider evolving your board agendas from emphasizing the formal role of your board to focusing on the board’s influential and persuasive role as well. Vary the agenda items and include open spaces for dialogue and deliberation where questions can be posed and collective learning can take place. Chairs, develop agendas that encourage strategic questions and dialogue from your colleagues. CEOs, you can help by identifying real strategic questions facing the credit union. In partnership with the chair, highlight such questions by building an agenda item around them. While I do not suggest that credit union volunteers or executives lessen their focus on fiduciary oversight, I do suggest they can meet smarter and more effectively. Namely, that board meetings focused predominantly on information or data exchange are not enough. I urge them to remember that vision, strategy and effective governance are among the board’s central responsibilities. The structure and culture of board meetings can greatly assist—or impede—such vital responsibilities. Previous Next

< Back A New Credit Union Model with Classic Principles Focuses on Social Purpose Michael Daigneault and Caitlin Hatch Oct 1, 2018 Reclaim the ‘why’ of credit unions by deeply embedding social purpose in all your activities. Most modern credit unions significantly under-leverage their cooperative model. A key reason for this is the way the leaders of most credit unions conceive of “success.” Our thinking a few years ago was that the perspective of all CU leaders about success fell somewhere along a spectrum we could define (see graphic). On one end of this spectrum, CU leaders were very “member-centric” in their approach. “After all,” they would say, “credit unions exist for their members. Success is providing member services and benefits that improve people’s lives—sometimes at the expense of better financial results or ratios.” These CUs’ cause was to—first and foremost—benefit the member. They did so while prudently ensuring the ongoing viability of CU operations. On the other end of the spectrum, CU leaders were strongly focused on their CUs’ “financial performance”—fundamentally oriented toward financial success, growth and sustainability. “You can’t help members if you don’t exist” was a perspective such credit unions often shared. They did not ignore their members by any means, but ultimately, success for credit unions on this end of the spectrum was primarily based on classic financial measures, sometimes at the expense of rewarding members first. Their “cause” was to ensure the ongoing financial health of the credit union so that it might, in turn, offer products and services to members and their families. Still other CUs were in the middle of our success spectrum and took a “balanced approach.” These CUs did all they could to thoughtfully harmonize the member-centric and CU-centric approaches. They saw the essence of their success as an ongoing balance of excellent service and strong financial results. Sometimes service was paramount in their thinking. Sometimes financial strength had to be the priority. Overall, however, the careful balancing between the two would lead to true success. These CUs’ “cause” was twofold: to benefit members and craft a strong financial cooperative. More recently, as we have talked to other CUs about ways they could take greater advantage of their cooperative model (and what it truly means to be a CU today), we learned that a few were thinking in a new way about success. These CUs reported that the essence of their approach was to include their relationship to their communities in their thinking about every one of their programs. These CUs have a new cause orientation and new success metrics. After talking with these CUs, did we need to revise the entire spectrum? The answer was a resounding yes and no. We’ll explain. ‘Revising’ the Spectrum The much more robust and comprehensive “community focus” that these CUs were taking didn’t seem to fit well on our initial spectrum. On the other hand, this new approach remained closely related to the fundamental CU ideas of member service and financial strength. What we ultimately learned is that by adding a third focal point—community —to the member-centric and financial performance focal points, a new way of framing success for credit unions emerged, one that is a direct descendant from the movement’s foundational principle of people helping people. At this point, some of you may be thinking, “Hey, maybe we are already a social purpose credit union. We already do lots of good things in the community.” You are not alone in suggesting this, but the social purpose approach goes much farther than nearly all of the community engagement efforts we have seen to date. As Coro Strandberg , former chair of $21.7 billion Vancity , Vancouver, British Columbia, and a corporate social responsibility pioneer, explains, “It is not uncommon for credit unions to find that they are not as far along toward becoming a social purpose organization as they think they are. It is because they already have the philosophy built into their DNA. [But, because of that,] they think they are doing more than they actually are!” The Social Purpose Model The social purpose approach—fully executed—means integrating social purpose into everything a CU does. It has a direct connection to the values and underlying principles that propelled the CU movement many years ago. In this model, the CU commits “a substantial portion of its assets to social finance projects rather than having social investment as an ancillary corporate social responsibility plan,” wrote Sean Geoby and Olaf Weber in a 2013 article in the Journal of Sustainable Finance and Investment . In other words, the focus on community impact becomes the driving vision of the CU, which then embeds social purpose values into all aspects of its governance, strategy and operational efforts. This does not mean that a CU should abandon its members nor the credit union’s financial health. Rather, to really serve members and substantially grow the credit union’s financial strengths, shifting to a broader focus on community can help rally many more people and organizations to the “cause” of the credit union. To do this, Strandberg advises, “As a board and management team, you need to determine what your purpose is. Why are you here?” The answer, she suggests, should not be to just meet member financial needs, but to go beyond such needs and—in a targeted manner—address some of the broader societal issues negatively impacting members and their families. And yes, this may mean helping others in the community who are not yet connected with the CU. As Simon Sinek challenges us all in his book, Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action , organizations need to both examine and reclaim their “Why?” CUs should certainly serve their members and their families with excellent products and services—what Sinek terms the “what.” They should also effectively execute their cooperative business model and maintain strong and sustainable financial fundamentals—which Sinek calls the “how.” But they should also think deeply about their core societal purpose—the “why”—a societal purpose that embraces members’ needs, but also extends far beyond just members in its ultimate reach and impact. This helps to transform the entity from one that simply provides a service or a commodity—like so many others in the marketplace—into a social movement. A cause! When helping the community becomes part of your core product line, and you think about it that way and it's part of what you are doing, focused on it on a daily basis, you are starting to arrive. -- Brett Martinez, Redwood Credit Union Social Purpose CUs Vancity : Chief Governance Officer and Corporate Secretary Karen Hoffman says the CU defines success as “building healthy communities and increasing and preserving the well-being of our members.” Under this vision, the CU has achieved 25 percent market share in one of Canada’s most sophisticated and international financial cities. Vancity does not focus on community simply because it has the “luxury to do so” due to its large asset base. It is so large today—and has gained such a passionate and loyal membership—due to its courageous decision to improve the Vancouver community. The CU has succeeded in transforming itself into a cause to improve Vancouver—a cause that many people in the city and its surrounding areas can truly believe in and actively seek to be a part of. For example, one of the CU’s most important efforts is its high-impact community investment loan that supports affordable housing; social purpose real estate; local, natural and organic food; the environment and energy efficiency; as well as social enterprises and social ventures. The CU’s social finance portfolio dwarves traditional corporate social responsibility efforts at many institutions. Vancity’s journey toward the social purpose model was sometimes two steps forward and one step back. The CU’s leaders had to experiment to see what would work. Other CUs can learn from its experience and take inspiration from its success. University Federal Credit Union , Austin, Texas : Under the banner of “When Our Community Is Strong, We Are Strong,” $2.3 billion University FCU has elevated its already strong community efforts to a new level. “This demonstrates where the heart of UFCU is—with our members and our community,” says Heather McKissick, VP/community impact and a CUES member. “In only its first year, our DO GOOD program has rallied our employees’ efforts around our community partners and made a real impact on the people they serve.” The credit union’s CEO, Tony Budet, understands that the model has its challenges. “We needed to attract new leaders to our board who were from within the community and had an interest in it, and it was a culture clash at first,” the CUES member says. “It’s difficult to go through that. A lot of credit unions will have this challenge if you don’t have an anchor or a group of people on the board who are part of the community you serve. It needs to be board-driven.” Lake Trust Credit Union , Brighton, Michigan : David Snodgrass, CCE, CEO and a CUES member, says: “We were talking about our strategy, culture and our business plan and we were wrestling with answering the question, ‘Why?’ We started reflecting on, ‘Why we are here?’ and ‘What is our purpose beyond just the traditional banking services we offer?’ It is still a journey we are on today.” $1.8 billion Lake Trust CU pursued a number of avenues, including forming a 501(c)(3) foundation to encourage charitable participation in some of its community endeavors, pursuing a grant from the U.S. Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. “Our CDFI grant request is to help seed a micro loan fund for small businesses in rural communities across the state of Michigan and to help us to take more risk than we would otherwise in our standard business practice—take a chance on a single mom who wants to open a hair salon, a young man who wants to open a pizza shop, in an effort to breathe economic opportunities into our smaller communities across the state,” Snodgrass says. Like Budet, Snodgrass also emphasizes that a social purpose model needs to be driven at the board level. Lake Trust CU has recently added four new board members and two associate directors from the non-profit sector with very deep roots in the community. “The contributions of our new board members have been multiple,” he explains. “It has invigorated the leadership team … to think even bigger about where we can go. They have opened up their networks to us and connected us to other thought leaders or other social purpose enterprises. That has been priceless. Having partners is part of this—we can’t do it all ourselves.” Redwood Credit Union , Santa Rosa, California : Sometimes pressing circumstances demand new approaches. Last year $4.3 billion Redwood CU found itself at ground zero in one of the most destructive wildfires in California history. CUES member Brett Martinez, CEO, says that the CU’s historic response was a result of having reacted to earlier fires in 2015 and 2016 and the recognition that the CU was able to react in an emergency to meet its communities’ needs. Because of its already deep relationships, Redwood CU was able to raise $32 million from 41,000 donors and help ensure the funds got to the right hands. “The state senator knew the areas, what the needs are, and the newspaper helped to communicate, get the word out and manage the communication, and that helped us being able to take in and distribute the money,” Martinez says. “Affordable housing is a huge issue,” he adds. “We didn’t do construction loans. We didn’t do agriculture lending either. There were other people doing that, and there wasn’t a need. Now, we are doing them, and we intend to keep doing them, even after recovery is completed. When helping the community becomes part of your core product line, and you think about it that way and it is part of what you are doing, focused on it on a daily basis, you are starting to arrive.” Redwood CU’s response to the disastrous fires has helped to propel it to a whole new level. Its leaders acknowledge they will never be the same after this experience. Future plans include more fully integrating the lessons learned—a hallmark of a maturing social purpose model. Pursuing the Model Snodgrass acknowledges that really understanding community needs and developing authentic relationships with community partners can be challenging. “Deciding to do this requires a degree of humility,” he says. “It’s not about you—all of your energy is directed to others. We were meeting with a social purpose organization in downtown Detroit. They are doing some amazing things: employing homeless women, designing jewelry, creating products. We wanted to understand how we would could add value and support them. We were met with a degree of skepticism. When you start engaging in community organizations, they don’t expect that somebody really cares. They expect that this is some sort of propaganda play.” Much work remains to be done to fulfill the promise of CUs’ social purpose model, which offers a blend of classic CU principles, an innovative community-centered approach and the promise of re-energizing the “why” of CUs in a way that appeals to young people. The approach also appears quite flexible and allows for both incremental development and a broad reach. It also stimulates innovation and a renewed passion from credit union leadership in how they design the credit union to be a meaningful cause—a cause that genuinely invites others to collectively reclaim the “why” of a credit union and create positive impact for members, their families and communities. Caitlin Hatch previously served as a senior consultant with Quantum Governance and has worked with credit unions for the past eight years, focusing on governance and strategic planning. Prior to that, she served for 25 years as general counsel and corporate secretary for the largest anthracite coal company in the United States. Previous Next

< Back Assess for Success Michael Daigneault Jul 27, 2015 8 surefire times you need to evaluate your board’s performance In a recent study conducted by Quantum Governance , only 22 percent of credit unions rated themselves as “effective” or “very effective” at conducting a regular process of self-evaluation. Comparatively, 34 percent felt they were ineffective or even “very ineffective ” in doing so. With the long tenure of credit union board members and the continually evolving business climate that faces today’s credit union, remaining relevant, current and ahead of the curve is more important than ever. In fact, it is incumbent upon every credit union director to do so. A board assessment is a critical component in an ongoing process of board renewal, strengthening and improvement. Done well, it can provide an objective and comprehensive perspective that ultimately will help your board and senior management team focus your efforts, activities and precious resources. Together, you will identify your credit union’s strengths and challenges and, in doing so, find ways to move forward collectively to the betterment of your members. You can frame your issues in a new way, generating bright ideas and insights that will lead your credit union effectively into the future. Plus, you will build a baseline against which you can measure future progress. You should definitely consider a board evaluation in the near term if you: have a new credit union board chair or CEO want to elevate your credit union’s leadership or strategy to the “next level” have been experiencing very high or very low board member turnover need to address issues or concerns with your current governance structure, policies and/or practices are getting ready to launch a new strategic planning initiative (or revise your current strategic plan) are considering a merger or acquisition have experienced significant change, growth or “crisis” within your credit union or board have not undertaken an evaluation in the last three years Previous Next

< Back In Search Of The Strategic Board Paul Dionne Jul 16, 2024 Discover how credit union boards can become agile strategic partners and lead their institutions to future success. “Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower “I always say don’t make plans, make options.” – Jennifer Aniston Credit union board directors often ask me how they can improve the way their boards provide strategic oversight and support. They describe member expectations growing as quickly as the new channels, products and services being offered by competitors. Consumers expect more convenience, bespoke service, and assurance that a provider has their financial back. Or else! As the financial services ecosystem faces ongoing disruption, credit union leaders see a need to become more agile and better prepare for multiple uncertainties. Board directors must get involved if they want to support their credit unions becoming more nimble and resilient as part of their long-term strategic direction. How can boards become better strategic partners? As credit union board directors learn during their first onboarding session, directors carry fiduciary responsibilities and bear ultimate responsibility for ensuring the safety and soundness of their credit union. But fiduciary responsibilities are often where board meetings go to die. It is so easy to fall into a “report-out” agenda with Q&A that takes up all of a board’s time and energy deliberating over what happened in the past. Boards must also devote their time to strategy. And strategy is all about the future. In order to fulfill their role as leaders of their credit union, boards must provide strategic focus and direction. In Quantum Governance ’s The State of Credit Union Governance, 2020 study, we asked What are the skills that add the most value in the Boardroom? The top answer from leaders was “Ability to focus on the future” with 76% of respondents checking that box. Boards can begin supporting strategy by developing and applying their long-term perspective to help prepare the credit union for the future. Dialogue on strategy should be ongoing, not reserved solely for the annual strategic planning retreat. Are you finding ways to keep directors informed about the future of financial services so they understand emerging risks and opportunities? Do your board meetings have substantial blocks of time dedicated to strategic dialogue? Are board directors equipped to ask future-oriented questions that enhance planning and preparedness? Returning to those fiduciary obligations, boards are typically well versed and skilled at risk mitigation for safety and soundness. But risk also comes in another form: the judicious taking on and managing of risk to gain strategic advantage. Every strategic plan includes risk! Strategic boards understand that addressing risk taking in a mindful and calculated manner is an essential element of strategic planning. A failure to pay attention to risk taking hampers a board’s ability to provide both fiduciary and strategic oversight. Consider, for example, how a credit union might advance a strategic goal by taking on more lending risk. Would extending loans to lower grades deepen member engagement, contribute to growth goals and support the mission? Or will it over-extend your lending team, balloon charge offs, and damage your reputation? What is the right balance to strike? This type of deliberation is best addressed when a board and CEO/senior management are working in concert. I am not suggesting boards take the strategic planning steering wheel out of the hands of their CEOs! Boards need to know their lane. For example, operational planning still belongs to the CEO. Boards should endeavor to engage in regular dialogue with their CEO/senior management (and likely others) on high-level strategic matters. Boards can provide constructive feedback and help ensure accountability. Credit unions enjoying a healthy constructive partnership between the board and CEO are likely to make better strategic decisions. If we are to take Ike’s and Jennifer Aniston’s quotes at their word, credit union boards would do well to learn how to contribute to their credit union’s strategic planning. Boards that understand and support their credit union’s strategy and the risks being taken can help create parameters that foster greater operational agility for staff. The benefits can make the difference between a credit union set to thrive in spite of an unknown future versus one slowly drifting into irrelevance. Strategic boards provide the kind of understanding and support that empower CEOs and their teams to execute the strategy more nimbly and confidently. Planning is indeed everything, and boards should play a central role. When that unexpected storm blows in your face, the planful credit union will be able to review the options that were developed, pivot, and keep moving forward. All with the confidence by staff that their board understands the game plan, the risks being taken, and has their back. Previous Next

< Back The Board And The CEO Should Play Doubles Tennis Michael Daigneault and Jennie Boden Apr 23, 2019 The constructive partnership between directors and the chief executive is a lot like teammates on one side of the court. If you’ve spent any amount of time with us folks at Quantum Governance—either at a large, general session at a CUES conference or in a private, retreat setting, you know that we talk a lot about the importance of the “constructive partnership” between the board and the CEO. We spend a key portion of our governance training covering this very issue—framing the dynamic balance of authority between the two and suggesting that a key to mutual success is that they focus on working together as “teammates.” What do we mean by that? Well, we often ask participants to picture the great tennis players Venus and Serena Williams playing together as a doubles tennis team. Yes, each should bring her unique abilities to the challenge, but that does not mean one sister should overwhelmingly dominate the play on their common side of the net. When out on the court playing a doubles tennis match, they cannot (in the moment) be focused on “Who is in charge? or “Who is the better tennis player?” No, they’re understandably focused on who is in the best position to return the next shot as it comes over the net. Indeed, they are hyper-focused on working together as a team to bring out the best in both of their abilities! The same is true in the board-CEO relationship. There are roles and responsibilities that fall into the board’s side of the court (i.e., hiring the CEO). In the same vein, it should remain the CEO’s sole responsibility to hire his or her management team and staff. But what about when it comes to determining the strategic plan that will drive the future of the credit union? Doubles tennis best defines this part of the effort to be sure, with the board, CEO and management team working in constructive partnership to co-create the best strategic plan for their credit union and its members. One of the key findings in our report “ The State of Credit Union Governance, 2018, Five Data-Driven Recommendations for Future Success ” was that this all-important team (the board and the CEO) frequently differ on their perceptions of governance. And that difference in perception is great, with little agreement on 84% of their responses on the vast majority of the survey’s key questions. This finding led us to recently add a new question to our governance survey: How effective is the board at maintaining a good working relationship with the CEO? On a scale of 0-4, the responses thus far have varied wildly, with one credit union scoring a perfect 4.0, and another scoring less than a 1.0. How would you rate your board’s relationship with your CEO? Consider all of the facets. Is your board appropriately staying out of the weeds? Are you working in constructive partnership in the areas that really count? Do you have a high level of trust with your CEO? Are you giving your CEO genuinely effective performance feedback? Is your board asking the hard questions that need to be asked, as you “trust but verify”? And is your CEO comfortable with your hard questions and in agreement with you in your collective understanding of the role and responsibilities of the Board? The law vests the ultimate authority and responsibility for the credit union in the board, Ram Charan put it this way in his book Boards that Lead , the real role of the board is to understand: 1) when to lead, 2) when to delegate and 3) when to partner with your CEO and his or her management team. Are these three areas crystal clear for you and for your CEO? If not, we fear that your score would be far from that perfect 4.0 on our new governance survey question, and this is likely one of the most important and critical governance challenges that your credit union must identify and overcome. Previous Next

< Back Who's on Your Board Today? Tomorrow? Michael Daigneault and Jennie Boden Mar 27, 2018 The State of Credit Union Governance, 2018 report finds credit unions are more certain of their current mix of directors than they are about the future composition of their boards. Here’s what this means for board renewal. Data from our new report, The State of CU Governance, 2018 , find that the majority of credit unions feel pretty good about who’s currently on their boards—but are much less sure about the future.Almost three-quarters of survey respondents (74 percent) of respondents report that their boards are “effective” or “very effective” at having the right mix of skills/experience to accomplish [their] governance roles and responsibilities. But remarkably, almost half of all of the survey respondents (46 percent) describe their effectiveness in “attracting the right people to serve on the board” in the future as only “adequate,” or “ineffective” or “very ineffective.” Figure 1: Attracting the Right People to Serve on the Board - Overall Our experience is that your collective worries about attracting the right folks to serve on your credit union’s board are well-founded—and things may get worse before they get better! The number of board members available to serve in the coming years is likely to shrink. Using generational definitions from Pew , the Boomer generation (born 1946–1964) consists of 76 million people and is shrinking. Generation X (born 1965 – 1980) is estimated to be only around 55 million people, causing a significant lack of potential board members for a good number of years until the much larger millennial generation (born after 1980) begins to peak. This means that you and your board colleagues will be competing more and more for fewer and fewer potential board members. In his book, Generations: The Challenge of a Lifetime for Your Nonprofit , Peter C. Brinckerhoff notes that both members of Generation X and millennials typically volunteer for different reasons and in different ways than members of the Boomer generation. Brinckerhoff goes on to say that members of the Boomer generation historically committed to volunteerism in support of institutions, whereas younger generations volunteer in support of people and issues rather than organizations. They often prefer discrete projects rather than large commitments, and they can experience all that volunteerism has to offer without having to be commit to regular “face-time,” all of which goes against traditional board service. So, how do you attract, and then keep, the ever-elusive millennial? Here are a few do’s and don’ts to consider as you work to refresh your board’s membership: DO: Talk about your credit union’s mission. Millennials are often cause- or mission-driven, but ensure that you’re talking to them in language they understand, using today’s technology. Mix your credit union’s business with passion. Ensure that your board meetings are not all business. While addressing the business of the day is important, see that you are also addressing the broader, strategic impact that your credit union is having (see point No. 1, above). Bring them on in multiples. That is, don’t just add one millennial at a time to your board or its committees; add a number of them so that they don’t feel like a token (see point No. 1, below). DON’T: Treat them as tokens. It seems like everyone is talking about adding a millennial to their boards. Ensure you have a meaningful role for them to fill on your board and its committees (see also point #3 above). Under-estimate their abilities & skills. They have a lot to contribute; ensure that you are listening and learning from them. Think of them as “kids.” While for many board members, they may be the same age as your kids, they are not your kids. Treat them with the professional respect that they are due. Previous Next

Now Accepting Governance Grant Applications... The Second Annual Michael G. Daigneault Excellence in Governance Grant Application window is open May 4 - June 30, 2026. Learn more. NEWS: Quantum Governance Joins Callahan & Associates to Advance Credit Union Governance. Press Release Governance Grow Your Vision Welcome visitors to your site with a short, engaging introduction. Double click to edit and add your own text. We've Launched New Services to Meet the Needs of Smaller Credit Unions. Our Vision is Exceptional Leadership for Mission-Driven Organizations. Learn More Credit Union News Nonprofit News

< Back Know When It’s Time To Go Jennie Boden Feb 28, 2023 Holding onto your board position may be best for you, but what’s best for your credit union? In September 2021, I wrote an article entitled “Are Women Better Leaders?” Then, I referenced several studies and articles from sources including the Pew Research Center, Forbes and The Washington Post that seemed to suggest that maybe, just maybe, women might have an edge over their male counterparts when it comes to leadership. The Pew study found “few differences between women and men in terms of leadership, [but noted that] women are perceived as more compassionate, empathetic leaders.” The Forbes article cited “studies … [that state] ‘women tend to outperform men.’” And The Washington Post article reported that countries led by women “suffered far lower death rates” than those led by men during the first wave of COVID-19. That very article cited the leadership of New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern during the pandemic. A study conducted by Alex Beatie at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, found that Ardern’s leadership during the pandemic “is considered … [among] the best in the world.” Beatie noted three key themes of Ardern’s daily press briefings and the government’s communications: “1) open, honest and straightforward communications; 2) distinctive and motivational language; and 3) expressions of care.” And Prime Minister Ardern has done it again. She is leading in an open, honest and straightforward way—this time with an expression of care for both her country and her responsibilities to and for it and for herself. On Jan. 19, 2023, I joined most of the world in surprise when Ardern announced that she would resign as her country’s prime minister just a month later. During her announcement, she said, “I’m leaving because with such a privileged role comes responsibility.” She continued, stating, “The responsibility to know when you are the right person to lead and also when you are not. I know what this job takes. And I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. It’s that simple.” Her words struck me. How many times have I heard credit union board members say, “They’ll drag me off this board feet first, if I have anything to do with it?” Or even been given a heads-up by a CEO that a couple of their board’s directors could have the beginning stages of dementia? We’ve even had clients who have experienced the wholesale turnover of their board and their CEO within two short years. Tell me, how is that considered responsible leadership? A Characteristic of Responsible Leadership With 83% of credit union board and supervisory/audit committee members, CEOs and other C-suite staff reporting in the 2023 edition of The State of Credit Union Governance that their credit unions do not have term limits, it’s no wonder that the average age of board members today is 76.3 years, and they have been serving on their boards for an average of 19 years. Holding on to your board position may be what’s best for you, but is it in your credit union’s best interest? What if more of our credit union directors took Prime Minister Ardern’s tack and asked themselves this important question: Are you still the right person to lead your credit union into the future? And if you’re not, consider the three themes identified above: 1) Be open, honest and straightforward; 2) use distinctive language to motivate your colleagues for the future; and 3) above all, consider every action that you take as a director an expression of care and concern for the credit union and your members. Previous Next

< Back Assessing Staff's Strategic Planning Path Jennie Boden Aug 2, 2017 The challenge is helping front-line credit union folks see the big picture. Should credit union staff members beyond the senior level be included in strategic planning? If yes, when and how will such involvement be most beneficial for a credit union? The diagram at right will help you consider the answer to this question. The board and senior management team should work in constructive partnership to set the credit union’s overarching vision, mission, culture (or values), strategic goals, objectives and metrics (see the items in the accompanying graphic in blue). Work plans (see items in red) are then developed and executed by the senior management team in partnership with the rest of the staff, based on the original work set forth on the vision, mission and culture. There are a few caveats, of course. The senior management team should be recused from some parts of the strategic planning process with the board when (a) the board anticipates that it may need to make a CEO change and wants to discuss it as a part of going in a “new strategic direction”; (b) the board discusses the possibility of restructuring the senior management team with just the CEO; and/or (c) there are important governance issues concerning the board, which could morph into a strategic effort focused on the board or governance-only issues, that they want to first discuss among themselves and (usually) with the CEO. Figure 1: Strategic Planning Elements Including more staff in the visioning process can, at times, be limiting, so the board and senior management team should consider whether this might be an issue. Staff can tend to think more along operational lines, and the purpose of strategic planning at the board and senior management team level is to think, to think big, and to think beyond what is happening today. However, some staff, especially individuals with specialized skill sets and knowledge, could be included at the board and senior management team level of planning, and all staff can and should be included in up-front brainstorming, research and data gathering. Additionally, they are vital to fully developing the more detailed operational work plans (the items in orange) that flow from the board-level strategic goals, objectives and metrics. Finally, they would need to be involved as a vital stakeholder group in the communications effort articulating the strategic planning efforts of leadership. After all, they will be asked to embrace and execute the plan. Previous Next

About Quantum Governance, L3C Our Vision Exceptional Leadership for Mission-Driven Organizations. Our Mission Partnering with mission-driven leaders to enhance governance and strategy effectiveness for exceptional outcomes. Meet Our Team Who We Are Founded over a decade ago, Quantum Governance is an L3C, a low-profit, limited-liability service organization dedicated to the public good. We are experts in governance and strategy. Our work is designed to help organizations realize the full potential of their missions. Our team provides assessment, consulting, planning, facilitation and implementation services to mission-driven organizations of all sizes. Quantum Governance is a Callahan company. Click here to learn more. Our Values Authenticity. We are committed to being truth tellers, knowing that candor empowers our clients to better fulfill their vision and mission. Compassion. We connect with empathy, kindness and respect. Innovation. We strive for creative and nimble ways of thinking, doing and growing. Diversity. We advocate for the enrichment that diverse backgrounds,experiences and perspectives provide in shaping better outcomes for everyone. Inclusivity. We value the unique insights and contributions of each individual. Dependability. We honor our commitments and build trust through consistently responsible actions. Excellence. We set – and then work to exceed – the standard of what is being asked or expected to produce work of the highest quality.