Search Results

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

Services We are a team of experts in the fields of governance and strategy designed to help nonprofits, credit unions, associations and foundations realize the full potential of their missions. Our team provides assessment, consulting, planning, facilitation and implementation services to cooperative and nonprofit organizations of all sizes. Quantum Governance is an L3C, a low-profit, limited-liability service organization dedicated to the public good. Founded over a decade ago, our mission is to partner with mission-driven leaders to enhance governance and strategy effectiveness for exceptional outcomes. What We Offer Governance Governance Assessment Leadership Culture Assessment CEO Evaluation Peer-to-Peer Evaluations Director Skills Inventory Board Succession Planning and more! Learn More Small Credit Unions The Governance Check-Up Governance Skill Building Governance Evolution Learn More Strategic Planning Strategic Planning Facilitation Defining Your Vision & Mission Identifying Strategic Goals and more! Learn More Additional Services Bylaw & Policy Development Keynote Presentations and more! Learn More Why Choose Quantum Governance? We have an exceptional reputation among credit unions, nonprofits, associations, foundations and leagues. We've developed proprietary, best-in-class assessment tools , robust and insightful data and unparalleled deliverables from our contemporary Policy Library to our research and reports. We have experience working with hundreds of credit unions, nonprofits, associations, foundations and leagues from the very small to those with more than $33 billion in assets domestically and internationally. We are constructive partners and collaborators enthusiastically learning about your organization to efficiently deliver both short-term results and long-term evolution. We are lifelong learners and curious researchers dedicated to sharing our knowledge and expertise to strengthen the credit union industry as a whole through The State of Credit Union Governance report series. Let's talk about your organization's needs. Contact Us

How Can We Help You? General Inquiries A member of our team will reach out within 48 hours. Name Email Phone Message We'll respond to your inquiry within 48 hours. Submit Mailing Address 1001 Connecticut Ave, NW 10th Floor Washington, D.C. 20036 Operating Hours Monday-Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm ET For Media & Partnership Inquiries Gisele Manole, Chief Marketing Officer gisele@quantumgovernance.net Call Us 800.446.7453

Available Soon! We are currently updating our Nonprofit Policy Shop. If you have inquiries about a specific policy or product, please email Gisele Manole at gisele@quantumgovernance.net . Back to Homepage

< Back 5 Data-Driven Recommendations for Governance Success Michael Daigneault Jan 29, 2018 Core Recommendations from a New Report The State of Credit Union Governance, 2018 is the culmination of five years of data collected from credit unions across the United States and a dream long held by everyone at Quantum Governance. The research yielded a number of key findings which we’ve shared previously on our blog . And now we can also share some data-driven recommendations that emanate from those six key findings. We hope that the information shared by credit union board members, CEOs, supervisory committee members and senior staff nationwide will help you and your credit union colleagues further mission success. You can find the Report here: The State of Credit Union Governance 2018, Report . These five core recommendations may help you strengthen governance policies and practices at your credit union: 1. Prioritize governance excellence at your credit union. If you haven’t been taking governance seriously at your credit union, it’s time to do so. And if you have been, it’s time to kick it up a notch. Whether you’re functioning at Governance 101 or 601, it’s time to find out what Governance 201 or 701 looks like for your credit union. 2. Eliminate any perception gaps between your board, supervisory committee and senior staff. If we know one thing, it’s this: Gaps between the board and senior staff will eventually be destructive. We highly (underscore highly) recommend a strong, constructive partnership between the board, supervisory committee and the senior staff—all working collectively to govern and lead the credit union. There were so many gaps in perceptions between these positions throughout the report that it surprised even us, and it should definitely concern you. 3. Ensure you have a plan for board (and committee) rejuvenation. The longer a board member serves, the more positive his or her perception is. While this may sound like a positive finding, it actually concerns us. Are long-serving board members losing their ability to ask the hard questions? At the same time, the number of potential board members among us—if we look strictly at the census numbers—is shrinking. Ensure that your credit union has a viable plan for leadership continuity. It is one of the most critical responsibilities a board holds. 4. Focus on your credit union’s leadership culture. While you may be spending countless hours ensuring that your board members have the requisite training, your committee structure is in place and operating well, and your plan for board rejuvenation is fully up-to-date, don’t forget about building a positive board culture. It takes time and conscious cultivation to ensure a positive outcome here. 5. Charter a governance and nominations committee… fast . Over the years, nominations committees have morphed—first into board development committees and now into what is considered governance and nominations committees. If your credit union doesn’t have one, it’s behind the curve, and you need to get one. Fast. Today’s governance and nominations committee is chartered to address board roles and responsibilities, composition, knowledge and learning, and effectiveness and leadership. We believe this recommendation is so important that a sample governance and nominations committee charter is an appendix to the report. Previous Next

< Back Key Outcomes And Lessons Learned From A Board Renewal Effort Jennie Boden and Dr. Alexander Stein of Dolus Advisors Jan 31, 2022 An analysis of Hudson Valley CU’s work to revise key governance processes. Quantum Governance and Dolus Advsiors are pleased to offer the following key outcomes and lessons learned from our work with $6.1 billion Hudson Valley Credit Union in revisioning and revising their nominations process. (For more background, read the feature story detailing the work we did with Hudson Valley CU.) Key Outcomes The nominations sub-committee learned it could be nimble, coalesce around change and have a significantly increased impact on the future of the Hudson Valley CU board and supervisory committee. In the end, the members were proud of the changes they implemented and the outcome of their work. And, importantly, they served as a model on how to welcome and adapt to change for other elements of the governance system at Hudson Valley CU. There was an increased level of trust attained between members of the nominations sub-committee and the CEO—primarily through the CEO’s participation in the nominations process, but also as an extension of the still-developing constructive partnership between the board, supervisory committee and CEO/management. All the volunteers—board and committee members—gained a new and enhanced understanding of their capabilities and, despite initial trepidations, developed a significantly greater appreciation for the upsides of transformational change. The previous governance committee and the old nominations committee combined in an integrated model to become the new governance and nominations committee. This provides the credit union with the structure, know-how and horsepower to better meet its members’ needs given its size and complexity. Lesso ns Learned Include everyone in the discussions, right from the start—board members, supervisory committee members, nominations committee members, the CEO—when you’re a) discussing why and how you want to change the nomination process; and b) what the ideal board or supervisory/audit committee of the future looks like for your credit union. Cast your net wide for new candidates and volunteers. Ensure that every candidate attaches a resume or curriculum vitae to their submitted application. And be sure that you update your application to obtain the information that you need—in alignment with your call for candidates. Don’t assume that your current board and supervisory committee members are the right members for the future. Vet them as thoroughly and fully as you vet your new candidates—and against the same requirements. Prepare both the volunteers on your nominations committee and your incumbents for navigating emotionally hard decisions. Meeting the requirements of creating the board and supervisory/audit committee of the future may necessitate the departure of a long-term volunteer colleague. Ensure that the roles and responsibilities for your volunteer positions are clear, including the time commitment. Even with all the communications shared with the Hudson Valley CU candidates, several candidates expressed surprise at the level of commitment required after joining. It doesn’t have to be perfect right out of the gate. Not every tool you develop or innovation you incorporate will immediately work flawlessly. And that’s okay. Keep experimenting. One example: We developed a scoring sheet for the nominations sub-committee that ended up being more of a hindrance than a help. It was quickly set aside, and the members of the sub-committee moved on. Balance urgency and patience. A member of the governance and nominations committee admitted wishing they had developed an associate board member program years ago. But there had been resistance, and it was shelved. When the proposal was introduced last year as a part of these innovations, the practice was enthusiastically adopted. Change takes time. Prioritize equity, diversity and inclusion. Ensure that your credit union is aware of how systemic inequalities adversely affect society—and your credit union. This conscious commitment to equity will enhance organizational decision-making, lead to greater diversity around the leadership table, and help directors and executives alike develop a more inclusive, shared understanding of what everyone has to say and contribute. Alexander Stein, Ph.D . , is founder of Dolus Advisors , a consultancy that helps leaders address psychologically complex organizational challenges. Previous Next

< Back No Higher Calling Michael Daigneault Nov 25, 2014 The challenge of effective CEO evaluation It never fails—when I’m with a group of board members (which is very, very often) and I ask “What are your core responsibilities?” someone will always say, “to hire and fire the CEO.” And yes, I suppose at a very basic level this is true. Perhaps there is no more important decision a typical credit union board makes than in the hiring of a CEO. There is, of course, so much more to developing a successful relationship with a credit union CEO than in his or her hiring and firing. If you were to think back over your career and consider the best mentors you had—the ones who were able to elicit from you your finest moments as an employee—certainly you would consider their contributions to your career far beyond the moment they hired (or even fired) you. Indeed “CEO support and oversight” (not solely hiring and firing the CEO) is a key board responsibility that Quantum Governance focuses on. (The others are governance and leadership; performance and results; strategic thinking, learning and planning; budget and resources; membership and community outreach; and stewardship, ethics and financial integrity. On the whole, my colleagues and I sometimes worry that credit union directors spend too much time focusing on fiduciary and operational- related matters. Ideally, we would like to see you talk a bit more at the strategic level in the board room. However, one area where we do see a great deal of variability--and perhaps a greater need to focus at the fiduciary level—is in the assessment process of the CEO. What does an effective or “constructive partnership” between the board and your credit union’s CEO look like? That is, what kind of relationship do you have—and will you forge in the future—with your CEO? What are the appropriate operational and strategic boundaries? How, in the big picture, can you help your CEO be even more effective? What goals should you set for your CEO? Should your CEO’s goals be the same as the goals of the credit union as a whole—or should there be goals unique to him or her? Ultimately, what type of process is appropriate to provide an effective CEO assessment? There are real challenges in the answers to these vital questions. In Quantum Governance’s work, we assess credit union boards nationally, and less than 30 percent of board members we’ve surveyed think they effectively establish performance goals for their CEO. And only slightly more (35 percent) think they are effective in holding their CEOs accountable for such goals when they have been established. If my math is correct, that means only about 10 percent of credit union boards perceive they are effectively holding their CEOs accountable to an agreed-upon set of performance goals! To maintain a truly effective constructive partnership with your CEO, a board must thoughtfully and collectively work to build, foster, maintain and improve the relationship. A regular and genuinely valuable assessment process of the CEO is vital. It can provide: a more objective and comprehensive analysis of your CEO performance, a higher degree of focus on key credit union goals, efforts, and initiatives, an in-depth look at important leadership strengths – as well as challenges, a means for your credit union’s leadership to get “un-stuck,” a way to reframe key governance, leadership and strategy issues, baseline data to measure future efforts and progress, and new ideas, insights and ways to move the credit union forward. And yet, sadly our surveys show that a third or more of credit union board members feel they are doing an “ineffective” or only “adequate job” of using a quality process that allows all board members to provide input on the CEO’s evaluation. Such a process is a vital element in maintaining a good relationship with your CEO over time. In addition to ensuring that all board members have an opportunity to provide input into the CEO assessment process, here are other options to seriously consider: For example: 1) you could also ask your CEO to complete a CEO self-assessment tool aligned with the question set board members use to provide feedback; (2) you could ask for 360-degree assessments by direct reports to the CEO; and, in appropriate instances, (3) you could ask for mentor or coach assessments of the CEO. The immediate goal is to provide valuable feedback to the CEO that accurately assesses his or her efforts and gives genuinely helpful guidance to improve overall performance. The ultimate aim is to build an effective partnership that will help your CEO and, through his or her efforts, actively assist the credit union and its members to succeed. In many respects, there really is no higher calling before you as a board. Previous Next

< Back The Learning Board Michael Daigneault Sep 23, 2014 Three key building blocks I’ve been a serial learner most of my life. In fact, I drive my wife and colleagues crazy lugging multiple iPads, books, articles and videos around with me wherever I go. I have a book recommendation for nearly everyone who crosses my path. I’m such a space nut that I attended adult space camp (“adult” perhaps being a relative term) at the tender age of 35—to train on the actual simulators that NASA astronauts used in years gone by—because I was curious to learn what it was like to fly the Space Shuttle. Call me a learning geek. So I guess it won’t surprise you that I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the idea of building a culture of learning among credit union boards and about how such a culture might just be the salve to a number of credit union challenges. As it happens, 25 years ago, Peter Senge, an American systems scientist and a senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management (host of the first segment of CUES’ Strategic Innovation Institute ), suggested the benefits of becoming a “learning organization”—one that has developed a culture that actively encourages leaders, managers and employees to “continuously acquire, transfer and create new knowledge.” Senge’s thesis was applauded when it emerged, but for many large corporations and institutions to actually become continuous learning organizations was an overwhelming and daunting challenge. The personal computer and Internet were still in their infancy. (To give it some historical context, it was the same year “www” was proposed for universal use on the Web, and the Apple computers at the time were the Macintosh Classic and the Lisa. We would have to wait another 11 years for the first generation iPod!) I’d like to suggest that Senge was right in his appraisal of what needed to happen, but seriously ahead of his time. The digital and conceptual environment of today had to be born to enable his vision of a learning organization to genuinely flourish. But the time has been here for a while and it’s time for credit unions to get aboard this train. Today’s credit union faces a particularly challenging, rapidly changing and unpredictable landscape. The cycle times for new products and services have become extremely compressed. Entrepreneurial disrupters can go from an idea to having a major impact on the financial or technological landscape in just months or years. (For example, Square became a $2 billion corporation in just two years.) With ever-increasing regulatory complexities, consolidation, evolving board governance practices, exploding technologies, and the quickly changing needs and expectations of your members and community, the demands on credit union leaders have become greater than ever. This is your moment ... you can allow the challenges to overcome you, or you can overcome the challenges. It is vital that your board and senior management identify key trends, changes and developments quickly— appreciate the implications of such shifts quickly—and courageously help your credit union to adapt quickly. Why the rush? Simply put, the world won’t wait for you. It will change at its own pace … credit unions will have to work very hard to just keep up, let alone “get to the future first!” How can your leadership ensure that it: (1) is genuinely aware of the critical changes taking place; (2) deeply appreciates the implications of those changes; (3) is able to meaningfully partner with management to craft strategies that respond to key shifts and needs; and (4) can do so in an economic climate that demands speed and effective execution of vital strategic choices? Indeed, one of the most important strategic challenges facing nearly all credit unions today is how to individually and collectively learn the changes that are taking place around them, ask the hard questions that need to be asked, strategically experiment, capture the learning from those experiments, and innovate rapidly enough to ensure the relevance of credit unions for years to come. I am convinced that a genuine commitment to be a modern-day “learning organization” led by a “learning board” will help your credit union better understand, successfully innovate and rapidly adapt to the swiftly changing world that surrounds it. But, what do I mean when I say you should build a learning organization and board? And, where do you begin? There are three key building blocks for any credit union leader seeking to foster a learning culture: A supportive learning environment. First, you will need to make a conscious—credit union-wide—that you are dedicated to building a learning organization. It takes a commitment of time, energy and resources. And not just from your board members. Your credit union’s senior management team will be required to contribute and, often, play an active role in helping board members access key learning resources. A concrete learning process. A number of helpful resources are available to support your efforts. Certainly your CUES Director or Center for Credit Union Board Excellence membership opens up a number of important doors to ongoing learning, training and conferences. Be specific about your credit union’s expectations concerning active learning. Outline initial and ongoing requirements for board members, and don’t forget to include senior management and your employees in the fold. Include an assessment of your own and your employees’ commitment to learning as a part of your annual evaluation processes. Leadership that reinforces learning. Lastly, and most importantly, your commitment to learning must come from the top-down – demonstrated overtly by both the board and the senior management team. At my own organization, my staff knows how important ongoing learning is to me. While space camp may have been a dream for me, I do ensure that we regularly include key questions, strategic ideas and even provocative book discussions on the agendas for every one of our quarterly team meetings… Previous Next

< Back What to Do When Communication Styles Clash: Embrace It Jennie Boden Feb 18, 2019 Building a culture of inclusivity helps ensure each voice on your board is heard. Once when my firm, Quantum Governance L3C, was looking at some assessment tools that might help our clients, we spent the fall taking them for a test drive. We spent time looking at the DiSC profile , the CliftonStrengths assessment and more. In essence, we were putting our staff through some of the paces through which we often put our clients—boards of directors of credit unions, associations, foundations and other nonprofits. We use assessment tools with our clients with the intent to improve their ability to function as a team and increase their governance effectiveness. With these test drives, I learned a lot about myself and my colleagues. I learned that I like “contributing to a calm, stable atmosphere” and “working with people who genuinely care about one another.” And I definitely don’t like “dealing with angry, pushy or argumentative people,” or “having to argue for [my] point of view”—although I think my husband would likely disagree with that last observation. One of the personality tests called me “amiable.” The results of the tests helped me to understand some of the factors that motivate my behavior and the way that I communicate and interact with my colleagues, how they interact with me, and our own team’s dynamics. To this day, when one of my colleagues says I’m being “too soft,” I’ll simply reply, “Remember, I’m the amiable one.” It’s a common language and experience from which we can both draw. But it can be tough sometimes, can’t it, when personalities and communications styles clash? We all believe in the value of diversity. In fact, when we interview board members (and we interview a lot of them), diversity is one of the things that they feel their board is lacking the most! They believe that their boards (and their credit unions) would be better off if they reflected the diverse make-up of their credit union’s membership. And they are probably right. At Quantum Governance, we define diversity as the quality of being different or unique at the individual or group level. And yet, while we’re all going around valuing and actively seeking diversity, it’s the very nature of diversity that can cause communications challenges. My perspectives and the way I communicate are, by definition, different from the perspectives and communication style that my firm’s CEO brings to the table. First, the obvious: I am female; he is male. Second, I was raised in a small, rural town in Pennsylvania; he was raised, well, everywhere. He moved 25-plus times by the time he was 30. I was educated by liberals at UC-Berkeley; he, by the Jesuits of Georgetown. I studied literature; he studied law. I am a quiet, amiable communicator; he is larger than life. I like big, lumbering dogs (think Lab/Great Dane mixes!); he likes multitudes of small, cuddly pups. And yet, for more than 25 years, we have been working and collaborating happily and effectively together. And you, too, can work effectively with those who are vastly different from you. Instead of avoiding the challenges that will, by definition, arise from the diversity that surrounds you, embrace them. The true value of diversity is in what it brings us—the variety of thought, perspectives, context and experience. It helps us all—whether an entire credit union, its board or even an individual—grow and strengthen in ways that we never imagined. There is a twin pillar to diversity that will show you the way. It is the notion of inclusivity. When a diverse board, team or even diversity in a one-on-one relationship challenges your ability to communicate, work to build inclusivity—an environment where everyone genuinely feels included, supported, heard and able to contribute to the success of the whole. My father was a minister in that small rural Pennsylvania town where I grew up, and my amiable self was most likely born from his drilling into my head, “Try to understand the other person, Jennie,” which was his own definition of building inclusivity. When my communication style clashes with another, this is my go-to tactic. And I employ it all of the time. Communication styles clash because people are diverse. Ultimately, however, making a diligent effort to work effectively and even thrive in a diverse world will not only enrich you as an individual but strengthen your board and your credit union’s leadership. Previous Next

Committees Resources 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 Supervisory Committees Function Well, But... Just like CUs and their boards, supervisory committees must change with the times. Read More

< Back Understanding the Importance of Ethics Michael Daigneault and Jennie Boden Nov 28, 2017 Principled leadership is a vital part of any cooperative’s DNA. For many years, my focus was on ethics – particularly organizational ethics. As an undergraduate at Georgetown University, I majored in philosophy and minored in psychology. My father thought it was imprudent to follow such a course of study, but I persisted. As such, I studied many of history’s greatest ethicists. I went on to law school, immersing myself in the study of law and justice. My favorite class was…yes, legal ethics. (Many of my law school colleagues were convinced something was seriously wrong with me at this point.) I then decided to double down and became the first person to receive a Masters in Law from Georgetown University Law Center with a concentration in Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility. I went on to found a consulting practice called “Ethics, Inc.” and then served as President of the Ethics Resource Center – the nation’s oldest, independent ethics center. I even had a license plate for my car that read “Ethics 1.” It’s safe to say, ethics was a really big part of my personal and professional life! And then…my central focus shifted. Over the course of my early career, I witnessed ethical lapses in both for-profit and nonprofit organizations that were attributed (by their senior leadership) to the actions or decisions of a “rogue employee” or “bad person” in their midst. Occasionally this was the case, but often it wasn’t the whole story. In helping many institutions in their quest to address the difficult ethical questions or situations that confronted them, I came to realize that many of their so-called “ethical challenges” were actually – at their root – issues of governance. As a result, in 2012 I️ and my wife, Alessandra, created a new limited liability low-profit firm dedicated to the public good firm – Quantum Governance, L3C – that reflects a substantially broader governance and leadership focus. (And yes, I also have a new license plate – which now reads “QNTM GOV.”) “A fish rots from the head down.” It’s a cliché, yes, but it’s a cliché because it’s repeated so often; and it’s repeated so often because it’s so often true. What I have continually observed over the years is a failure of genuine leadership at the Board or senior management level. These failings frequently resulted in organizational cultures that ignored (or even encouraged) unethical or unprincipled decisions. The likely causes were as varied as the organizations I came into contact with…a lack of clarity around tradition-bound leadership roles and responsibilities…too much authority in just a few individual’s hands…lip service by leaders to an ideal – and then actions to the contrary…the absence of proper boundaries…a lack of transparency and – yes – sometimes a systemic failure by leadership to set forth the ethical standards (and then clearly communicate, model and reinforce them) that are a vital part of a sustainable organization’s DNA. To govern is to steer, direct and influence or persuade from a position of authority. It includes at the very least both the Board and the Management team, and it addresses both their formal (directional and policy setting) and their informal (influence and persuasion) forms of authority. Ultimately, governance deals with the legitimate distribution of authority throughout a system – whether a country, corporation or nonprofit. As such, does governance include ethics? Yes! But just because you’re getting your “governance house in order” doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re paying sufficient attention to your ethics culture, standards and practices and that you’re regularly working to instill them throughout your credit union. At Quantum Governance, we are ever-mindful that there are a lot of things resting on the shoulders of today’s volunteer and staff-led credit union leadership, but we are growing more convinced that a first-in-class ethics program should be among them. Previous Next

< Back Charting a New Direction Michael Daigneault Apr 1, 2016 The roles of leadership in today’s credit unions are changing; specifically, there’s an important new way to think about key board leaders. The ideal role of board treasurer was a recent topic of conversation on CUES Net™ , the CUES-members-only listserve. Without identifying which CUES members were having the conversation, the CUES Net moderator asked for my input, and posted my thoughts back to the list. My thoughts stirred a bit of controversy, and I thought to myself, “Well, good. Let’s have this discussion. Let’s talk about the changing roles of leadership in today’s credit union.” In this article—as I did in my comments to CUES Net—I’m going to challenge assumptions about the role of board treasurer—and the other officers. Get ready. I’ve never been one to shy away from a good old-fashioned give and take, and I think it’s time that we all push ourselves to go beyond the status quo when we think of the board officer positions that are leading our movement into the future. I’ve written and spoken in recent years about the nine key challenges facing the credit union of the future. ( Read about them in my article ). To be certain, you and your colleagues are facing a lot more challenges today than you were a decade or more ago when many of you signed up as board members. So, if the world around you has changed, and continues to do so at a rapid pace, shouldn’t some of our assumptions and approaches to leadership be open to change, too? I think so, and I’m encouraging you to revisit some long-standing assumptions you have about board leadership. Assumption #1 : Boards should never “manage” anything. I love asking board retreat participants if boards should manage. The vast majority of board members (and nearly all CEOs) gasp and respond with a resounding and unequivocal, “no.” So, I continue prodding, asking: “Are there no circumstances under which a board should manage?” I get silence—and blank stares. “None?” I ask. Ultimately, I’ll have one brave individual who will posit that: “Boards should manage their one employee—the CEO.” Another brave soul may offer, “Boards should manage themselves.” And this becomes my opportunity—they are correct! If a credit union board should be responsible for managing its own operations, then it would be logical to consider your chair as your board manager-in-chief. He or she is responsible for the overall, effective functioning of your credit union’s board. Beyond crafting and facilitating your meetings in partnership with the CEO, your chair should ensure that your board is building a healthy governance structure and practices. (Of course, we recommend an active governance committee as an important partner in this endeavor, too.) But, these are just the nuts and the bolts part of the job. The real key to what the board chair does is in fostering and then managing the right culture for your credit union board. Be sure that you and your colleagues appoint a chair who can inspire and engage your board members—one who sets and models high ethical standards, from both personal and professional points of view. It’s also important that he or she work well with the credit union’s CEO—fostering a constructive partnership between the board and senior management. Assumption #2 : The vice chair’s job is boring. Much like the vice president of the United States, the position of vice chair used to be pretty boring. But it doesn’t need to be. What if you reframed the vice chair role as your board learner-in-chief? Yes, of course, this means your vice chair should be learning everything he or she can about the role of the chair should the vice chair be needed in that role some day. It is, after all, the vice chair’s role to be “at the ready” at all times. This means your vice chair should be ready to fill in for short-term absences and the potential long-term replacement of your chair. But being the board learner-in-chief can mean so much more. And it should. To meet the challenges before you, you and your colleagues need to be constantly learning and growing. There is no one better suited to lead this charge toward adopting the culture of a “learning board” than your vice chair. He or she should already be in full learning mode and can be a catalyst to encourage you and your colleagues to actively pursue learning on an ongoing basis. Lastly, you can consider charging your vice chair with special projects or initiatives like being a public spokesperson at key events, coordinating board retreats, designing better board meetings, strengthening the strategic planning process, or even a successor CEO search. The vice chair position lends a level of credibility to these initiatives, which is important, while allowing your chair to keep his or her eye on the overall management of your board. Assumption #3 : The board secretary’s job is to take minutes. (That is, the secretary’s role is even more boring and inconsequential than the vice chair’s!) This is perhaps my favorite board officer position to discuss. I always ask this very simple question: “What is the role of the board secretary?” And there are usually one of two answers given. The first is this: “To take the minutes.” And the second: “To edit and approve the minutes taken by the staff.” Really? That’s it? Boring… But no–that’s not it! For a little inspiration, we needn’t look far. In the corporate sector, the board secretary has a very, very important role. He or she is, as enumerated by the Canadian Society of Corporate Secretaries , responsible for ensuring the integrity of the governance framework, the efficient administration of the company, compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements, and implementing decisions made by the board of directors. There. How does that sound? Boring? I don’t think so. Now, that’s a job I’d like to have as a volunteer board member. It goes pretty far beyond taking minutes, doesn’t it? Make no mistake. You are helping to lead an organization every bit as complicated or sophisticated as a corporation. While a credit union’s structure may be different from its for-profit competitors, the stakes are just as high. And some could argue that the complexities you face as a credit union—with members’ interests and a mission to balance—place even greater demands on your governance structure, policies and practices. Consider your board secretary your board builder-in-chief (or, better yet—your chief governance officer), working hand in hand with your chair to build a stronger board. Your board secretary should be tasked with seeing that your board adheres to organizational policies, as well as national regulations. He or she should also oversee board nominations and a robust onboarding process by chairing the credit union’s governance and nominations committee. And this committee, too, can be charged with working with the chair to build engaging board and committee meetings to effectively carry out the board’s work. Assumption #4 : You have to be a numbers person to be the treasurer. At last we come to the source of the controversy that sparked this article. In my response to CUES Net, I suggested that it is the role of the contemporary credit union treasurer to help fellow board members effectively translate complex financial reports and data into comprehensible and insightful information that can effectively support strategic decision-making at the board level. There was some concern raised that perhaps what I was suggesting was that board members (i.e., the treasurer) might have more experience in the financial realm than the credit union’s CFO. I wasn’t. I was actually trying to make the opposite point. If your credit union board is like most, it’s not made up of financial whizzes and MBAs. It’s made up of everyday people like you and me, representing the membership and, for whom their financial literacy and acumen may have been developed through their service on the credit union board. And if they’re like me, perhaps their eyes glaze over when they see 26 Excel spreadsheets coming their way. I see an effective treasurer working with the CFO and his or her staff—poring over those Excel spreadsheets—to ensure the board receives clearly discernible reports, dashboards, bar charts and graphs, all in an attempt to clarify and deliver the complex financial reports in a manner that everyone on your board can genuinely understand. My colleague shared a story recently that made perfect sense to me. She said that the best treasurer she ever saw was a marketing guy. Yes, you read that correctly. A marketing guy. He didn’t want the job, but no one else would take it. He was the last guy standing. And what made him good at the job (indeed, great at the job) was that he didn’t fully understand the numbers at first, and he kept asking for clarification until he did. And, he was good at communications and visuals, so that was a plus. The joke around the boardroom was that if Jeff could understand the financial reports, anyone could. And they were right. He had them “translated” into a form he could genuinely understand. This helped Jeff—and everyone else on his board! How crystal clear are your financial reports? Can your new board members truly understand them? Or are you still presenting 26 Excel spreadsheets (in the form in which the staff tends to understand them) to your board members and expecting them to read them like a CPA? Assumption #5 : Everyone deserves a chance to be chair. Don’t simply adopt an automatic ascension plan for the board member who “hasn’t had a chance to be the chair yet.” Many credit unions have a practically automatic process whereby directors begin as a regular board member, then become the secretary, then move to treasurer through to vice chair and right on up to chair. Not everyone is cut out to be chair. Automatic ascension provides little to no wiggle room concerning needing a particular person to be chair because he or she has a particular skill set or capability; due to big changes being on the horizon for the CU; or because the board needs to focus in a new direction. Choose the right candidate for the right time, not simply because it’s his or her “turn.” Assumption #6 : You’ll know what to do when the time comes. One of the most important leadership assumptions I can help you challenge is that you will know what to do when the time comes. This relates directly to the notion that you should always have in place a leadership succession plan—and I’m not talking about a CEO succession plan (although I think you should always have one of those in place, too!). Your board and its officers are some of your most important strategic assets. Treat them accordingly. Plan ahead for changes in board leadership—both the kind that can be anticipated and those that cannot. I’m not talking about drawing up a 10-page, detailed plan. I’m talking about outlining the basics, including: who will serve as board officers on an interim basis; what roles certain committee(s) will play; and how the credit union’s CEO may be impacted. Be sure any succession plans are in line with your credit union’s bylaws, which may provide some direction on these issues. Above all, be open to even the idea of change. Here’s an example to explain what I mean: I spent the better part of a recent training arguing the merits of having a board secretary play an increased role within the organization. Really? I could hardly believe it—here was someone before me, arguing against a more engaged, more robust role for a board officer. Arguing against a board volunteer filling a key need within the credit union. Why? Because the secretary was so busy reading and approving all of those meeting minutes? I hardly think so. What’s the downside? I wondered. Imagine the upside… Previous Next