Archive for category: Blog

(From the forthcoming TEAM Resources publication: A Basic Credit Union Governance Guide for Credit Unions, by Tim Harrington and Kevin Smith)

In our experiences, there is a range of board member behavior, from too weak to too strong. This represents the Governance Spectrum. The left side of the spectrum represents boards that are too strong, too involved and not making the best use of their time. On the right are boards that are too weak. They have abdicated their responsibility and their authority. What you want to strive for is a balance of oversight and forward thinking. This is a tightrope to walk sometimes, looking for the Goldilocks moment where your actions are “just right.”

(Click the image above to download a copy of the Governance Spectrum for your own use.)

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In a recent survey of nonprofits, 51% of board chairs said they “did nothing specific to prepare” for the role of chair. That’s a pretty staggering number. The survey “Voices of Board Chairs” from the Alliance for Nonprofit Management reported on the experience of 635 nonprofit board chairs from across the United States. Of course, this survey isn’t specific to credit union boards and chairs, but we fit in the nonprofit area. And the results of this report align with what I see anecdotally across the credit union industry.

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The Role of the Board Chair

Recently I had the chance to spend some time with a great group of board members at that National Association of Credit Union Chairmen (NACUC) – Leadership Development Seminar. One of the things we talked about was the role of the board chair. I thought this well worth putting down on *paper* as it were.

The role of the chairperson is multi-faceted, complex, and often changing within the context of the organization’s dynamic. Unfortunately, there’s no perfect set of “rules.” But there are some guidelines. Here are our “tips” on navigating the position successfully:

Roles:

Facilitator – The board chair must draw together the individual directors into a team, working together on behalf of the membership and the credit union. To do that, s/he must wrangle individual personalities, draw out conversation from some, and rein it in from others. Having a solid understanding of the personalities of each director … and the CEO helps the chair keep things on track, moving forward, and civil.

Leader – Wait! Isn’t being a leader at odds with being a facilitator? Isn’t this a contradiction? No. There are times when the job is pure facilitation and times when it is leadership and setting direction. A skilled leader will know which is which and be able to handle both without perceptions of contradiction.

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Being a credit union is not a business model; it is a charter type. Being “full service” doesn’t really answer anything. Sears is full service, yet they struggle to compete in the new, complex marketplace. While offering great member service with the best price is sound wisdom, it is seen by many experts and almost mutually exclusive.

Let’s breakout out business models and competitive advantages in five delineated areas: Read more