Paying Attention to the Things That Matter Most

Last night I ran into a friend and we started talking about life, kids, and of course work. Like many of my friends he works for a Big Bank (I know I seriously need to widen my social circle) and as we were talking about work he mentioned that many of the projects they had started where he worked were being shelved as the business lines tried to anticipate upcoming regulatory changes regarding non interest income.  While this was going on the bank was also starting to retain more capital as it build up reserves against potential downstream losses in its loan portfolio. As our conversation progressed we both reached the same conclusion that old fashioned thrift and lending were going to be back on the table for many financial institutions.

I realize at this point you are thinking, “This blog's has gone downhill…now it is just stating the obvious. “  Yet, we all know it is surprising how often organizations and leaders fail to recognize and implement strategy on the things that matter most.  As we are huddled together thinking about the next best thing for next year's business plan we also need to make room on the table for the things that matter the most. 

A recent article I came across mentioned nature as an example of this. The author wrote “…scientists can look at the rings of trees and make educated guesses about climate and growing conditions hundreds and even thousands of years ago. One of the things we learn from studying the growth of trees is that during seasons when conditions are ideal, trees grow at a normal rate. However, during seasons when growing conditions are not ideal, trees slow down their growth and devote their energy to the basic elements necessary for survival."  Wait, before you click away from the blog thinking this is insane – stop and consider what the author is telling us. The example is not about trees – it is about understanding adversity and how to push past it and survive.  

Consider another example for those of you who are less in tune with nature. Remember that last business trip you were on and you were wondering why you did not book ahead of time because now you were stuck in the middle seat between two men who had to have been professional wrestlers in their prior careers. Then right as you were finally getting to your tiny plastic glass of ice and coke the plane begins to dip and dive because it has hit turbulence.

Most of us if asked what we would do if we were the pilot would probably state that we should increase speed because it will get us through the turbulence faster. While that strategy might seem sound, especially if you are the lucky passenger on the plane stuck between the guy on the left (nicknamed “Rock”) and the other large fellow on the right (nicknamed “Hard Place”), that may be the wrong thing to do. The professional pilot with a different perspective and a keener understanding of what is ahead realizes that there is an optimum turbulence penetration speed that will minimize the negative effects of turbulence. Most of the time that would mean to reduce your speed. The same principle applies also to businesses as they encounter speed bumps on a road.

As credit unions we have such an advantage here. Many banks will have to retool and retrain as they build business plans around the basics of thrift and lending. High profile deal makers will chaff at the seemingly ordinary focus of helping one member- one family at a time. It is so much more fun and glamorous to trade invisible investments to invisible people.

In a world of global markets too many of the big players in the world of financial services have forgotten the needs of the people sitting in their local branch lobbies.

One of my favorite stories in the book Run to Win: Vince Lombardi on Coaching and Leadership by Donald T. Phillips is that of the legendary coach and the opening lesson he provided to each seasons team. Coach Lombardi had a ritual he performed on the first day of training every season.  He would have the players both new and experienced gather around him and then he would hold up a football, show it to the athletes who had been playing the sport for many years, and say, “Gentlemen, … this is a football!” He talked about its size and shape, how it can be kicked, carried, or passed. He took the team out onto the empty field and said, “This is a football field.” He walked them around, describing the dimensions, the shape, the rules, and how the game is played. Why would he do this? Every player had been playing the game for years and had been at the top of their peers in order to make his team. Yet, Coach Lombardi knew that even these experienced players, and indeed the team, could become great only by mastering the fundamentals. They could spend their time practicing intricate trick plays, but until they mastered the fundamentals of the game, they would never become a championship team.

Most of us intuitively understand how important the fundamentals are. It is that we sometimes get distracted by so many "good" things that seem more enticing. Some would argue that such simple focus does not really translate into bottom line results. I challenge that presumption.

I would ask you to consider in the last two week how many Big Banks now wish they had focused on fundamentals like mortgage paperwork- you know those very boring little details that are now potentially going to cost them billions of dollars. You can’t get more fundamental than knowing who owns the mortgage.

This is an important lesson for every credit union that has even thought of following in the wake of Big Banks…strength comes not from frantic activity but from being settled on a firm foundation of thrift and lending. It comes from placing our attention and efforts on the basics of member service and mastering those expectations. It comes from paying attention to the things that matter most… meeting the needs of our members. 

Sales Motivation: The Magic Formula for Success ??

Please Pass Me the Magic Formula 

Motivation is a tricky thing. Sales motivation for leadership team members and front line staff is even more tricky. After over seventeen years of sales and service management I have yet to find the magic formula for sales success. That easy out of the box turn key solution has yet to come across my desk. 

So if there is no magic formula to drive sales performance how do you motivate sales behaviors in your front line staff? This question is the topic of hundreds of books written by well intentioned authors that will lay out diagrams and formulas that will seem as if they are the next best thing since the WIIFM (What's In It For Me) statement you use in your sales pitch. I believe a better question to ask yourself is do you have a clear understanding of what motivates your leaders and staff.

Who is Getting Booted Off The Bus ?

I recall years ago being invited to a five pm meeting on Friday to a remote conference room by my boss who was the Vice President of Sales. Naturally my first task was to look at the meeting invite to see who else was coming or more importantly who was NOT coming to the meeting. I then spent the day pulling my month to date sales numbers as well as my prior months scorecards. Going into the room I felt pretty good as my sales teams were on pace to hit goal for the month and the prior months had been equally successful.

The conference room had been designed to entertain visitors not hold "sit down" meetings. My boss was sitting in an armchair in the corner while we all tried to find seats on two couches and a couple of love seats. He then proceeded to talk about motivation. He spoke about what drove him to succeed and how he dared to dream big.

As I looked around the room I realized that no one in the room was listening. The only thought on anyone’s mind was, “Why am I here, and who is getting fired”. He then stated that, “Our sales teams not hitting goal was not an option. That we had to believe.” Now the part that was troubling was that he was saying this to a mixed group. There were sales leaders who were killing goal, some like me that were hitting goal, and then some who had no clue on how to reach their goal. It was this last group that tended to give the most elaborate updates in the weekly sales meetings (clearly they understood the “BS” magic formula).

After our boss had finished his monologue he said something to the effect of, “ if you can’t believe and be on board then this is probably not the place for you. I understand and I wish you well in your future endeavors.” To me this sounded strangely similar to something we had read in Jim Collins chapter on “Getting the Right People on the Bus” in Good to Great. End result was that the top performers left the meeting not understanding what had just happened and why it was directed at them. The leaders who had needed to hear the speech left thinking that the top performers needed to shape up.

So how do you motivate your sales force and the leaders who drive their performance? That is where you really have to dig deep into your direct reports pool and gain an understanding of what motivates each person. It has been my experience that some people are motivated by money, some by esteem, and others by growth in achievement or power. I recall at the time that money was not a motivator for me. As a new sales manager I really was motivated by esteem. I did not want to look like the rookie on the team. Others in the room were focused solely on bonus, and then others were focused on how they could end up having everyone else working for them (those would be the ones focused on power).

Practical Application:

• Do you know what motivates your key members of your leadership team? 
• Are they motivated by power, money, achievement, growth, or esteem? 
• How do you motivate your leaders who are performing at differing levels?
• Do you tend to “group slap” the whole leadership team? 
• How do you get feedback from your direct reports on your ability to motivate?
• We all have blind spots. Do you have someone on your team who will give you the feedback you need? 

I firmly believe it is my job and the job of my peers to make sure our boss successful. That our performance should reflect positively on his or her ability to lead the group. On the flip side this also means having the courage to tell the “emperor he forgot his or her clothes” Who have you empowered to let you know when you have taken a wrong turn?

As Credit Unions Are We Missing The Signs ?

This weekend I was reading an article in which the author described driving his car as drops of rain from a thunderstorm began to fall on his windshield. Over to the side of the road an electronic warning sign displayed “Standing Water Ahead”. The driver looking ahead of him noted that the road ahead appeared to be safe. However, because he had taken notice of the warning sign he was able to slow down and to prepare for potential unseen hazards ahead. For most of us this scenario might seem common place because for many of us the ability to notice and monitor early warning signs has become part of our normal course of being adults. We have been raised and conditioned to think that a fever could be the first symptom of some undiagnosed illness. Hence when we have a fever that is too high or lingers too long we seek out medical assistance.

This same logic can also be applied to us as a industry. As I have been reading various blogs and articles it is interesting to take notice of the subtle early warning signs that are showing up before us. For example in a article posted in CU Times author Claude R. Marx wrote, “President Obama’s Economic Recovery Board raised the possibility in a report issued this summer on ways to simplify the tax system and raise revenue. Unlike other financial institutions like banks and thrifts, credit unions do not pay corporate taxes on their income," the report notes. "Eliminating this exemption would raise revenue and level the playing field but would clearly raise taxes on credit unions."

Then I read a prominent credit union blog (http://creditunionwarrior.blogspot.com/) that commented on the credit union industry, “In many ways we've lost sight of what it is to be a credit union.” The author then does a excellent job of comparing how credit unions could find themselves in the same position as labor unions…grasping for relevance in a world that has forgotten the impetus that created them in the first place. How so ? Consider our own choice of how we describe ourselves. Too often we see credit union marketers trying to rebrand their credit union as a “better bank” or “a better way to bank”.  These attempts at trying to dummy down the message to consumers only dilute the value proposition for credit unions as a whole. When we start to refer to ourselves as “banks” we undermine the uniqueness of our corporate structure and the value we give back to our members.

This shift in language is driven in part by the flood of new talent moving into credit union space. Ten of thousands if not more of bankers have lost their jobs as the recession has bitten into the financial services industry. This flood of talent has brought with it new people who spent years working for Big Banks and who have taken company business plans from hundreds of banks. These business plans are then used a page at a time in key meetings as the new employee tries to impress incumbent management teams. Suddenly credit unions that have never done commercial banking are doing participation loans in “sand states” far outside their field of membership. Everyone is seeing money signs as old tricks become new again.

I was disappointed to read an industry consultant's 2011 strategic report about "high yield strategies" that was in fact nothing but a sales presentation on how credit unions need to raise noninterest income by creating more fees.  Five dollars for every member call to the call center or visit to the teller. Using fees to drive away the undeserved seems counter to the credit union movement.

Each of these events might seem non connected. Yet, I worry that we are not taking notice and collectively connecting the dots. That in our zeal to make the most of consumer backlash on Big Banks we are running straight to the very behaviors that we used to shun. Please don’t get me wrong I am thrilled for all new bank employees that find their way to credit unions. For many people, myself included, who have worked in financial services finding a credit union is like finding an oasis. That being said not every new tactic from borrowed business plans is worth following.

Some people will not like to hear it but “No, a killer iPhone app will not replace your branch network or the need to provide sound personal advice to your members” and now that you mention it, “Yeah, those hot shot commercial bankers you hired for cheap… well they are watching the market like hawks. Once they see the uptick some of them are gone. Remember how thrilled you were that they brought their whole book of business worth millions when they joined your credit union? Well that works both ways.

As an industry and as leaders in the businesses that support our members we have the ability to act and not to just be acted upon. We have an opportunity to really highlight our difference from Big Banks that are staggering from scandal to scandal. We should welcome every new idea we find on blogs, forums, and conferences. New blood and talent coming into the credit union industry is exactly the shot in the arm we need. That being said we still have to pay for the “tuition” of this new knowledge.  We still need to teach the philosophy and culture of cooperative financial services. We have to do our own due diligence and study the downstream impacts and personally “own” these next great ideas. Only in this manner can we know in mind and in heart what we are putting forward. We also need to pause and make sure we are taking notice of the early warning signs around us and managing our businesses accordingly.  

Don't just read the bog become part of the conversation. What are your thoughts ? Leave a comment and as always thanks for taking time out of your day to read and share your thoughts.

Not Silencing New Voices: Creating Competitive Advantages for Credit Unions

Recently I was reading the Wall Street Journal and I came across the following sentence which I have paraphrased, “[Management] never seemed eager for me, or others, to actually take the initiative and start something. I was never challenged to lead—only to “serve.” As I reflected on this sentence I could not help but wonder how many of us in leadership positions inadvertently request the same type of activity from our front line staff or front line managers?

Throughout my career the topic of management or leadership has come up. The consensus generally was that managers where inept, drab, and dull individuals who focused on preserving their small circles of power, maintaining the status quo, and planning and budgeting resources. Conversely, leaders are portrayed as people who focus on setting direction, motivating others, coping with change, and creating vision. When you stack those two lists up and put them side by side it is no wonder than the lowly manager comes out lacking.

When we think of “leadership” we all want to follow someone who could lead us to Hell and back. While I agree I do think many of us would also like to have a person who could not only lead us to Hell and back but also make sure we had fireproof suits and fire insurance for the trip. Those trivial concerns squarely fall under the less popular manager category. My point is that leadership and management are not mutually exclusive fields to one another.

This is also true when we consider who should be taking the lead, starting the initiative, or creating something new. Too often we rely on "managers" who are focused on executing goals or members of senior management who are focused on big picture items to come up with the new and innovating. The group that tends to be forgotten is the very group who has the best understanding of what needs to be fixed-the front line staff.

Now some would argue that front line staff simply do not understand the complexity of the business. While I agree there are times when they might not understand all the moving pieces I have found over the course of my career that most of the staff are keenly aware of their piece of the puzzle and possess a solid understanding of the connecting dots around them.

So why have so many leaders and managers avoided empowering front line staff? I believe it is because many companies made difficult decisions that involved giving up benefits, freezing pay increases, introducing compensation cuts, doing away with pension plans, and reducing hours. After having to make those difficult decisions many management teams simply “circle the wagons” as they buy into the two camp philosophy of “us” versus “them”. This is exactly the wrong thing to do. No wants to have things taken away and then not have a voice in how to bring them back. Most companies are more than willing to have all of those things in place if they can have them and stay in the black.

In today’s "new normal" each company has to understand what is its competitive advantage. As people are more apathetic towards large institutions local community financial institutions have a window of opportunity to grow membership and introduce new innovative products or services. Now is the time to fire up front line staff, to engage them and paint a vision of how the company can succeed.

If you are one of many financial institutions that had to make hard decisions the last thing you want to take away from your staff is their insight and voice on how to make things better. Allow the natural leaders and managers of others to rise to the top. Create a means to allow for job enrichment.

This is a competative advantage to not being a "Too Big To Fail" Big Bank. Do you really think senior management of some Big Banks are actually going to sit down with tellers or call center agents and ask them how they could serve their customers better? Ask them what products members are using and not using ? What processes are clogging up process flow and creating service failures?  This is where being, "Too Important To Disappear " becomes a distinct advantage.  You have a whole credit union of operational experts waiting for you to just ask them their opinion on how to make the credit union better. What are you waiting for ? As Big Banks add fees and restrict contact by charging for teller visits or call center calls now is the time to get your people engaged and talking about what they can do to make a difference to your membership.

Practical Application:

When was the last time you had a focus group with your front line staff? It is amazing what an 1 hour focus group with front line staff will uncover. Take note of those in the group that rise above the band wagon and offer clear and distinct perspective.

Hold two or three rounds of 1 hour focus groups. Hold 1 for new hires, one for your call center or branch staff, and one for your support staff.

Compile the results and look for common themes. 

Report back to the groups on action you are taking. Engage those natural leaders and managers who were discovered in your focus groups to help lead others to create solutions. 

What you will gain is a stronger management bench, a clearer understanding for staff on the mission, participation in solving the problems and gaining market share in your markets. All of which allows you to give back those other things staff value like pensions, benefits, or pay raises.

Getting an MBA: Getting to Where You Want To Go

This past week I had a chance to visit with an old coworker who I had worked with at a Big Bank. I recall he and I sitting and him talking about wanting to do more than his current responsibilities. So feeling “sage like” I had rambled on about the value of going back to school (mind you, I only had my bachelors degree at the time) and that he really needed to take the plunge and go and get his MBA.  Well to my surprise he did just that. I mean who actually does that…who gets advice, ponders, and then walks away from a perfectly good paying stable job to go back to school full time? It was not long after him leaving for school that I began to think about what I wanted to accomplish myself.

Not long after he left I found myself considering all the options of an advanced degree and how I was going to make that work. I looked at full time, part time and executive programs. I looked at top tier, second tier, and no tier programs.  I realized that there was a real debate on the various features on MBA programs. Some people only wanted AACSB accreditation while others were willing to accept institutional accreditation. To make matters more confusing further research on my part revealed that you could also have programs that had ACBSP accreditation.

Adding to the confusion was that every open house attended seemed to position their program for different people. Some programs were clearly after high profile candidates from well known companies. Other programs seemed to be geared for candidates who had little to no experience. The maze to higher education seemed endless. Full time or part time, distance or brick and mortar, AACSB accreditation or some other accreditation, all of these variables seemed to be important in picking the right program.

Now three years later I found myself coming full circle sitting in my office catching up with my old friend. He had completed his full time program from a top tier school and was now back in town recruiting for his employer. He went from working at a Big Bank with an office to working in a cube farm in California for a industry leader in silicon innovation and processor technologies. He was enjoying life working in the finance department and working on major project launches and mergers and acquisitions.

He laughing referred to himself as “obscenely overpaid” and found himself swimming upstream in a very large talent pool that contained tens of thousands of people. As we spoke in my office I reflected on my own progression. I had found excitement and fulfillment in moving in the other direction. I too had completed my MBA  and now enjoyed working for a company that employed hundreds. I had an office- but it overlooked the people I worked with not the corridors of large corporate skyscrapers.

The programs we had completed both had their names in national business magazines that rolled out annual rankings. They had promised the “world” in only two or three years.  The bigger question was what “world” that would be. For my friend it had meant going “Californian” and  enjoying working on a campus with six thousand other “best in class” colleagues. I had chosen a different world… a small and less hectic world.  I wanted small town banking with a credit union. I wanted to make a difference in the places my family would call home.

As my friend and I laughed and talked about how far we had come not once did we ask each other about accreditation. We did not talk about AACSB or ACBSP. We did not talk about part time or full time. We both agreed that group projects were the worst, PowerPoint’s are over rated, and the GMAT was evil.  So what is the correct answer to all these questions about MBA programs? Does it matter if the program has one type of accreditation or another? Does every program have to drill the math? Cohort or no cohort?

"...Which road do I take? she asked. Where do you want to go? was his response. I don't know, Alice answered. Then, said the cat, it doesn't matter.”

I think the answer to these questions can be found in the question posed to a cat in a tree. In Lewis Carol’s Alice in Wonderland  we read,  “One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree.  Which road do I take? she asked. Where do you want to go? was his response. I don't know, Alice answered. Then, said the cat, it doesn't matter.”

To me we are no different as we consider the various virtues of different types of MBA programs. To really understand what the program can do for you in your career you first have to know where you want your career to go.

How about you…what was the deciding factor for you?