First Glance

EDITOR'S COLUMN

Listen With Your Head and Your Heart

Bunn Reflects Helen Bunn wanted to make sure the merger of Fannie Mae FCU wasn’t a takeover but more like a partnership with another credit union.

Women to Watch Rebecca Lytle, senior vice president at San Francisco FCU, says she gets a thrill by being able to make a positive difference in the lives of others.

Sarah Snell Cooke Editor in Chief scooke@cutimes.com

Small Processing Core data processing provider FedComp is proud of its commitment to serving credit unions with less than $100 million in assets.

Sherman’s Orders Rep. Brad Sherman, a longtime credit union supporter, urges credit unions to mobilize members and small businesses.

Mica’s View The new Congress will pay little attention to long-term credit union issues and a potential major battle on taxes looms, writes Dan Mica.

Departments Usury Madness

Bill Brooks finds it absolutely mind boggling that the NCUA may raise the usury ceiling during a historically low interest rate environment.

Technology ........................... 8

The New Congress............ 10-11

Guest Opinions ............. 10 & 12

Q&A ................................... 10

Infographic ......................... 11

Cartoon .............................. 12

In Brief ............................... 14

ou’re sitting at your desk, poring over spreadsheet after spreadsheet, making correlations, drawing conclusions and often coming up with more questions than answers. Reports flow in on new vendor possibilities and issues with existing ones that require you to analyze and determine the best course of action. Many tangible matters come across your desk each day that are important or even crucial to your credit union’s overall success.

All of these matters also contribute to stress, an emotion that many people have trouble coping with, but (and because) it can be a powerful feeling. Feeling? Emotions? Those don’t belong in the workplace, especially not a financial institution. Wrong.

There’s no way around it. An interesting article by Daniel Gole-man, “The Emotional Intelligence of Leaders” that appeared in the publication Leader to Leader, points out that your brain literally can’t work that way. Everything you know or ever will know passes through a piece of your limbic system, the part responsible for emotions, before it arrives at the cortex, the part that performs logical analysis.

So, yes, the numbers on the
spreadsheets make you feel some-
thing. That can range from “yippee”
to “this is hopeless,” and your reac-
tion to whatever’s going on filters
down. Then your members will be
greeted by an angry teller or a ner-
vous loan officer. This is not the im-
pression that should be conveyed to
members, particularly by represen-
tatives of a financial institution.

Everything you know or ever will know passes through a piece of your limbic system, the part responsible for emotions, before it arrives at the cortex, the part that performs logical analysis. So, yes, the numbers on the spreadsheets make you feel something.

something you’ve experienced in
the past and that helps form your re-
sponse today. So when the results of
a lending program are not going as
planned, your brain automatically
thinks back to a time when some-
one questioned your judgment now
that you’re questioning your own.
It doesn’t feel good. Unless you’re
willing to acknowledge and accept
it, the results can be a meeting that
turns into a scream-fest because the
boss is unwilling to look inward and
instead points fingers at everyone
else. If you’re certain you’re on the
right path, you should be able to
mild-mannered executive can’t be
a positive and effective tool. It just
can’t be the only tool. Regular ex-
plosions hurt morale and become
easier to tune out, which is counter
to the intended effect.

Nex T STePS

EMAIL comments to scooke@cutimes.com

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Get Your events Online We’re constantly updating the industry’s best-read events calendar. Send yours to Lindsey Brown at lbrown@smbedia.com to make sure yours is on there, too. CUTimes.com/Events

Mobility Matters A data dump from a mobile vendor shows what members are actually doing when banking on their Droids and iPhones. CUTimes.com/ MobilityMatters

Threat of the Week
Will hackers of the worst variety
soon be targeting credit unions
with their Distributed Denial
of Service attacks? Expert
opinions differ. CUTimes.com/
ThreatoftheWeek

8 Congress Members Credit Unions Need to Know

When credit union leaders visit Washington this year, they should be aware of these key committee bosses.

CUTimes.com/8Congress

Badger State Fights Off Recession An analysis of the latest NCUA numbers from Wisconsin has been added to the interactive map on our home page. Just click on the states in the updated map for complete analysis. CUTimes.com/NCUAMap

Credit Union Lawyer Michael Bell Tabbed as Trailblazer 40 Below

“Can’t” is not a word Michael Bell will
say when the young suburban Detroit
la wyer goes to bat for his credit union cli-
ents. CUTimes.com/T40BMichaelBell

W2 W Tabs Shari Storm

For Shari Storm, senior vice president at Verity Credit Union, periodically applying and interviewing for other jobs has helped reinforce that she is exactly where she belongs.110110111

CUTimes.com/W2WShariStorm

Not Horsing Around St. Mary's Bank is serious about its commitment to the community, including supporting a therapeutic riding center. CUTimes.com/Community

@CookeOnCUs @GenYBackTalk

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Industry Guests.

There’s Still More Room
to embrace Social Media
It’s been slow going for social
media at credit unions but
things are getting, accord-
ing to the new media manager at CUNA
Mutual Group. CUTimes.com/Blog

THE CUTTING EDGE Tech News for CUs

Don’t Miss: The CUTting edge The CUTting Edge e-newsletter delivers a monthly update on the hottest tech news for CUs. Get the latest in online and mobile banking, core processing, security and more, along with original and thought-providing commentary from leaders in the field. Subscribe today. Next edition is Feb. 15th Don’t miss out! CUTimes.com/Subscriptions