4 Viewpoint
EDITOR'S COLUMN
Solid Leadership More Important Than Ever in an Uncertain 2021
e often don’t
know how good
a leader, or any
governing body,
COVID- 19 pandemic. Month after
month since March of last year,
the country’s lack of preparation
and absence of even an acceptable
level of leadership was revealed in
disastrous and devastating ways.
Businesses across the country have also been facing theirbiggest tests yet. While not oneof them could have been totallyprepared for the challenges thatwould come their way, some tooktheir business models in an unexpected direction to keep incomeflowing. Others, whose leaders either couldn’t come up with a successful new way of doing businessor were too resistant to change,haven’t stood a chance.
Last August, Fortune, as a num-
ber of business-focused media
outlets have, highlighted several
businesses that made successful
pivots during the pandemic. They
included:
• Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group,
which offered “Staycation at
the M.O.” packages including
early check-in and late check-
out, room service and a bottle of
wine, as well as home delivery
of the luxury hotel’s food, cake
shop items and spa supplies.
• David Dodge, a Pennsylvaniacar dealership that sold morevehicles in July 2020 than anyother month in its 15-year history after aggressively shiftingits business practices to fit thenew, socially-distanced world.This included the owner placing his desk prominently insidethe front door so he would bevisible to customers, creating abusiness development centerto consolidate online leads, accompanying customers on test-drives via Face Time and offering home vehicle delivery.
The theme of this month’s printissue, “Leadership in 2021,” is especially fitting as we enter a newyear that feels nothing like anyof our past new years. This year,credit union executives’ ability tolead during a time of disruptionis more important than ever tothe industry’s continued success.Leaders must be flexible, open-minded, willing to do things theymay have never imagined doingbefore and comfortable with theidea of making continuous changes to their plans.
The many challenges businessleaders have been facing since lastMarch include learning to managea newly-remote staff; keeping staff(both remote and onsite) engagedand productive despite distractions, and ensuring employees’well-being at a time when manyof them are facing hardship.
An online collection of content
posted by Gallup, “Resilience at
Work: Leading the Post-Pandemic
Workplace,” offers advice on these
topics, with successful manage-
ment of remote workers being
a key theme of the various chal-
lenges of the post-pandemic busi-
ness world. In the article “How to
Build Trust and Boost Productiv-
ity Within Remote Teams,” Gallup
debunked the common myth that
people who work from home are
less productive: “The stigma of re-
mote work is that it inhibits collab-
oration and productivity, which
together may cost companies
money. But we haven’t seen any
data to support these fears yet.”
Those who started to work re-
motely because of the pandemic
are close to a year into their new
lifestyle, and many of them aren’t
looking back – five in 10 workers say
they don’t want to work in an office
anymore, according to Gallup. And
managers are responsible for the
success of their remote teams, the
organization asserted. Managers
who buy into the idea that being
at home equates to slacking off, or
have trust issues and try to micro-
manage their employees from afar,
are less likely to see the productivi-
ty benefits that many remote teams
are bringing to the table. To suc-
ceed, managers need to embrace
flexibility and new communication
patterns, and tap into each team
member’s strengths.
No one wants to hear this, but
the ongoing pandemic isn’t the
last crisis leaders will confront
(although we can only hope that
future crises will be of a smaller
scale). Another article in Gal-
lup’s content collection, “A CEO’s
Guide to Preparing for the Next
Crisis,” discussed what CEOs can
do now to be better prepared the
next time you-know-what hits the
fan, and offered five key tips:
• Don’t just create a crisis re-
sponse plan – test it, hold lead-
ership accountable for it and
ask a neutral third-party to
evaluate it. Most organizations
have failed to take these steps
– a 2018 Gallup survey found
that while 95% of organizations
have a disaster recovery plan in
place, 23% never test it.
As someone who hates uncertainty and being forced to changeplans, I know how difficult thepast year has been for anyonewho also views him or herself asa planner. But after living through10 months of unpredictability, I’vefound that the disappointment ofunfulfilled plans has begun tosting a little less, and that it’s easier to work through each day as itcomes. I hope my fellow plannershave learned to develop moreflexibility in the past year as well– and that all credit union leaders will take the lessons they’velearned and apply them going forward, so they can be ready to facewhatever challenges come theirway in 2021. n
• Embrace the diversity of
thought and viewpoints found
among executives and team
members at the organization.
Be open-minded to varying ap-
proaches to problem-solving
instead of tackling challenges
from one angle. “CEOs must
know the strengths and weak-
nesses of each team mem-
ber very well so they can de-
ploy people tactically – and
effectively.”
• Build and nurture strong part-
nerships and alliances. For
credit unions, this includes the
relationships that exist between
different departments within
the credit union, between a
credit union and a vendor part-
ner such as its core provider,
and even between two credit
unions. According to Gallup,
“… powerful partnerships can
be faster and more agile, all
while alleviating demands on
the CEO and executive team’s
time and energy. That is power-
ful protection when a business
is under threat.”
• Put an intentional, unified tal-
ent strategy in place. “A well-
executed talent strategy is al-
ways an asset, but it really pays
off during upheaval: Every pen-
ny you put into developing your
talent comes back in a better,
faster response.”
• Define the organization’s vi-
sion, ensure all employees
clearly understand it and see
that the actions of leadership
embody it. “An established,
Natasha Chilingerian
Executive Editornchilingerian@cutimes.com
NEXT STEPS
EMAIL comments to
nchilingerian@cutimes.com
First Glance
7 Leading Your CU in aPost-COVID World
Lone Star CU CEO Becky Reedreflects on 2020’s challenges andwhat CU leaders should do next.
6 Steering Through RoughWaters
CEOs discuss six principlesthat have helped them leadsuccessfully amid the pandemic.
9 Ensuring the Survival ofAgility Post-COVID
Clear Core’s Buck Strasser detailshow CUs can overcome the keylikely challenges of 2021.
8 Implementing ESGStrategies to Drive ResultsConsultant Stuart Levineexplains the importance ofEnvironmental, Social andGovernance values.
10 Shining Bright DuringDifficult Times
PenFed’s James Schenck sharesfour ways CUs can stand out in2021.
11 Avoiding False MovesWhen Fighting Card FraudFiserv’s Charlotte Ritonyaexamines how CUs can protectmember relationships whileprotecting against loss.
Editor’s Column ...................4Focus Report.................... 6-10Guest Opinion ................... 11Community News............... 12In Brief ............................. 14People .............................. 18Departments
