During the week of December 8th-12th, CU*Answers held its 3rd annual CEO Strategies workshop, in which credit union CEOs convened to discuss the realization of strategic gains through collaboration and innovation. Fifty CEOs nationally attended this growing event. According to CU*Answers, the goal of this week was to brainstorm and coach on a peer-to-peer level by discussing tactics and tools that will assist credit union leaders in not only developing their business plan, but to inspire staff to learn and work toward a collective vision.

Randy Karnes, CEO of CU*Answers, reflected on the success of the week by stating: “I was excited with the turn out and the input. With the current economic conditions it is great to see that credit unions are still focused on collaborative efforts and getting into network settings and working with their peers. We were elated with the response to our new pricing announcements and how our CEOs received the news that our stock value increase and dividends paid on the 2008 business year set performance records! Peer-to-peer businesses are alive and well, and the CEOs who came to Michigan this week are evidence of the fact that collaboration works.”

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A key component of these sessions is for a CU*Answers leader to assist credit unions in determining the “culture” within their member community and plan for the future in a new, strategic manner; one that encourages entrepreneurial thinking by staff and Board of Directors, documenting goals (including timeframes for completion) and accountability for completing assigned tasks.

The overriding objective is to better understand the “member experience” and then focus upon what a credit union can do to create an environment which fosters and delivers greater Member Value. “Can you get members to see themselves reflected in your credit unions services” is a challenging question that every credit union should consider, and be able to enthusiastically answer based on their targeted business vision and member audience.

Additionally, credit unions must often consider that their ability to generate higher income per member is often times a key differentiator between large and small credit unions, and that every credit union should understand their efforts for addressing this important issue. For instance, in many cases, smaller credit unions are able to attack this issue head-on by being more flexible in their ability to adapt to change. This can be an important component for smaller credit unions successfully delivering new, popular technologies faster to market as compared to their larger counterparts.

Throughout these planning sessions, CU*Answers quickly learned that credit unions who are able to embrace these ideals and honestly critique themselves can improve the manner in which they perform business for better serving members and helping ensure their on-going success; even during difficult financial times.

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CU*Answers recently hosted its 2nd Annual CEO Strategies Week at the Frederik MeijerGardens and Sculpture Park located in Grand Rapids, MI. The week provided a unique andinteractive forum for credit union CEO’s to join as peers in a “live blog”, attend a series ofworkshops, roundtable discussions and “CEO School” intended to assist CEO’s in being betterinformed about their credit union using the CU*BASE technology tools that are readily availableat their fingertips. CEO Strategies Week promoted collaboration as being a solution and acompetitive edge for growth.

The theme for Strategies Week was “Real Work” and it facilitated considerable discussionamong CEO’s for examining new ways to partner together and collaborate; in essence, torevolutionize the industry in a new way. Randy Karnes, CEO of CU*Answers says “CEOStrategies Week is intended to promote collaboration as being a solution and competitive edgefor growth. Can we inspire a new wave of innovative collaborators before it is too late? Do wehave the components to collaborate efficiently?”

The Schedule of Events included:

• Collaboration Workshop – a CEO brainstorming session about the merits of aCU*Answers Scholarship Program that assists credit unions by providing reduced or insome cases, free data processing services from CU*Answers as based upon variousqualification criteria.
• CEO School — a day of mentoring and coaching on how a credit union CEO can use CU*BASE tools to better interact with their Board of Directors and Management Teams.
• CEO Roundtable — featured a face-to-face discussion where CEO’s were asked to share information about their credit union’s business plan, how they see the marketplace changing, and the potential for new partnerships over the coming year. Each CEO was responsible for presenting what they wished for the credit union industry, as well as identifying the biggest challenge facing their credit union. Another CEO was then responsible for addressing an issue presented by a peer CEO and providing a possible solution.

Throughout the week, Karnes challenged the group to think in a new and collaborative manner.As Karnes presented “every CEO needs to develop a new mindset where no rule can’t be bent or opportunity be harvested, if people have the right frame of mind and initiative for getting things done. There is power in people thinking and working together!”Pat Lowney, CEO of Lakeview CU located in Neenah, WI says “I attended the CEO StrategiesWeek for the first time and found it to be very beneficial. It wrapped up nearly a month of steady traveling for me, almost all of it business. This was a great wrap up because the message tied in very well with things I’m hearing from all over. We are going through times of great change.”

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