Designing and managing an effective Supervisory Committee

Design an effective supervisory committee

Your supervisory and audit committees are under increasing pressure. In many parts of the country, examiners have ramped up their review and expectations of the supervisory committee. As credit unions have become more complex, it has become more challenging to keep up with regulations, product and service offerings, delivery systems, and security threats. Some challenges […]

The board-term debate

The board-term debate

I was fortunate to recently facilitate a roundtable of credit union board chairs at NAFCU’s 51st annual meeting. The purpose of the roundtable was to debrief the week’s conference and identify important strategies they could implement back at their home credit unions. There were about 70 board chairs in the room, and they were an impressive […]

The silver bullet for board recruitment

The silver bullet for board recruitment

I was recently asked if there is a silver bullet for recruiting millennial-aged board members. This question comes up frequently when I’m on the road presenting to credit union management and volunteers. I believe it’s one of the most important questions credit union leaders should be considering right now. Last year, I was in front […]

Change the complexion of your board

Change the complexion of your board

Democratic membership representation is a hallmark of the credit union movement. Common-bond groups long have elected people from among their ranks to serve as their voice in credit union decisions. These volunteers understood first-hand their constituency’s needs because they were part of the same socioeconomic demographic. But the makeup of many credit union boards hasn’t […]

Board members behaving badly

Board members behaving badly

I am a huge documentary fan, and one of my favorites is Ancients Behaving Badly on the History Channel. This series discusses the worst of the ancients: Caligula, Nero, Attila the Hun, Caesar, Alexander the Great, Nero, Hannibal, and Genghis Khan. Obviously I’m making this comparison to board members for shock value, but some of the examples […]

Does Your Credit Union Have Governance Moxie?

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Successful credit unions are always anchored by successful boards of directors. My travels afford me the opportunity to work with some of the most successful credit unions in our movement today. These credit unions stand out in so many ways: member impact, profitability, growth, efficiency, etc. But most importantly, these credit unions have what I […]