A Direct Line Blog

By Donya Parrish, MCU VP- Risk Management

Credit unions are being encouraged to focus more time and energy on succession planning, including for the board itself. One idea for recruiting board members is to think about your own experience and what brought you to the table, as well as, why you’ve stayed. The session Next Generation Board Members during the Discovery2022 last week discussed this very issue.

Why do you serve?

Here are a few of the answers the panelists provided:

• Willingness to serve
• Create change
• Be a catalyst
• Professional development
• Support members
• Give back to my community
• Belief in credit union philosophy

One panelist noted that he feels the board is the voice for many (people) in their communities and that board members should not take that responsibility lightly. He added that they need to be open to innovative thoughts to keep the credit union moving forward. Powerful!

So, your homework this week is to think about your own “why do you serve?” and talk about it at your next board meeting with the rest of the board. I would love to hear a few of the reasons you discuss!