A Direct Line Blog

By Donya Parrish, MCU VP- Risk Management

Growing up as a much-picked-on little sister, those words still make me cringe. “You had to be there” was a childish taunt that basically meant someone experienced something you were not part of and now you don’t get all their inside jokes, laughs, and discussions about it. Being a bigger person than that, and an occasionally mature adult (not always, I will admit!), I thought I would share a few topics of note for board members from the MonDak meeting last week. That way, you won’t need to feel left out even if you weren’t able to be there.

• Board succession continues to be as important to a credit union’s future as CEO succession. Our blog,  Is Your Board Looking Far Enough Forward? touches on a couple places to start. Two more — Another Tool for Your Belt and Engaging the Next Generation — include suggestions for recruiting, and BoardSource has an article on the topic that includes a matrix (for their members only though)to see what you have and what you are missing.
• Strong governance is not just what you are charged with as board members, it’s vital to the growth, future, and success of your credit union. Our blogs have touched on the topic in Board Roles and Responsibilities and Support for Modern Governance, but this article really captures the essence of its importance. You can also hear from Ancin Cooley himself (one of our key speakers last week) in the governance video he did for us in 2020.
• Accountability was the focus of another key discussion last week. How do you hold your CEO accountable to the strategic goals of the organization? Is a two-year global pandemic an excuse for all of them that were not met? Do you understand your credit union’s financials at a level to know what questions to ask and when? All of these are great questions that need further discussion in a couple more blogs. In the meantime, you can re-read Drive Innovation, Today and Tomorrow or How a Board Can Help the CEO During a Crisis. I definitely see more blogs coming to dig into this further in our future!

There was much more taught and discussed last week, but I hope this has helped capture some of what you missed. I would hate to think you HAD to be there to benefit from our conversations. [wink]