Uniting and Inspiring: Highlights from World Credit Union Conference

Uniting and Inspiring: Highlights from World Credit Union Conference

If you asked me to describe this week’s World Credit Union Conference in Boston in just two words, they would be “uniting” and “inspiring.”

This annual conference brings together credit union leaders from across the globe for days of learning, networking and coming together to share our united purpose of helping members achieve financial independence.

It can be challenging to get outside our bubble since we are all busy working professionals, and you forget there’s a much larger world out there. That’s why the conference is so important—it unites the global credit union movement and you realize there are passionate leaders from around the globe that face many of the challenges you do and you come away with a deeper understanding that we’re all in this together—to improve people’s lives. The other word I use to describe the conference is inspiring because you get the opportunity to listen to top-notch keynote speakers who deliver inspiring messages to help you become a better credit union leader.

Here at the league, we talk about adding fuel to the engine and that’s exactly what these conferences do—they fill your tank so that you can bring ideas, motivation and stories back to your credit union or organization. Early on in my League career, I was able to attend WOCCU in Denver in 2015 and saw many of the same faces this year. Even though nine years had gone by, we picked up where we left off as if nothing had changed. It’s what’s great about credit unions—you get to meet some of the best people that you wouldn’t otherwise get a chance to meet.

Here were some of my takeaways from Boston:

• Artificial Intelligence is already having a huge impact on our business model and if you’re not levering AI, you should start now.

One of the keynote speakers asked the audience who was from the police credit union in Kenya. A few hands went up. He then showed a video on how he went to their website, opened an Excel document that was essentially a budget or loan payment sheet, fed it into an AI engine and created an interactive tool that would allow borrowers to put in loan amounts, interest rates and payment terms to spit out a monthly payment. The program wrote the code, so that it could be embedded into the credit union’s website. That’s the power of AI. It allows you to work smarter and it is already fundamentally changing how we work.

• The power of storytelling. You hear it all the time about the importance of testimonials and sharing the credit union story. Here’s a slight twist on that. I’ve been brushing up on my facilitation skills (I got a heavy dose last month co-facilitating DE) and all the speakers were effective story tellers.

They got their points across by telling compelling stories. One of my favorite speakers of the conference—Mark Sievewright—talked about credit unions and the term he used was “mullet banking.” Yes, he was talking about the popular 80s hairstyle that is business in the front, party down the back. To summarize, he was framing the fact that some CUs look great from the front, but need to invest and streamline operations in the digital age to remain competitive. Of course, by using the power of storying telling, I’ll never forget his content because he used the term “mullet banking.”

• Networking and leadership—These conferences are great for networking. I met two folks from Ireland who were amazed that US credit unions offered credit cards. I had to pull out my credit union credit card and show them. They were blown away. They were excited because they were just starting to roll out debit cards. I’m excited for them and I hope someone from VISA or MasterCard can help make credit cards happen for my new CU friends on the Emerald Isle.

I also had some really great conversations with folks from the UK. One asked me about appealing to Gen Z and their next generation of members. I told him I thought credit unions could be great money mentors for the next generation—helping young adults manage their money and guide them financially. It’s authentic. It’s who credit unions are and it’s in our DNA. He pulled his phone out and wrote that down in his notes. I hope that conversation inspires UK credit unions to grow and become the sole source of financial advice for Brittain’s youth.

There’s so much more to tell of my time in Boston and I could expand on all the leadership lessons, but the easiest way to explain leadership is how another key note described it with this video. If you watch one thing today, have it be this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dSzjIKtVcA
 

Thanks always,

~Dave