Category: Observations

Glenn Arbery is President of Wyoming Catholic College.   He shared some thoughts with the incoming freshman class last week.   

While his hero references are from academic literature, all organizations tell stories about leaders who have played critical roles in their history.  These stories  are reminders of extraordinary success or sometimes tragic failure.

They are intended to help us be more aware of the choices we make in our “lived” roles.  His last words about the “Fear of God” are interesting.  It is not a religious statement he is making.

Rather he is stating  that most of us know what are better angels require.  But as one CEO wrote me in a request for counsel, sometimes right gets a little blurry.  Here is an excerpt from his talk.

When you enter the classroom this week, you will encounter in a new way those figures that the tradition of the West has always honored and whose names you have known since childhood: in Genesis, the patriarchs specially called by God; in the Iliad and the Odyssey, the heroes who explore the boundaries between the mortal and the immortal.

These are men and women who step outside the common order into a uniquely charged sphere of unfolding meaning. They extend the expectations of mankind.

Heroes and saints are not necessarily easy to get along with, since they answer a higher call that puts them at odds with the world around them, even those closest by. It is not easy to fit the hero into ordinary life, but without these primordial figures, we would not hope for more in human life than good internet service and enough coffee. 

We are not engaged in tearing down or demeaning what is great, but in honoring whatever is noble and good, wherever it might be found. . .

Fear of God, in the sense that I mean it, is awareness of another choice when there is a temptation to belittle others or indulge yourself. Moment to moment, there is a better way, a best way.

Fear of God means a dread of choosing what you know to be wrong or of letting something harmful happen through weakness, indifference, or inattention. It is wholesome and cleansing, like cold mountain air. It is the kind of fear that makes you alert and urges you to pay attention and watch where you are going.

Good advice to start the school year for everyone. The full speech and essay can be found here.

I asked a friend who used to work 12-16 hours straight on projects what he did for play.

His response: “My work is my play.”

Why I blog?

One response is from Flannery O’Conner: “I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.”

The intent is that my words will bring perspective, interpretation and debate to the ever-evolving credit union movement.

I would hope to ensure credit unions are making some meaningful progress towards a more sustainable, healthier, democratic, and economically fair American experience.

This hope is not about individual achievement, but to inspire collective effort by analyzing and reframing credit union events from the context of their unique purpose.

Writing as a Moral Act

David Hein, a Senior Fellow at the George C. Marshall Foundation has written an insightful essay called Writing as a Moral Act.   Some of his thoughts follow:

Writing is a moral act, I often tell my undergraduate students. At first, naturally enough, they are puzzled by this claim. Not only are they prone to compartmentalizing—discuss ethics in a philosophy class, learn writing in an English class; they are unused to thinking ethically about ordinary, apparently nonmoral, activities. For them, morality is limited to (1) rules, such as the honor code’s prohibitions against lying, cheating, and stealing; (2) social-justice issues, such as the sins of the patriarchy and the faults of free enterprise; and (3) their informal sense of peer norms, such as having a friend’s back during a crisis.

To expand their horizons, I prompt them to think about moral aspects of everyday life and to consider the first steps of forming an ethical position and of acting morally. Sound ethical judgment begins not with prescription but with description: characterizing the situation accurately and fairly. Not “what ought we to do?” but “what is going on here?”

Limning the essential elements of a case requires vision sharp and sensitive and comprehensive; and we won’t see clearly if we do not, so far as possible, accomplish a temporary “unselfing of the self,” in Evelyn Underhill’s phrase, attempting to perceive with others’ eyes, according to perspectives different from our own. This entire effort lies at the heart of the ethical life; it is a work of the moral imagination.

Expectations

This approach is also fundamental to the task of essay writing, a practice with which students in higher education are largely familiar. . .

Your paper, I advise them, should be the most intellectually alert and stylistically engaging commentary on your assigned section of the reading which you can produce. . .incorporate evidence from the text in support of the main event, which is the unfolding of your thesis. In other words, maintain command of your paper as a rider keeps control of his or her horse: subordinate summary and quotations to the development of your position.

And some opinion, yes—opinion in the sense of your carefully considered view: argue for the best construal of the material you can manage. When you present your paper, your listeners will be interested not in your isolated, undefended opinion but in your rational analysis and informed judgment; and, along the way, your fellow students will be grateful for whatever elements of wit and elegance you can deploy in your phrasing.

Most of all, keep in mind your audience, which consists of the other students in this course. Anticipate objections to your case. In your paper, respond to this imagined challenger. As you dig into your subject as deeply as you can, have your readers’ likely understanding and potential appreciation in mind.

Indeed, writers cannot achieve their objectives without taking into account their readers’ backgrounds. As Steven Pinker has pointed out in the Wall Street Journal (September 27, 2014), “The form in which thoughts occur to a writer is rarely the same as the form in which they can be absorbed by the reader.”

The writer’s test

Learning to explain complex matters well is one of writing’s supreme challenges. But writing for the reader rather than for himself alone is good for an author’s character; it can relax his relentless self-regard.

So ends my work, or was it play, this Labor Day.

 

 

 

After yesterday’s post about NCUA’s banana- like strategy to impose  rbcapitalus fungus on credit unions, I was reminded of Jim Blaine’s blog from April 2015.

It is the story of a banana, a swimming pool, a librarian and “uncommon organizations serving uncommon people.”

Future Leaders Should Go Bananas!

The 2003 Herb Wegner Memorial Award Dinner was memorable for many reasons.

There was an atmosphere of collective celebration and aspiration. The Foundation Chair, Chuck Purvis, set a goal of $1 billion for the Community Investment Fund. Leading CEO contributors were called on stage and thanked. That year’s award nominees, Ed Callahan and Latino Credit Union, were representative of some of the best features of cooperative accomplishment.

But first it started with a “grace note.”

This moment of collective harmony is best illustrated by a 1.34 minute shout out that CUNA President Dan Mica gave to his counterpart at NAFCU. Here is the video:

https://youtu.be/jyKJSh_Jcgk

Blogs later this week will feature other uplifting moments from this historic evening—and some important lessons for today’s leaders.

No, this is not from the Onion or other satirical pub.  It is from the English newspaper the Guardian.

United Airlines reminds crew not to restrain unruly passengers with duct tape

The story opens as follows:

United Airlines has asked its employees to not use duct tape to restrain unruly passengers.

In a memo sent to employees last Friday, United flight attendants were urged to “please remember that there are designated items onboard that may be used in difficult situations, and alternative measures such as tape should never be used”.

The article then lists examples of duct taping unruly passengers over the years at other airlines. Apparently the technique is not unique to United.

United then encourages its employees to use the “huddle process” instead:

In instances of disorderly behavior, United said, employees should resort to standard de-escalation measures, including using “the huddle process … which involves discussing the situation with the captain, customer service representative and ground security coordinator for evaluation and solutions”.

All I might say is that it is far better to use duct tape on passengers than for aircraft repairs.

PenFed’s 2020 Annual Report is a wealth of detail especially in the auditor’s report. Page 53 footnote 9 lists the $542 million net, of property and equipment purchases owned by the credit union.

Two items stand out. Of the over $400 million spent for computer equipment and software, 80% is for software. This affirms the maxim that managing a credit union’s in-house technology solutions entails a never-ending cycle of reinvestment.

But it was a new item listed in 2020 that caught my eye. A total of $10.5 millions for “aircraft equipment” which I assume means an airplane. That amount could buy a lot of plane. Similar to other technology investments, ownership is just part of the cost. There is maintenance, pilot’s salaries and operating costs.

Not sure why a credit union should have its own plane. Perhaps it could be used to survey the credit union’s national field of membership acquired in its merger with Progressive Credit Union.

This purchase reminded me of two prior credit union airplane stories.

Ed Speed, CEO, Texas DOW Employees’ Story

“On Friday afternoon (9/2/2005) Texas DOW Employees CU in Lake Jackson, Texas, received an urgent cell phone call from Jeff Hendrickson, the CEO of DOW Louisiana FCU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

“The hundreds of thousands of refugees from the New Orleans and coastal areas who were arriving in the Baton Rouge area had immediately started overloading the entire financial services capacity of Baton Rouge. One area of critical need was cash-regular cash money.

“Although much of Baton Rouge was operational, the entire telephone grid was either damaged or overloaded with attempted calls. As a result, POS terminals, credit card terminals, and ATMs-the great majority of which use dial-up connections-were rendered useless. Because of this, merchants, restaurants, motels, grocery stores, pharmacies began requiring cold hard cash.

“This even became a problem for people who had money in accounts, and many more, including refugees who were being issued paper checks.

“DOW Louisiana FCU was becoming desperately short on cash. They wanted to stay open throughout the Labor Day weekend, but repeated calls for cash deliveries never arrived and none were expected until this coming Wednesday. Local banks started shutting down early Friday as they ran out of cash.

“Jeff Hendrickson, DOW Louisiana FCU’s chief executive, was determined to stay in service. Jeff called us at 1:56 p.m. on Friday asking us to sell them desperately needed cash. Jeff said that without more cash, people coming to his credit union would not be able to get food, shelter, clothing, and medicine. Jeff said he would do whatever it took-even drive to Lake Jackson if we could find cash for him. He said that $500,000 to $600,000 would hold them until cash shipments arrived on Tuesday.

“I marshaled our senior staff and within 15 minutes had a full count of cash on hand from all branches. Lance Wortham, our commercial vice presidents, called his contact at 1st National Bank and got a commitment of $200,000 if we needed more.

“Less than 25 minutes after Jeff had called we were able to call him back with a commitment to deliver $600,000 in cash immediately. My thanks to Steph, Vickey and Kay for their help.

“Within 90 minutes the needed cash ($600,000) had been brought in, counted and bagged. (It was now 3:30 p.m. Friday).

“The problem was going to be the delivery.

“First, we could tell from their voices that they were bone tired and in no shape to drive anywhere. Our driving the cash to Baton Rouge was going to be problematic because Janice Arizmendi, our chief of staff, had contacted the Texas DPS and had been told that individual relief efforts were being turned away at the state border. Without special permission we would be turned back and never get the cash to the credit union.

“That left one viable solution: fly the cash to them.

“I made the decision that I would fly my plane to Baton Rouge that afternoon. Lance Wortham would go with me.

“By 4:00 p.m., less than 2 hours after the initial call, we had the plane loaded. We had to wait about an hour for some local weather to clear. We were able to go “wheels up” right at 5:00 p.m.

“The flight to Baton Rouge took about two hours. When the FAA Houston Control Center handed us off to Baton Rough Approach Control we immediately heard the frenzied air traffic control communications.

“We came to find out that the Baton Rouge airport had become the staging area for all aviation rescue and relief efforts. This was the major staging and refueling point for all of the helicopters you have seen on TV and all of the large supply aircraft. In addition, the airport was the staging area for relief supplies coming in and for flying out refugees who were arriving on buses. We actually saw refugees being off-loaded from buses onto aircraft.

“As we approached the Baton Rouge airport our air traffic controllers told us to expect ‘extended vectors for sequencing.’ I knew we were in for some delays getting in. The controllers eventually brought us in, but only after about 45 minutes of practicing 360 degree holding turns. (Lance was very impressed!!)

“Until the day I die I will never forget the words of the Baton Rouge tower controller: ‘November-Eight-Four-Three-Five Foxtrot (N8435F), you are cleared to land Runway Four-Right (4R), straight in approach… and Three Five Foxtrot, I need you to go as fast as you can!'”

“My response was: ‘Roger, three-five-foxtrot is cleared to land, straight in approach, runway three-five-right, full power, full speed!'”

“We touched done about 8:00 p.m.; six hours after the initial call.

“We were met by the CEO Jeff Hendrickson, his chief operating officer, Todd Zirkle, and armed security from the local sheriff’s department who came out to the plane to meet us.

“We ‘convoyed’ the $600,000 to the DOW Louisiana FCU main branch where the vault staff was waiting to take the cash. In one of the attached pictures one can see that the clock in the vault reads about 8:30 p.m. Six and a half hours start to finish.

“We exchanged the cash for a check, had a quick meal and were escorted back to the airport.

“Lance and I touched down back in Lake Jackson about 1:45 a.m., tired but exhilarated. [We treated ourselves to some comfort food at IHOP!]

“If there is a hero here it has to be Jeff Hendrickson, chief executive of DOW Louisiana FCU. He was determined that his credit union would not, under any circumstances, fail people in need. And, in a way that really humbled me. Jeff said: ‘I knew if I called upon another credit union, if I relied on our Movement, I knew someone would come through for us. I just knew it. This is who we are. This is what we do.'”

“When faced with that type of leadership, determination and faith, I knew we here at TDECU had to deliver for him. Our TDECU team came through and my airplane performed well.

“It all came together.”

Read more: The Great Credit Union Cash Airlift | Credit Unions https://www.creditunions.com/articles/the-great-credit-union-cash-airlift/#ixzz72aHcpDsI

A Charismatic CUNA President and His Airplane

Herb Wegner was CUNA President/CEO 1971-1979. He was responsible for helping credit unions develop many services currently taken for granted today, as well as traditional trade association activities. Among the national programs that started during Wegner’s tenure were:

• Mortgage loans (CUNA Mortgage Corp)
• Share drafts (Chase payable thru program)
• Credit Cards (CSG Card Services)
• Corporate CUs (US Central)
• Share Certificates
• IRAs (CSG IRA Administration)
• ATMs & Shared Branching
• Gov Securities Program (ICU GSP)
• Joint Advertising (CUNA National Advertising Program)

Wegner was elected Vice Chair of the Commission on Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) in 1975, raising the visibility of credit unions as important players in modern technology programs for the first time in history.

Here is what Paul Thompson said about Herb in his book, Development of the Modern U.S. Credit Union Movement: 1970-2010:

“Shortly after, CUNA gained new leadership by naming Herbert G. Wegner managing director in 1971. Herb Wegner had spent seven years as head of CUNA International’s Latin America division. A former Navy pilot, he was a flamboyant, charismatic leader devoted to modern management techniques such as “management by objectives.”

Wegner reorganized CUNA, and under his guidance it added services to assist credit unions through an increasingly turbulent time. It was an interesting period to be in credit union work, not only because of the fast-changing financial landscape but because credit unionists still saw themselves as a world-changing force.

As Wegner put it: “The exciting thing is not financial, it’s social – the phenomenon of a people’s organization. This is a delightful place to be in an increasingly monolithic world.” 

On the way home from attending Herb’s funeral in Washington D.C. in 1987, Chuck Siebold, Tony Schumacher and Brad Murphy brainstormed how to keep Herb’s memory and accomplishments alive. They suggested an award be granted annually in his name by the fledgling CUNA Foundation. The foundation agreed. The Herb Wegner awards became the centerpiece of the Foundation’s formal gala at each year’s CUNA GAC.

How Herb Lost His Job

A former league President describers Herb Wegner as special. “What he did for us is amazing. An example is when we all feared the emerging cashless checkless society, the US Congress put together a commission to study electronic payments. We were all afraid that credit unions would be frozen out by bank influence. George Mitchell, Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, was appointed to head the Commission. Herb listened to our fears, flew to Washington DC to meet with George Mitchell, and emerged as Vice Chairman of the commission!”

He describes the CUNA Board meeting in which Wegner lost his job:

“Herb did bring a style that some questioned. Jeans and open collared shirt a lot on the job. He wanted a fireplace in his office when they were building the complex that is now CUNA and Cuna Mutual headquarters in Madison. (The board said NO.) He hired a few Peace Corps individuals who some thought should be people with credit union backgrounds. So there was a small cadre who did not understand what all he brought to the table.

Herb had an airplane. He had a deal with CUNA that he would be reimbursed the equivalent of 1st class airfare if he flew his plane. He would also be reimbursed regular class airfare for others that would fly with him if CUNA was paying their expenses.

Fred Krause was Treasurer of CUNA. He surprised all (or at least most) of us at a board meeting when he gave his Treasurer’s Report and concluded by saying he was tired of fighting Herb about airplane expenses. He then made a motion to fire Herb. John Adams seconded it. Everyone was stunned, but no one fought back. The vote passed. Herb was in disbelief!

Herb was a fabulous leader, well liked, and immensely respected. Most of us thought the CUNA board was short sighted and made a big mistake.”

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, an adult victim of polio, founded the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, which he later renamed the March of Dimes Foundation, on January 3, 1938.  Those who survived the disease usually suffered from debilitating paralysis into their adult lives.

Since 1946, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States, has been  the face on the dime coin  because of his drive to stop polio.

A President confronting a national epidemic and personal tragedy by  leading  efforts to cure polio.

 

NCAA rule changes and state laws that went into effect July 1 opened the door for college athletes to sell the rights to their names, images and likenesses (NIL) for the first time. Most importantly, earn income from these sponsorships.

This “NIL” marketing revolution for college athletes has taken off. Agents are offering their services. There are online courses to assist interested students learn about the possibilities.

Auburn quarterback Bo Nix has signed a deal with Milo’s Sweet Tea. Milo’s Sweet Tea is based in Bessemer, Ala., southwest of Birmingham.

Not to be outdone in the SEC, Coach Nick Saban announced that  Alabama  sophomore quarterback Bryce Young, who has yet to start a game in his career, has already signed deals using his name, image and likeness that are worth more than $800,000. He has been presented with deals well in excess of $1 million.

Fresno State’s basketball twin powerhouse, Hanna and Haley Cavinder, will be sponsored by Boost Mobile. The Cavinders have more than 5 million followers combined across all of their social media platforms.

And the Arby’s chain of sliced sandwiches are advertising to sponsor running backs in this tweet on July 1.

We have a thing for RBs & we’ve been wanting to pay college RBs forever. If that’s you, email us: ArbysPublicRelations@InspireBrands.com pic.twitter.com/ua0eGxWKtC

— Arby's (@Arbys) July 2, 2021

But why should college athletes be the only focus for marketing sponsorships? Can Credit unions take the NIL concept to the next level and promote their unique brand at the same time?  And gain the allegiance of the next generation of members?

Introducing Harper

Harper has newly arrived on the performance stage as you see by her picture. Nonetheless she is seeking sponsorship, obviously from a credit union.

Harper is open to offers that will include at least three benefits:

• Credit union membership
• A 529 plan for her educational options
• A Roth IRA account for her retirement

She believes her image or likeness reinforce the idea that credit unions are family. Membership covers all stages and needs for life.

Her athletic and professional directions are yet to be fully defined. However she is willing to consider a long term relationship now that could pay enormous future benefits for sponsors.

She will consider granting exclusive territorial rights to her NIL so that marketers do not have to worry about competing against their own “branding” campaigns.

Instead of the uncertainty and brevity of a college athlete’s fame, Harper is offering a financial “put” on her ever-emerging NIL. That content should produce marketing images and stories for at least a generation.

For example: first toy, first steps, first birthday–documenting progress in all of life’s wonderful phases.

Interested credit unions, leagues, CUSOs or even vendors are welcome to contact Harper at this email: harperwinninger@gmail.com. Her “agents” are on standby.