Cooperative tactics are as important as business tactics for driving growth in small credit unions

Recently I came across a new term that the NCUA has coined: “Leapers.” I am waiting for some clarification on some of the characteristics used to apply the label, but the gist is “leapers” are credit unions that have recently negotiated the transition from being a small credit union to one that might be considered big. Has anybody else heard this term? Can you fill me in on what constitutes a small credit union today? How far up the scale do they have to jump to be a big one? Or how fast do they have to go from one to the other to qualify as a leaper?

The problem with assigning labels

This is one of the problems our industry has today—labels that seem to imply a judgment call as to what is good or bad about our operations. Big sounds better than small. Leaping forward sounds better than the slow and steady move forward. But there seem to be no rules attached to assigning the label, so everyone wonders the same thing. Am I big enough not to be called small? Am I growing fast enough to be a leaper?

And worst of all, do I satisfy the opinions of others when it comes to being relevant? We are crippled in our thinking today by trying to be relevant to almost anyone other than our members. Are we relevant to our peers? Are we relevant in the eyes of the NCUA? Are we relevant in the concerns of our competition? Are we relevant in the minds of our local business leaders? Are we relevant to anyone?

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So much of a business person’s time is devoted to figuring out what they do better than their competitors.  For example, a CU that spends time understanding how its financial service products compare and compete with the services of a bank.  A business can become so vested in these comparisons and the effort to edge out competitors in what they do better–despite being basically the same–that their internal teams simply forget how to really focus on where they are different.  And after a while those internal team members (staff, management, and board) find themselves always starting from the same base, the same foundation, and the same perspective as their competitors, even though they are nothing like their competitors at their core.  And in doing so any hope for innovating on a core difference is lost. The difference that should inspire activities and ensure that the market sees you as different from your competitors is lost, and the advantage with it.

This is why we should be focused on learning, leveraging, and acting on being cooperatives.  Focused on walking the talk and driving customer-owner advantages into our daily activities, into our competitive activities, and into the spirit of everything we do.  This drive is one of the reasons I decided to get more involved in the cooperative business model and the groups that support its success.  I hope you will consider how credit unions might return to their core and drive this difference home for the members and stakeholders.  Be different, and start with the way you design your business.  Be a cooperative in the truest sense of the word.