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| Mr. Frank Diekmann |
But then again, he ought to be since he's been "practicing" his credit union journalistic craft for over 30 years.
For those of you too young to study history, Frank was a key player in the creation of both the CUTimes and the CUJournal - [that's equivalent to being the starting pitcher for both teams in the World Series!]; and now is the head honcho over at CUToday, which is a new, savvy, web-based CU information resource.
As we start down the path of seeing how the CHOICE issue plays out - [the key leagues meeting is next week and the "meet your maker" CUNA Board meeting is in December] - think it is helpful to see as many different opinions on the issue as possible.
CHOICE is a deadly serious issue with long range ramifications. There are two major risks involved with CHOICE, that 1) credit unions will make an uninformed decision and worse that 2) credit unions will make no decision at all....
You've had a chance to see some diverse opinions
here on the blog, including the CUNA Task Force Report and the league leaders "Vision..." as well as gleanings from Jim Nussle and Diana Dykstra as several leagues start to pick sides. You've also gotten a flavor of the alternative offered by NAFCU. Couple of commenters - anonymous and otherwise - have also even added a little snark and spice!
Frank Diekmann has just posted an opinion piece on CHOICE... think you might benefit from taking a look...
'Course there's also another "Frank" who has weighed in on the dithering of CUNA in the past...
"He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else."
- Benjamin Franklin
("No choice" is inexcusable!)
3 comments:
Jim, I too enjoy Frank's writing and coverage. But I suggest to you and your loyal readers that the problem is even simpler: leadership. Or the lack thereof.
The self-serving league presidents combined with the self-serving senior management of CUNA as well as all the various boards of directors (except for those that have recently provided 'choice' at a couple leagues) have not shown leadership. Leadership is a decision-making process, especially during difficult times or disruptive situations. There has been no leadership in providing a compelling value-proposition to credit union CEOs. There has been no leadership in providing strategy, focus, and execution on important policy and advocacy issues. There has been no leadership in communicating in an open and transparent fashion on how our leagues and national trade association operates. There has been no leadership in developing a new plan for the system's future. The solution(s) for our leagues and CUNA system are simple, yet extremely difficult to implement. And that takes leadership. Little ol' NAFCU has shown more leadership by being focused, efficient and effective. If CUNA and/or our leagues had the leadership of NAFCU's board and the effective focus of their management team, our industry would be unstoppable.
Time for our system leaders to stand up, stand out and execute.
Jim, Frank, a lot has been written and a lot has been spoken. Both of you have been around credit unions, leagues and associations for years. You know what goes on and you know that talk is cheap. All this rhetoric. all this talk about choice will result in nothing. Credit unions will write two checks as they always have and everyone will continue to be paid, travel have a good time and talk about what they can do for their members, aside from spending their money. This is credit union land and this is how things are and will forever be. It your hearts you know that's how it is.
Advocacy Nowhere! CUNA just posted a video of Ryan Donovan of Baggage Claim fame, (he posted the picture) http://jimblaineoncreditunions.blogspot.com/2015/08/advertising-genius.html That video has 5 views. The tweets about it have no likes, favs or retweets and the only comments are mine. This is Advocacy Nowhere. If CUNA wants to publicly show how they have no social media vibe, why should we trust them to advocate to the next generation electorate and elected officials? Check Mate.
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