Prepare, Prepare, and Prepare Again: NCUA Town Hall Discussion from Chip Filson

Chip Filson, in a recent article posted under the tag Credit Union Strategy in the credit union resource known as CreditUnions.com has choice words for every credit union professional planning to attend the NCUA Town Halls:

Credit unions must prepare. Document your facts, share your experiences, be specific in your suggestions about what you believe needs to be done. This is a rare opportunity for the credit union system to rediscover and state the cooperative values and mission for which everyone shares responsibility.

Also in the article, he speaks on preparing yourself fully to make the most out of each moment during the dialog sessions. This is a tremendous opportunity for credit unions as a movement to ask the questions that still are unanswered with the credit union system. Chip offers several questions to help seed the minds of credit union professionals on what ground still needs to be covered. My personal favorite is:

How have subsequent announcements of the escalating costs and required expense write-offs affected your ability to make loans to members?

What Chip is helping bring to mind are answers to the question, how are recent events truly affecting your member’s experience? This particular question he raised touches on two cooperative principles, as spelled out by 7principles.coop:

Principle #2:
Members Should Call The Shots

Principle #5:
Financial Education Should Be Free & Available To All

Now is the time to examine if current events in the credit union industry are enabling a healthy adhearance to cooperative principles. Start taking inventory on what experiences have molded your leadership strategy. Over the next 3 NCUA Town Hall meetings you will have your chance to share your findings with your regulator and the whole credit union industry.