When preparing for the future, credit union CEOs will encounter people who dig in their heels and resist change because they want to keep things exactly how they have been for years. Some of these people will be credit union board members, and some will be in the managerial ranks.
The key for the CEO looking to make his or her credit union a stronger entity in drastically changing times is to work for a critical mass of buy in.
The best approach, I call the "Compelling Argument" initiative, is a constant drip approach instead of a last minute tidal wave of information approach. Here is how it works. The greatest reason for change resistance is fear. The three basic fears everyone deals with (to different degrees of success) are the fear of failure, the fear of rejection and the fear of the unknown.
When you have someone resist strategic changes they are expressing fear on a couple of levels. They fear the new direction will fail and they don't want to be on a board or management team that failed. Or they will no longer have the necessary skill set to implement a new strategy; therefore they will eventually be rejected off the board or out of the managerial team because they no longer fit. Or, this new idea is so different than what has been tried previously they are fearful of the unknown of how employees and member will react, accept, and respond to the new direction.
A CEO must always have the best vision for any planning process to work; therefore, it is the CEOs responsibility to apply a constant drip of information that will educate, prepare, and create the compelling argument why the forthcoming changes are required to make the CEOs vision a reality. At manager's meeting and board meetings the attendees expect the CEO to offer information; in fact, they are open to hearing it. If you craft your information by sharing a small piece each meeting, by the time the strategic planning changes are finally discussed, the critical mass of people will feel comfortable because they are well-informed and understand the full purpose for the change, as well as realize this has been a well-thought out idea and not a knee-jerk reaction.
The few people that still have their heels dug into the dirt not wanting to move, will know they have been hearing your compelling arguments all year as to why this is necessary and they will lose their thunder of rallying resistance because their compelling arguments as to why not to change will pale by comparison.
By the second year, those resistance folks will have prepared a better case, which only help you to be more on your game because some of their arguments may be worth listening to and those red flags will force you to create even better information. In the end, everyone is better informed, more aware of what is going, and contributing more -- which ultimately makes for an even better strategic planning process.
-- Russell
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