Success Stories from CUES Award Winners

Good Reading

Bob Spitz: The Beatles: The Biography
Reading like a novel (except for some detailed sections on the band's merchandising deals), this hefty volume tracks each Beatle, beginning with his family's Liverpool origins, to show how the group is shaping pop culture to this day. There is virtually no one who has not been touched by their influence--culturally, musically, even historically--which is why, though not a business book per se, this Beatles biography makes a good read.
Seth Godin: Meatball Sundae: Is Your Marketing out of Sync?
What do you get when you combine a boring brand (meatballs) with fresh, shiny New Marketing (candy bits, whip cream and sprinkles)? In this engrossing and fast read, Godin teaches marketers how to avoid the meatball sundae. He characterizes the differences between Old Marketing and New Marketing while identifying the 14 trends that are redefining what it means to be a marketer today.
Roger L. Martin: The Opposable Mind: How Successful Leaders Win Through Integrative Thinking
Instead of looking for best practices to adapt for your CU, what if you could learn to think like the leaders of firms like eBay and Procter & Gamble? In this book, Martin shows how simultaneously holding two or more diametrically opposed ideas can produce a synthesis that is superior to either of the original ideas.
Chris Resto: Recruit or Die: How any Business Can Beat the Big Guys in the War for Young Talent
Today’s young professionals want it all and they want it now. They want a career, glamour, gossip and work/life balance (people first, organization second). They are willing to work hard but are not willing to sacrifice the rest of their life like their parents did.
Charles Fishman: The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World's Most Powerful Company Really Works--and How It's Transforming the American Economy
Wal-Mart virtually invented big-box retail, and did nothing short of change the world. In an “unputdownable” read, Charles Fishman provides an inside glimpse of the tactics and strategies Wal-Mart employed to establish its utter dominance. Any business person can benefit from an understanding of Wal-Mart's encroachment.
Howard Moskowitz: Selling Blue Elephants: How to make great products that people want BEFORE they even know they want them
Learn a process of designing, testing, and modifying alternative ideas, packages, products, or services to discover what appeals to consumers, even when they can't articulate their own needs. Best practice examples include MasterCard and HP. Download a chapter, free with registration from the very-worthwhile Wharton@Work site.
Jeanne Bliss: Chief Customer Officer: Getting Past Lip Service to Passionate Action
Bliss draws on her experiences as "customer crusader" for the likes of Lands' End and Coldwell Bankers in this practical tool kit.
Seth Godin: Small Is the New Big: and 183 Other Riffs, Rants, and Remarkable Business Ideas
Remember when big was better? According to Godin, "Small is the new big [but] only when the person running the small thinks big." Sounds like the perfect job for a credit union CEO.
Ben McConnell & Jackie Huba: Citizen Marketers: When People Are the Message
More about word of mouth and how social media are impacting marketing. Get an excerpt, interview with the authors and more via this blog posting. Learn about using social media in your CU's marketing at CUES Nexus
Robert Scoble: Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers
According to the author, every business can benefit from smart "naked" blogging in which posts are not filtered through a PR department. Here are links to the examples used in the book.
Spannerworks: What is Social Media?
Find everything you need to know about wikis, blogs, podcasts, social media and content communities in this free, easy-to-download e-book.
William C. Taylor: Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win
Glean ideas from Internet banks, funky sandwich shops and break-the-mold business units inside IBM and Procter & Gamble. Read an interview with co-author Polly LaBarre.
Jim Collins: Good to Great and the Social Sectors: Why Business Thinking Is Not the Answer
A companion to the best-selling Good to Great, this article applies Collins' concepts to the non-profit world. Read excerpts here.
The Source: Twelve Principles of Governance That Power Exceptional Boards
Download BoardSource's 12 principles for balancing your board's oversight function with its strategic and visionary roles.
Donna Fenn: Alpha Dogs: How Your Small Business can Become a Leader of the Pack
Easy-to-read case studies and chapters like "Seduce Your Customers" and "Transform with Technology" show how small companies can become market leaders. Book concludes with key behaviors that make up "Alpha Dog DNA."
Jeremy Hope: Reinventing the CFO: How Financial Managers Can Transform Their Roles and Add Greater Value
Fresh from Harvard Business School Press, this book shows financial types how to look beyond the ledger to help other managers and their organizations improve performance.

Posted by Maria Kinney

Being involved with the CUES award programs means that I get to hear about many success stories in the credit union movement. Plus, I get to see CUES' role in the development of outstanding credit union leaders.

For example, CUES member Steve Schipull started his career in the financial services industry working for a bank. Now CFO of Generations Federal Credit Union in San Antonio, Steve didn't expect to end up in the credit union movement, where he has been for 10 years. But he notes that "the last ten years have truly impacted my overall leadership development and achievements way beyond expectations had I remained with the bank." Steve even went on to attend CUES' CEO Institute and earn the CCE (Certified Chief Executive) designation. And then, to top this off, Steve applied for the 2009 CUES Future Leader award and was ecstatic to find out that he was the winner! Steve says, "To be honest, I didn't expect to win with so many deserving leaders in our industry. Our industry faces many challenges and I am fortunate to be associated with so many dedicated professionals who live our story every day by serving our members. I am truly honored to be this year's CUES Future Leader award recipient."

Steve and other dedicated individuals were honored this year for their contributions to and achievements in the credit union industry. Please congratulate the following winners (and see full coverage of the award presentations here and here):

CUES Future Leader

honors a CUES member non-CEO who works to better their credit union, the movement and themselves. This year's winner is ... Steven L. Schipull, CCE, Generations FCU

Outstanding Executive

honors a CUES member credit union CEO who shows exceptional leadership qualities. This year's winner is ... William Rissel - Fort Knox FCU

Hall of Fame

is a lifetime achievement award honoring an individual's contributions to the credit union movement. This year's inductees are ... Gordon Dames - 2008 CUES Outstanding Executive; formerly with Mountain America CU, now with Southwest Business Corporation, and Mark Hawkins of Altura CU.

Outstanding Council Awards

are presented to the CUES Councils that plan outstanding professional development opportunities for CUES members on a local and regional level. This year's winners are ...

1-74 CUES members: Alabama (Outstanding Council)
Iowa (Award of Excellence)
Nevada (Award of Excellence)
75-150 CUES members: Rocky Mountain (Outstanding Council)
Delaware Valley (Award of Excellence)
Utah (Award of Excellence)
150+ CUES members: Michigan (Outstanding Council)
Florida (Award of Excellence)
Greater Southern (Award of Excellence)

Congratulations, 2009 CUES award winners! Keep up the excellent work! And calling all 2010 CUES award nominees ... I can't wait to hear your success stories!

Maria Kinney is member services assistant at CUES.

Sites of Interest

The Financial Brand
Commentary on branding overall and CU branding specifically from Jeffry Pilcher
Credit Union Cheat Sheet
Tom Dluzen, North Central Area Credit Union VP/finance & accounting, puts his own spin on the latest CU news.
CUiNSIGHT
A one-stop spot for news, blogs, jobs and events.
The Credit Union Warrior
Matt Davis educates the world about the benefits of credit union membership.
Calculated Risk
Recommended by CUES member Evan Clark, CEO of Department of Commerce FCU, for its finance and economic coverage
The Raddon Report
Insights from Raddon Financial Group--what more can we say?
It's Accrual World
Reflections on the economy, interest rates & investments from former CU CFO Mark Sadowski
DJ and the Bear
WesCorp Economist Dwight Johnston looks at the economy and market reactions.
NACUSO
Discuss everything CUSO on the National Association of Credit Union Service Organizations’ new blog.
Payment Industry Insider
Brought to you by The Members Group, this blog covers ALM to prepaid cards
CUs That Blog With Members
Check out the 3 dozen CUs that are blogging with members
Thwart Mediocrity
Former OpenSource CU blogger Trey Reeme now has a blog of his own.
NAFCU Compliance Blog
Where they make compliance (almost) fun!
KCCCU | Industry News
Access a few of the top industry blogs, courtesy of the King County Chapter of Credit Unions
Banktastic
Courtesy of Garland Group, here's an easy way to keep up on some of the top financial services blogs without subscribing to an RSS reader.
Nexus Connection
Check out our sister blog, dedicated to CU marketing and social media.
The Life and Times of a Credit Union Employee
Check out the new look at this new address
Shout out to Credit Unions
Suzanne Boniface, former CU VP/marketing, pens this PR blog.
Credit Union Indirect Lending
A CU exec from the Midwest shares thoughts on indirect lending and much more
That Credit Union Blog
Hosted by Rob Rutkowski and other attorneys at Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co.
CU Communicator
Launched by the North Carolina CU League, this blog focuses on out-of-the-box marketing/PR efforts.
Cult-ivation
Always a good read--and often a good laugh--branding diva Denise Wymore has renamed her blog.
Social Media Tutorial
Want to start using a newsreader, like Newsgator, to get RSS feeds of blog posts, set up a del.icio.us account, download a podcast from iTunes or post a comment to a blog? These free video tutorials will show you the way!
Filene Research Institute's redesigned Web site features blogging and report downloads
CUES member Doug True has consolidated two previous blogs into True Story to share his passion for credit unions and new ideas.

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