BOSTON–One doctor is sharing some advice and challenges for credit union leaders in both their professional and personal lives.
In this case, it’s Dr. Brandi Stankovic, who offered seven observations based on what she has learned during her life as career—along with the lessons learned by her mother, the equally well-known Sue Mitchell, president of Mitchell Stankovic & Associates, who has extensive experience in credit unions and who was the founding leader of the Global Women’s Leadership Network.
Stankovic, who now is principal with Strategic Advisory Solutions and who has consulted with countless credit unions internationally, shared her thoughts with the GWLN/WYCUP Forum held as part of the World Credit Union Conference. Stankovic and Mitchell were to provide their presentation together, but Mitchell’s travel was delayed due to the CrowdStrike outage.
Here were the seven pieces of advice for CU leaders as shared by Stankovic:
Check Yourself
“In the vernacular of the United States, that means watch what you say. Refuse sexism. Refuse gossip. Refuse ageism. Check yourself in those legacy things built into us, maybe things you have been perpetuating. Don’t live your mom’s story, create your own. Checking ourselves and each other can be one of the most powerful things you can do.”
Seek Diversity
“Intentionally seek diversity. A lesson learned for (Sue Mitchell and myself) is to listen to one another and to seek diverse thoughts and understanding. I think equity is what we all ultimately want,” said Stankovic.
Love Your Body
“This sounds weird, but it’s so important. If you aren’t taking care of you, who is taking care of you?” said Stankovic. She quoted the saying, “Health is a freedom that very few realize until you no longer have it.’ We are here this week to help one another, to collaborate. Everyone here likely takes care of everyone else before they take care of themselves.”
Create Your Own Narrative
“Lie is not a fairy tale. You want to create your own process and don’t live somebody else’s fairy tale. How often do we end up going for the greener grass, and we aren’t even the ones who wanted that for ourselves? It’s about our own story and being bold and proud.”
Be Intentional With Time & Expectations
“Over the pandemic I think a lot of us learned that lesson. In some ways life slowed down, and in other ways with introduction of Zoom and other platforms and I’m finding a lot of colleagues are glorifying the word ‘busy.’ And then we compete with each other. So someone says busy you could say, ‘Really, you’re that bad at time management.’ If we can get away from glorifying busy and start being intentional, there is finite time and energy, if you are going to be here, be here. Make the most of it.”
Be Fiercely Financially Independent. “Not being financially independent can have big effect on us. The more we can look out for ourselves the more powerful we become for everyone. And if you are free and financially independent, help others to be the same.”
Amplify Each Other
“Champion each other. Inside this room we love each other. Outside this room we end up competing with each other, instead of joining hands in how we can develop and grow together. The more we can celebrate this the better.”