WASHINGTON–In one of the most eloquent descriptions ever heard of credit unions and the work they do, a CU audience here was told to not just make waves but to “splash, splash,” to spark new delight, and to really understand they own the “new gold in the digital world.”
In powerful, articulate remarks that were part of an “Ed Talk” to open CUNA’s GAC, spoken word poet Sekou Andrews offered insights that were often borrowed from children and said that in an increasingly ChatGPT world, credit unions can’t let AI tell their stories, they must do it themselves.
Andrews challenged his audience by asking how many had been told not to make waves, to always accept convention.
“There will always be someone around you who is afraid to get their hair wet,” said Andrews. “There will be those who don’t show up ready to ride the next big wave, but rather to look cute in the conventional bathing suit--people who will wade, because they are afraid to make waves.”
Andrews said too often people hear “wave-maker” and think “trouble-maker.” And some wave-makers are trouble-makers, he acknowledged.
“But today when we think of wave-makers, we have two completely different experiences with the word disruption, so we're going to look at waves from the positive side, not the big destructive whole city waves.”
In spoken word style, he added, “We've all experienced those harmonious days when light and sound, earth and wind waves all gel together perfectly,” he said, describing as the “crestfallen exhales from an ocean emulating the sound of God.”
The Real Experts
Andrews said he wanted to better know the aquatic phenomenon known as waves, and instead of turning to science he turned to the “trusted expertise of imagination advisors,” children.
As one fifth-grader explained, “If you follow a rainbow to the end it lands in the ocean with the big splash, and that is how waves are made.”
Added Andrews, “The fact is each of these children all know some truth to the science behind waves, but we like their version better. It’s more uplifting. It’s more enlightening to chase the end of rainbows. Who better than grade school kids to help us redefine a version of ways that inspire us and stir the waters of complacency?”
Shaking Things Up
Andrews urged credit unions to shift paradigms, shake things up, and embody the “characteristics of wavemakers.”
“This is what compels you to go shake things up. You just can't help it. You can't help but speak and suggest and nudge and push and insist and make Congress pay attention to the people you serve,” he said. “You are like the little kid in the pool with the parent who is trying not to get their hair wet and you splash, splash. Is Capitol Hill timidly sticking its toes in regulatory changes? Splash, splash. Are you watching fellow leaders standing only waste high in the waters of financial services sipping a mojito and saying, ‘Hey, legislators, there's nothing wrong with waiting.’ Splash, splash. While you're here I want you to approach the future of financial services like the annoying little brother in the pool of banking.
“Start making waves, because the industry's waters are just too damn still, because the regulations are too damn cumbersome, the compliance burden was just too unpredictable, the systems for service were just too inequitable, the financial well-being was too damn inaccessible to the rural, the urban, the veteran, the immigrant, the public servant, the middle class, the poor and the needy…”
The New North Star
Andrews called on credit unions to create innovation that serves as a beacon, that beckons banking toward the future, where the CU’s results in making waves become the industry’s North Star.
“The visionary doesn't just seek what is there,” Andrews continued. “No, the visionary sees what isn't there yet, but will be. Just give it a minute. That new trail will be blazed.”
When it comes to making waves of one’s choosing, Andrews shared his own story, noting he gave up a secure job as a fifth-grade teacher to become a spoken word poet. The reaction: You don’t want to eat? You want to be homeless?
“I wanted to disrupt the public speaking world,” Andrews told the meeting.
And disrupt he has, becoming the first spoken word poet to win a Grammy and eventually leading to a new category for spoken word after it had previously been lumped in with audio books.
“How many amazing inspiring things in this world have been done and accomplished by a little old you who decided I no longer accept this paradigm, a little old you who decided we have to change the way it's been, a little old you who decided there will be a new way?” asked Andrews, who said his goal is to create an industry for his art form.
Andrews has certainly become an industry, noting he is now in his 20th year as a full-time spoken word poet.
Sekou Andrews speaking to GAC.
‘Give Yourself Permission’
“You have to give yourself permission to empower your imagination, to pursue your purpose in bolder ways, so that when you leave here and head up to Capitol Hill and start splash splashing people in your respective oceans, making them ask, ‘Hey, what's the big idea?’” said Andrews. “You will tell them, ‘Well, I'm glad you asked because I got no shortage of big ideas.”
And that launched Andrews into a spoken word poem about credit unions and interacting with Congress and the Federal Credit Union Act and “ensuring financial literacy gets lit like an L.E.D. light,” and legislation that can be the “spark to ignite credit union delight and bring banking out of 'de-dark.'”
“We all understand the science behind ocean waves created by the wind surface of the water. What's your version? The version where your wave-making brains bring the winds of change, those days when your lungs are filled with the wind that helps your organization just breathe, because there are those days when you live and breathe new ways to help members of your community.”
‘Take Their Breath Away’
Sekou called on credit unions to help policymakers serve their constituents in ways that “take their breath away.”
“But, keeping it real, there are also too many days when trying to breathe new life into your industry leaves you out of breath, the days when all the policies and politics leave you winded and wanting to quit, when you're constantly getting the wind knocked out of you, when it's you who needs resuscitation, but just then a new wave comes in and you get your second wind,” Andrews said.
The real wind behind the wave making comes when credit unions understand when to focus on the word “credit” and when to focus on the word “union,” he suggested. “You must be the first connection point your community needs. You must first embody the word ‘union’.”
Sekou urged credit unions to truly lean into financial well-being for all—a theme for CUNA—and to understand all members are part of the same ecosystem.
The Ripple Effect
“So, how you stand up, how you speak up today will determine the ripple effect of every wave you make see,” Sekou said. “We all know the science of how sound waves are made from vibrations, but isn't your version so much better, the version where you unfasten your program, unhinge your lips, and give life to your voice, because you have a powerful vision for your industry…Your ability to deliver on that vision depends on your ability to galvanize others around you, which means your vision is only as powerful as your voice…
“It's so important that you don't just focus your innovation goals on technology, but on your innovation mindset, how you connect, how you give voice to the problems and the solutions of your communities,” Sekou continued. “One of your most transformative (abilities) for that lies in storytelling. Storytelling, We're hearing that everywhere. Everybody's talking about this. We are finally recognizing the power of storytelling. When you tell a story you create the ability to find yourself, and for others to find themselves. It can be that simple.”
‘You Are Already Rich’
Andrews cautioned that as more and more skills are turned over to machine learning and AI, it is the soft skills, the ability to tell stories, that will connect with members, he said.
“This will be the new gold in the digital world, and this is where you are already rich,” said Andrews, saying members are “more than an algorithm. This is your story. Tell it.”