Shining A Light On Your CU's Purpose

How does our credit union stay relevant? How do we create distinction? How can we separate our CU from the competition? A simple suggestion and starting point: PURPOSE. As thought-leader Nikos Mourkogiannis noted, "Purpose is the engine of a company, and the source of its energy." Corporate governance guru John Carver agrees: "The most important work of any governing board is to create and re-create the reason for organizational existence." Our "perpetual obligation" is to reflect on, and clearly define, our purpose. Viktor Frankl, the Auschwitz prisoner and author of "Man's Search for Meaning" noted two powerful benefits of purpose: the presence of a clear purpose is what he attributed to enabling himself and others to survive, and purpose changes with time, and is situational. Although the situations are infinitely different, the lessons still apply.