Each year during GAC I gain a new perspectiveon the Credit Union Industry. With so many great minds gathered in once place, it is hard not to. This year my new insight came while having dinner with Bert Fisher, the soon-to-be CEO and current COO of Our Community Credit Union in Shelton, WA. He is a really interesting man. If you ever have the chance to take him out for a drink or dinner, do it. He really gets people, and is passionate about management, there are few people I've met who take the responsibility of managing people more seriously, or execute their strategies more effectively than this guy.
Bert and I were having dinner at Legal Seafood on 7th, when he told a story about his neighbor, who had fallen on some hard financial times and had to sell his house. Homeless, the neighbor bounced around the country between different relatives homes for a couple of months. He had managed to save up enough money to get a place, and moved back to Shelton, when his beloved dog died. Without money for a proper cremation, or burial, the neighbor called Bert to see if he could bury the dog on Bert's land, because the dog was happiest there, running through the acres of evergreens.
Bert called his Vet, explained the story, and asked if he could pay for the cremation. The vet said no, but offered to do it for free considering the circumstances. I was surprised and said how cool that was, but Bert responded, "No, that's just the way it should be."
This phrase "the way it should be" really stood out to me. It seems to me almost like a classical American ideal, and one we often seem to ignore. There is a great deal of strength and hope in this phrase. The excuses like "we'll that is just the way it is" or "we've always done it this way" seem weak and paltry. This idea of doing things because they should be done, because they are Right is awesome. It is taking an active stance, and trying to live life the way you think it should be lived, treating people the way you think they should be treated, and doing the things you think are important.
I think the Credit Union Industry exudes this ideal often times without even defining it. Why do Credit Unions offer better service, ownership, financial education, and operate with the purpose of people helping people? Because they believe "That's just the way it should be."